Dominique Decherf, the French consul general of Chicago, met with more than 70 people Tuesday night in Scott Hall to discuss the need to integrate Islamic countries into the international community, especially in times of war.

Decherf drew a parallel between the religious conflicts in seventeenth century Western Europe and the tension between Islamic and Western countries today. He said that the Treaty of Wesphalia of 1648, a peace settlement that provided religious tolerance for Roman Catholics, Lutherans, and Calvinists in Western Europe, shows modern-day people that peace is possible.

But according to Decherf, peace is only possible by integrating the Islamic countries through political dialogue.

“China, the Third World, and mostly, of course, the Muslim world is excluded from the international community,” Decherf said. “It’s still them and us or us and them.”

Rather than what Decherf described as the American tradition of waiting until the war ends, he said that the French government believes the intense time of war is the best time to to engage in dialogue with the Islamic countries. He said the French hoped the Islamic nations would “offer free political and public space after the attacks on September 11.”

The need to extend the separation of church and state to the international arena is the first step to unity of the international community, Decherf said.

“After the Wesphalia treaty, the international society would no longer follow religious rule but the law of reason,” Decherf said. “We need to promote separation in religion and politics, but keep religion in mind when we shape peace.”

But McCormick Prof. Dieter Isheim said the suggestion of making Islamic nations our “co-citizens” was too idealistic.

“This may not be a fully adequate answer to such a complicated issue,” said Isheim.

Judy Gibson, Assistant Director of the Center for International and Comparative Studies, also said Decherf’s arguments were fairly idealistic but still useful in furthering international understanding. CICS and the French Interdisciplinary Group co-sponsored the lecture.

“I don’t think it’s a bad thing to be simple and fairly general because concrete programs can still develop from these broader discussions,” Gibson said. “It’s just wonderful to have him.”

Decherf spent the last year as a fellow at the Weatherhead Center for International Affairs at Harvard University, researching the role of religion in international relations and the role of religion in Franco-American policy. Before becoming the consul general in Chicago, he was the associated consul general with the French Ministry of Affairs in Angola, Tanzania and Jerusalem.

Although arguments against his proposal were discussed in his speech, Decherf maintains the necessity of decolonizing our minds and concepts.

“Muslim people aren’t in the international community,” he said. “It’s a fallacy to assume (they are).”