The Clash of Civilizations

Paper Summary:

In this article, the writer studies Samuel P. Huntington's book 'The Clash of Civilizations and the Coming of the New World Order'. The writer hypothesizes that the fundamental source of conflict in this new world would not be primarily ideological or primarily economic. The great divisions among humankind and the dominating source of conflict would be cultural. The writer discusses Huntington's theory that nation states would remain the most powerful actors in world affairs, but the principal conflicts of global politics would occur between nations and groups of different civilizations. The writer concludes that given that both East and West are subject to many of the same internal forces, the idea of conflict can itself be a part of the cultural make-up of various nation-states and can cross boundaries as we see ourselves as part of something larger, in this case the idea of Western civilization, in opposition to the forces of unreason represented by a different cultural system.

From the Paper:

"Given the tensions of the time, Huntington's thesis was taken to be largely a reference to the clash in the Middle East, though Huntington also referred to various Asian states as well and talked of the Confucian-Islamic countries. His thesis has been most cogent since it was written in terms of the ongoing conflict in the Middle East, however, with many seeing first the Gulf War, then the terrorist attacks, and now the Iraq war as direct evidence of a clash of civilizations of the sort cited by Huntington. Specifically, the clash is not between the United States and a specific other country, even if a war is now being fought in Iraq. The real war is between ideologies, as Huntington states, so that the West is arrayed against Islamic countries. Even if the enemy is identified as Islamic fundamentalism or Islamic radicalism, at heart the clash is between the liberal, Christian West and the conservative, Islamic East at the present time. Huntington's book is a good framework for the analysis of this conflict and for understanding more clearly what is at stake in this battle."

Sample of Sources Used:

• Cleveland, W.L. (1999). A History of the Modern Middle East. Boulder, Colorado: Westview Press.
• Gelvin, J.L. (2008). The Modern Middle East: A History. New York, (2nd Edition) Oxford University Press.
• Gumley, F. & Redhead, B. (1992). The Pillars of Islam. London: BBC Books.
• Huntington, S.P. (1993, Summer). The Clash of Civilizations? Foreign Affairs, 22-49.
• Huntington, S.P. (1996). The Clash of Civilizations and the Remaking of World Order. New York: Simon & Schuster.

More papers on The Clash of Civilizations:

• Analytical Essay # 15913 : "The Clash of Civilizations" by Samuel Huntington"
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• Book Review # 92081 : "'The Clash of Civilizations'"

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