(Angus Reid Global Monitor) - Adults in 27 countries believe the Muslim and Western cultures will figure out a way to avoid violent conflict, according to a poll by the Program on International Policy Attitudes. 56 per cent of respondents believe it is possible to find common ground.

Spanish president José Luis Rodríguez Zapatero first introduced the concept of an Alliance of Civilizations in 2004, saying the group—which includes Turkish prime minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan—seeks to "stop all sources of extremism" and "win the battle of ideas and principles."

Al-Qaeda operatives hijacked and crashed four airplanes in the U.S. on Sept. 11, 2001, killing nearly 3,000 people. The war on terrorism was initiated in October 2001 after Afghanistan's Taliban regime refused to hand over al-Qaeda leader Osama bin Laden.

Following the 9/11 attacks, U.S. president George W. Bush declared, "The face of terror is not the true faith of Islam. That's not what Islam is all about. Islam is peace. These terrorists don't represent peace. They represent evil and war."

While more than 70 per cent of Italians, Canadians and Britons think it is possible to find common ground, at least 40 per cent of respondents in Germany, Egypt and Indonesia think conflict is inevitable.

Yesterday, British prime minister Tony Blair announced his government's plan to withdraw troops from Iraq, saying, "The next chapter in Basra's history will be written by Iraqis. The speed at which this happens depends, of course, in part on what we do, what the Iraqi authorities themselves do, but also on the attitude of those we are together fighting."

Polling Data

Thinking about the relationship between Muslim and Western cultures do you think that violent conflict is inevitable or that it is possible to find common ground?

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