BULAN, JULIE FAITH, A.

BA POL SCI 3
TTh 9:00- 10:30 MAY 2022

CLASH OF CIVILIZATIONS
Samuel Huntington

The Clash of Civilizations and the Remaking of World Order is an elaboration of Samuel
Huntington's 1993 Foreign Affairs paper, which postulated a new post-Cold War world order.
Huntington argues in the first section that global politics has become multipolar and
multicivilizational. In other words, the world comprises a variety of great powers and civilizations
that interact on a global scale. Along with the second part, Huntington focuses on the shift away
from Western power and toward Asian and Islamic civilizations that religion is playing a larger
and more important role in global politics.
Huntington contends in the third section that international politics are restructuring along
the lines of different civilizations. The principal states of each of the seven civilizations are
currently the key players in international politics. In the last sections of his book, Huntington
addresses the West's competitors and whether external and internal problems will diminish the
West's power. As a result, preserving Western culture is critical to guarantee that the world can
retain the multi-civilizational structure of international politics.
Huntington's claim that cultural differences produce conflict because they are fundamental
implies that there must be an inherent inflexibility is commonly acknowledged that cultural
standards vary over time, especially on fundamental concerns such as individual vs societal values.
Huntington considers "values, beliefs, institutions, and social structures" to be the most
important distinguishing elements amongst people and defines civilizations as locations where
these factors are distinct. Huntington does not feel that physical characteristics have a substantial
role in identifying one person from another.
To conclude, The West must cease attempting to universalize and instead allow other
civilizations to retain their distinct cultures and traditions. Only by rejecting multiculturalism and
embracing multicivilizational will the world avert significant civilizational conflicts.

Citation:

Huntington, Samuel P. The Clash of Civilizations and the Remaking of World Order.
New York, NY: Simon and Schuster, 1996. Retrieved from:
https://www.beyondintractability.org/bksum/huntington-clashCritical

Huntington, Samuel P. Critical analysis: A story guide of Clash of Civilizations.

Retrieved from: https://www.gradesaver.com/the-clash-of-civilizations

INTERNATIONAL CONFLICT: CLASH OF CIVILIZATIONS: BOOK REVIEW