Cultural Intelligence Can Lead to Life...or Death

The New York Times calls it "cathartic rage." In response to a video made by some far-right "believers" satirizing Islam, Muslims and the prophet Muhammed that went viral on YouTube, the Arab world has erupted. The American ambassador in Libya, along with four other diplomatic workers, killed this week. Demonstrators in Gaza chanted, “Death to America and to Israel!” Palestinians clashed with Israeli security forces in Jerusalem and held protests in the West Bank. The German embassy in Khartoum, was under siege earlier today. State media in Egypt has reported more than 220 people injured in the clashes since Tuesday. The chasm between the Muslim world and everyone else is widening; the protesters, nearly deafening. There is an unmistakable scream being heard around the world. And all I keep thinking about is this: freedom indeed has its price and its own language that many who have lived without it simply do not understand. What is absolutely crystal clear is that different cultures value behaviors differently and what is an expression of free speech in one land can lead to death in another. Simply put, our cultural intelligence differs.

What is cultural intelligence? It is the way we come to understand ourselves in the context of our societies, our values and the behaviors that result.  In the United States, we value speed of intelligence, i.e. how quickly we get to the point. We hold in esteem those who can quickly understand a concept. We value free speech and that means we need to listen even when we are in great disagreement. We value honesty, forthrightness. We even value dissent. The values we  hold dear, including freedom of speech, freedom of movement, freedom to live life as we see fit, make up the foundation for our cultural intelligence and is the way we assess each other's individual intelligence. These same values are NOT the foundation for other societies, as we are witnessing now in the Arab world.

There are Imams who are calling for the US government to arrest and punish the producers of the video. Would public beatings or beheadings be the answer? Perhaps in their culturally intelligent way of thinking, yes. But to Americans who hold freedom of speech as one of the most important values we have, this is unthinkable. So how can we ever expect to lessen this chasm when we do not value the same things? Have we crossed over too far to ever bring us back?

I think there will be a time of widening before we can ever come together again. There needs to be a new language in diplomacy; one that speaks using cultural intelligence. Until everyone truly understands cultural intelligence and how that factors in, until the world understands that we all have differing points of view, there will be no end.