Clash of Civilizations
In 1993, Samuel P. Huntington, an influential American conservative political scientist, adviser and academic, published an article in the Foreign Affairs – “Clash of Civilizations?”, which was subsequently published as a book in 1996, discussing a theory that in the post-Cold War world, people’s cultural and religious identities will be the primary source of conflict.
Huntington begins the article stating that the world politics is entering a new phase, he means that, in the past, world conflicts had been between ideological camps grouping the first, second and third world into warring entities. The new style of world politics which he mentioned would entail conflicts between different and presumably clashing civilizations. I quote him:
“The great divisions among humankind and the dominating sources of conflict will be cultural. The clash of civilizations will dominate global politics.”
He defines civilization as “the highest cultural grouping of people and the broadest level of cultural identity people have short of which distinguishes humans from other species.” His world is still comprised of a neat patchwork of identities which are represented by Western, Sinic/Confucian, Islamic, Japanese, Hindu, Slavic-Orthodox, and possibly Latin American and African …show more content…
And if that is so, then one ideology the ‘West’ is a still point or the locust, around which for Huntington all other civilizations turn. In effect then, the cold war continues but this time on many fronts with many more system of values and ideas like Islam and Confucianism struggling for dominance over the west. Not surprisingly, therefore, Huntington concludes the essay and his book as well with a survey of what it is that the west must do to remain strong and keep its opponents weak and divided. He
In 1993, Samuel P. Huntington, an influential American conservative political scientist, adviser and academic, published an article in the Foreign Affairs – “Clash of Civilizations?”, which was subsequently published as a book in 1996, discussing a theory that in the post-Cold War world, people’s cultural and religious identities will be the primary source of conflict.
Huntington begins the article stating that the world politics is entering a new phase, he means that, in the past, world conflicts had been between ideological camps grouping the first, second and third world into warring entities. The new style of world politics which he mentioned would entail conflicts between different and presumably clashing civilizations. I quote him:
“The great divisions among humankind and the dominating sources of conflict will be cultural. The clash of civilizations will dominate global politics.”
He defines civilization as “the highest cultural grouping of people and the broadest level of cultural identity people have short of which distinguishes humans from other species.” His world is still comprised of a neat patchwork of identities which are represented by Western, Sinic/Confucian, Islamic, Japanese, Hindu, Slavic-Orthodox, and possibly Latin American and African …show more content…
And if that is so, then one ideology the ‘West’ is a still point or the locust, around which for Huntington all other civilizations turn. In effect then, the cold war continues but this time on many fronts with many more system of values and ideas like Islam and Confucianism struggling for dominance over the west. Not surprisingly, therefore, Huntington concludes the essay and his book as well with a survey of what it is that the west must do to remain strong and keep its opponents weak and divided. He