Table of Contents
“The Clash of Civilizations and the Remaking of World Order” is a book by political scientist Samuel P. Huntington published in 1996. It’s an expansion of his 1993 Foreign Affairs article, “The Clash of Civilizations?”.
The central argument of the book is that the sources of conflict in the post-Cold War era are primarily related to differences among the world’s diverse cultures and civilizations, rather than ideological or economic differences between states. Huntington argues that culture, including religion, is a more important factor in determining a nation’s development than economic or political systems.
Huntington defines civilizations as the broadest cultural entities, and he divides the world into eight major civilizations: Western, Confucian (which he later refers to as Sinic), Japanese, Islamic, Hindu, Slavic-Orthodox, Latin American and African. He also identifies possible civilizations in the future, such as the Caribbean and the Orthodox world of Eurasia.
Huntington theorizes that the conflicts of the future will occur along the cultural fault lines separating these civilizations. He points to the increasing strength of non-Western civilizations relative to the West, and argues that a “clash of civilizations” is an inevitable result of these historical processes.
In the book, he also discusses the “kin-country syndrome,” where countries belonging to the same civilization naturally ally with each other during conflicts. Huntington’s concept of the “torn country” refers to a country that is culturally divided and must choose between aligning its society with one civilization or another.
While acknowledging that democracy and economic development can have positive effects within individual civilizations, Huntington argues that the Western belief in the universal relevance of Western culture is naive and potentially dangerous. The West, he suggests, should recognize the power and relevance of other civilizations and their values, and attempt to coexist peacefully and cooperatively with them, rather than trying to impose Western values.
Critics argue that Huntington’s “clash of civilizations” theory is overly pessimistic and that it overlooks the potential for cooperation, interdependence, and shared understanding among different civilizations. Despite the criticism, the book has had a significant impact on the field of international relations and has influenced political and military thinking about the post-Cold War world.
Hunting’s thesis in The Clash of Civilizations that there is an original and irreconcilable divide between the nations of the world. They each belong to different civilizations. And each civilization is marked by different values and beliefs and political systems – there is no universal culture. And because of these differences, an upcoming clash between competing civilizations is almost certain.
Religion and Culture
Political ideology, according to Huntington, is an anomaly. For a brief moment, states were capable, through political dogmas, to mobilize their people, to imbue their lives with meaning, and to unite them. But after the end of the Cold War, the world has reverted back to its normal state of affairs, where religion and culture take precedence over politics and economics. Russia reverted back to Orthodoxy, and the Arab nations back to Islam. New patterns of cohesion within states took formed, and new patterns of conflict between states formed as well.
There are eight civilizations in the world.
- Sinic (China, Korea, Vietnam)
- Japanese (Japanese nation)
- Hindu (India)
- Islamic (North Africa, Arab, Persian, Turkic, Malay)
- Orthodox (Russia)
- Western (Europe + North America)
- Latin America (Central America + South America)
- Africa (African continent)
Huntington forms his thesis, partly as a reaction to the lack of coherent paradigms that are capable of predicting the global political order.
Before 1500 AD, civilizations were separated by geography. Ideas were slow to travel. Change was gradual, and occurred over centuries. Post 1500, ideas spread rapidly, with advances in ocean navigation, which made the world much smaller.
In the 20th Century, the West no longer influences the Rest. Cultural influence has become interdependent.
The Western decline has been very slow, which poses no immediate threat to the world. The decline could reverse or speed up, and is influenced by those who hold positions of power.
The loss of belief in political ideology in the previous century created a vacuum. Religion filled the vacuum, the way it had for centuries. The increase in communication, combined with a general loss of meaning, identity, and morality, has paved the way for a religious revival.
Resistance
Asian societies are less responsive to U.S pressure than they used to be. Huntington cites Hong Kong, South Korea, Taiwan, Singapore, and Japan as examples. These countries have developed without the cultural influence of the West. Economics and technology are value-system ambivalent.
The Islamic civilization has rejected European values, but have accepted modernism, and Huntington that the importance given to the Islamic religion is because of the failure of the state in previous decades, in addition to a large youth population, and authoritarian leadership.
The Emerging Order of Civilizations
During the Cold Warn, countries were forced to pick sides; the U.S or the U,S.S.R. After the world war, this dichotomy was dissolved. There was more democratization of power. Core nation states, like France and Germany, became leaders of their European civilization. But Islamic civilization lacks a core state, which prevents Muslim nations from successful modernization.
Clashes of Civilization
The future clash of between civilizations will be between Sino, Islam versus the West. According to non-western states, the west has only managed to maintain global leadership, because of military power (and non-proliferation is non-Western states), the promotion of western values globally, and the restriction of immigrants into the West.
The conflict between Islam and the West is due to the historical conflict between Islam and Christianity, differences between religious values, and a large young, unemployed Muslim population, who are targeted as recruits for Islamic causes.
The resurgence of Islam led to the reaffirmation of the relevance of Islam.
The West’s attempt to universalize its values and institutions led to Muslim resentment. Without Communism, Islam and the West see each other as enemies.
Asia
The economic success of East Asia and the military power of the Chinese, will lead to a state of conflict with the West. The alliance is likely to form is Sino/Islam versus the west. And this clash is the biggest threat to world peace.
Review
An important read about the difference between the civilizations of the world, and how culture and religion, far from being a peripheral force, are fundamental to understanding politics. Written in 1996, before 9/11, and the invasion of Afghanistan and Iraq by the U.S (without Western consensus), Huntington’s thesis is not without value. But some of the world’s major conflicts today are intra-civilizational (Russia versus Ukraine, Iran versus Saudi Arabia, China versus Kong Kong). Modern conflict seems to be less about religious and cultural differences than they are about political and economic differences. The intra-civilizational coalition (including Muslim countries) against ISIS undermines Huntington’s predictions.