LITERATURE
“The Clash of Civilizations” - Huntington
THE NEXT PATTERN OF CONFLICT
The con ict in world politics will not occur in nation-states, but in nations and
groups of di erent civilisations (clash of civilisations) . And the source of the
con ict is not ideological, economic or political, but cultural.
THE NATURE OF CIVILISATIONS
- It's a cultural entity: highest cultural grouping of people and broadest level of
cultural identity people have.
- It may involve a large or small group of people.
- It may have a subcivilisations.
- They are dynamic: they rise or fall, divide or merge.
WHY WILL CIVILISATIONS CLASH?
Huntington's divisions:
1. Confucian: common culture of China and Chinese communities in Southeast
Asia. Includes Vietnam and Korea.
2. Japanese: distinctively di erent from the rest of Asia.
3. Hindu: core Indian civilisation
4. Islamic: originating on the Arabian Peninsula, spread across North Africa, Iberian
Peninsula and Central Asia. Arab, Turkic, Persian and Malay are among the
many distinct subdivisions within Islam.
5. Orthodox: Russia, separate from Western Christendom
6. Western: Europe and North America.
7. Latin American: Central and South American countries with a past of a
corporatist, authoritarian culture. Majority of countries are of a Catholic majority.
8. Africa: while the continent lacks a sense of a pan-African identity, Huntington
claims that Africans are also increasingly developing a sense of Identity.
REASON FOR CONFLICT
The future con icts will occur along the cultural fault lines separating civilisations:
1. Di erences among civilisations are basic: people have di erent views and are
fundamental among political ideologies and political regimes. Di erences in
1 di 10
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, culture and religion create di erences over policy issues, ranging from human
rights to immigration to trade and commerce to the environment. As a result,
over the centuries, di erences among civilisations generated the most
prolonged and most violent con icts.
2. The world is becoming a smaller place. The interactions between peoples of
di erent civilisations are increasing and they intensify civilisation consciousness
and awareness of di erences and commonalities.
3. Processes of economic modernisation and social change throughout the world
are separating people from long standing local identities. They also weaken the
nation state as a source of identity.
4. Growth of civilisation-consciousness is enhanced by the dual role of the West. A
de-Westernization and indigenization occurred in non-western countries. At the
same time, Western, usually American, became more popular among the mass
of the people. While the world is becoming more modern, it is simultaneously
becoming less Western.
5. Cultural characteristics and di erences are less mutable and hence less easily
compromised and resolved than political and economic ones. In ideological
con icts, it’s easy to switch sides. But in cultural con icts, it’s not easy to
because it constitutes a large part of an individual's identity.
6. Economic regionalism increase: it will reinforce civilisation-consciousness, but it
may only succeed if it’s based on common culture between di erent civilisations
The clash of civilisations will occur in 2 levels:
- Micro: adjacent groups along the fault lines between civilisations struggle, often
violently, over the control of territory and each other.
- Macro: states of di erent civilisations compete for military and economic power
THE FAULT LINES BETWEEN CIVILISATIONS
They are replacing the ideological and political boundaries set by the Cold war and
are ash points for crisis or con ict. They are more cultural and religious: as the
ideological boundary fades, it is replaced by cultural boundaries between western
christianity and orthodox christianity, and Islam.
Huntington predicts and describes the great clashes that will occur among
civilisations. First, he anticipates a coalition or cooperation between Islamic and
Sinic cultures against a common enemy, the West. There are 3 issues that separate
the West from the rest, seen as an attempt to enforce and maintain their status as
the cultural hegemony.
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“The Clash of Civilizations” - Huntington
THE NEXT PATTERN OF CONFLICT
The con ict in world politics will not occur in nation-states, but in nations and
groups of di erent civilisations (clash of civilisations) . And the source of the
con ict is not ideological, economic or political, but cultural.
THE NATURE OF CIVILISATIONS
- It's a cultural entity: highest cultural grouping of people and broadest level of
cultural identity people have.
- It may involve a large or small group of people.
- It may have a subcivilisations.
- They are dynamic: they rise or fall, divide or merge.
WHY WILL CIVILISATIONS CLASH?
Huntington's divisions:
1. Confucian: common culture of China and Chinese communities in Southeast
Asia. Includes Vietnam and Korea.
2. Japanese: distinctively di erent from the rest of Asia.
3. Hindu: core Indian civilisation
4. Islamic: originating on the Arabian Peninsula, spread across North Africa, Iberian
Peninsula and Central Asia. Arab, Turkic, Persian and Malay are among the
many distinct subdivisions within Islam.
5. Orthodox: Russia, separate from Western Christendom
6. Western: Europe and North America.
7. Latin American: Central and South American countries with a past of a
corporatist, authoritarian culture. Majority of countries are of a Catholic majority.
8. Africa: while the continent lacks a sense of a pan-African identity, Huntington
claims that Africans are also increasingly developing a sense of Identity.
REASON FOR CONFLICT
The future con icts will occur along the cultural fault lines separating civilisations:
1. Di erences among civilisations are basic: people have di erent views and are
fundamental among political ideologies and political regimes. Di erences in
1 di 10
ff fl fl ff fl ff ff ff
, culture and religion create di erences over policy issues, ranging from human
rights to immigration to trade and commerce to the environment. As a result,
over the centuries, di erences among civilisations generated the most
prolonged and most violent con icts.
2. The world is becoming a smaller place. The interactions between peoples of
di erent civilisations are increasing and they intensify civilisation consciousness
and awareness of di erences and commonalities.
3. Processes of economic modernisation and social change throughout the world
are separating people from long standing local identities. They also weaken the
nation state as a source of identity.
4. Growth of civilisation-consciousness is enhanced by the dual role of the West. A
de-Westernization and indigenization occurred in non-western countries. At the
same time, Western, usually American, became more popular among the mass
of the people. While the world is becoming more modern, it is simultaneously
becoming less Western.
5. Cultural characteristics and di erences are less mutable and hence less easily
compromised and resolved than political and economic ones. In ideological
con icts, it’s easy to switch sides. But in cultural con icts, it’s not easy to
because it constitutes a large part of an individual's identity.
6. Economic regionalism increase: it will reinforce civilisation-consciousness, but it
may only succeed if it’s based on common culture between di erent civilisations
The clash of civilisations will occur in 2 levels:
- Micro: adjacent groups along the fault lines between civilisations struggle, often
violently, over the control of territory and each other.
- Macro: states of di erent civilisations compete for military and economic power
THE FAULT LINES BETWEEN CIVILISATIONS
They are replacing the ideological and political boundaries set by the Cold war and
are ash points for crisis or con ict. They are more cultural and religious: as the
ideological boundary fades, it is replaced by cultural boundaries between western
christianity and orthodox christianity, and Islam.
Huntington predicts and describes the great clashes that will occur among
civilisations. First, he anticipates a coalition or cooperation between Islamic and
Sinic cultures against a common enemy, the West. There are 3 issues that separate
the West from the rest, seen as an attempt to enforce and maintain their status as
the cultural hegemony.
2 di 10
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