The Alliance of Civilizations: The Poverty of the Clash/Alliance Dichotomy? (original) (raw)

The Clash Civilizations? A Critique

Pakistan Journal of Social Sciences , 2012

After the disintegration of former Soviet Union in 1989, debate started among the intellectuals as well as policy makers in USA about the future shape of world politics and role of the US in it. In this regard, early voice was Francis Fukuyama’s “The End of History” which focused on political ideologies as the main unit of analysis. To him, after the end of cold war, western liberal democracy has emerged as the final form of government. While participating in this debate, Samuel P. Huntington wrote his renowned article “The Clash of Civilizations?” in Foreign Affairs in 1993. Huntington gave an alternative interpretation about the future shape of world politics in the post- cold war era. He took difference in civilization as one of the important sources of conflicts in the world. In this article three important issues regarding Huntington’s “The Clash of Civilizations? have been addressed. These issues include conceptual strengths of Huntington’s thesis “The Clash of Civilizations?” ; academic strengths and weak points in “The Clash of Civilizations?”. Huntington’s “The Clash of Civilizations?” has also been analysed in this context of emerging contemporary international political system. To conclude, Huntington’s “The Clash of Civilizations?” was an alternative interpretation of the possible emergence of international political system. It was a response to liberals among US policy circles who were viewing liberal democracy as final form of government. While taking civilization as unit of analysis, Huntington attempted to explain emerging structure of international politics and American role in it. However, Huntington is futuristic in his approach.

The Ideological Function of the Huntington's Thesis about Clash of Civilizations

Kosovo and Metohija: Past, Present , Future. , 2006

This paper calls into question the fruitfulness as well as the ability of Huntington’s thesis about the clash of civilizations to offer an adequate conceptual, theoretical and methodological framework for explaining the armed conflicts at the end of the XX and the beginning of the XXI century, using the analysis of the war in Kosovo and Metohija as an example. On the basis of evidence of cooperation between members of different “civilizations,” of conflict between members of the same “civilization,” as well as on the basis of declarations by the transnational actors themselves about the real causes of the war in Kosovo and Metohija, this paper shows that Huntington’s thesis about the clash of civilizations has a twofold ideological function. The first is to divert attention from fundamental geo-strategic and political economic interests of transnational financial and corporate capital, militarily organized into NATO and under the leadership of the US, and the second is to turn the victims of recolonization against each other, in accordance with the age-old imperial rule –divide et impera.

Civilizations in International Relations: Huntington’s Theory of Conflict

2011

This is the third article of the OTB Special Section "Discussing Geopolitics", based on my Tsukuba University graduate-level intensive course “The Origins of Geopolitical Thinking” (spring 2010). As the title of this paper suggests, we are discussing some of the shortcomings of Samuel Huntington|s "Clash of Civilizations?" article.