The Clash of Civilizations in the Light of Multilaterlism
Samuel Phillips Huntington’s The Clash of Civilizations?
Multilateralism in the Light of Cultural Tensions
Table of Contents
Table of Contents p. 2
1. Introduction p. 3
2. To what Extent does Culture Constitute a Unifying Force? p. 3
3. Contesting the Clash of Civilizations: Genocide and Multiculturalism p. 5
4. The Applicability of Huntington: Unity in Diversity p. 6
List of References p. 8
1. Introduction
Facing the preceding worldwide terrorist attacks, different approaches towards cultural analyses seem to be of major importance, to emphasize the derivations, and to analyze foreseeable cultural developments. Having said that, one of the most important political scientists in the 20th century, who elaborated on the mentioned developments and the appropriate causes, constituted Samuel Phillips Huntington. Huntington argued, that the decline of the era of ideologies gave birth to a new era of future conflicts. His claim is, that upcoming tensions will be along religious and cultural fault lines. Therefore, Huntington drew spheres between the world population, and advocated that this division of civilization trends to be the main cause of conflicts. “The fault lines between civilizations will be the battle lines of the future” (Huntington, 1993, p. 22). Political scientists, like Michael Ignatieff, opposed Huntington’s simplifications of clashing cultures, and introduced further interpretations, which finally led to utterly different conclusions of civilization. This paper will examine the different theories of Huntington and Ignatieff, and will reveal different classifications of civilizations. In doing so, this paper will shed light on the matter of civilization and its reductionist application by Huntington, while implicating the theory of Michael Ignatieff. Furthermore, this paper will point out if Huntington’s theory is applicable to
Multilateralism in the Light of Cultural Tensions
Table of Contents
Table of Contents p. 2
1. Introduction p. 3
2. To what Extent does Culture Constitute a Unifying Force? p. 3
3. Contesting the Clash of Civilizations: Genocide and Multiculturalism p. 5
4. The Applicability of Huntington: Unity in Diversity p. 6
List of References p. 8
1. Introduction
Facing the preceding worldwide terrorist attacks, different approaches towards cultural analyses seem to be of major importance, to emphasize the derivations, and to analyze foreseeable cultural developments. Having said that, one of the most important political scientists in the 20th century, who elaborated on the mentioned developments and the appropriate causes, constituted Samuel Phillips Huntington. Huntington argued, that the decline of the era of ideologies gave birth to a new era of future conflicts. His claim is, that upcoming tensions will be along religious and cultural fault lines. Therefore, Huntington drew spheres between the world population, and advocated that this division of civilization trends to be the main cause of conflicts. “The fault lines between civilizations will be the battle lines of the future” (Huntington, 1993, p. 22). Political scientists, like Michael Ignatieff, opposed Huntington’s simplifications of clashing cultures, and introduced further interpretations, which finally led to utterly different conclusions of civilization. This paper will examine the different theories of Huntington and Ignatieff, and will reveal different classifications of civilizations. In doing so, this paper will shed light on the matter of civilization and its reductionist application by Huntington, while implicating the theory of Michael Ignatieff. Furthermore, this paper will point out if Huntington’s theory is applicable to
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