The Clash of Civilizations?

Foreign Affairs Summer 1993 Vol. 72 No. 3

n the early 1990s, most observers of world

politics were breathing a sigh of relief thanks to

the end of political and ideological struggles of the

Cold War. Not so fast, warned noted political
scientist Samuel P. Huntington. In this influential
essay (and later book), Huntington argued that
cultural struggles would be the next major fault
line in international politics. Religious
fundamentalism was on the march outside the
West, he claimed, and increasingly religious
nations would side with each other in struggles
against other civilizations. His bold argument
reached a huge audience worldwide, and was often
misinterpreted to mean that he favored conflict
against non-Western societies. Legitimate debates
sprang up, however, among those who questioned
whether civilizations were as unified as
Huntington implied and whether cultural factors
would really prove more important than more
traditional political, ideological, economic, or
strategic considerations.

Discussion Questions
1) What does Huntington see as the trends in the spread of
religious fundamentalism, and what are the causes of these
trends? Do you agree or disagree?
2) Why and when do religious or other cultural differences breed
conflict between different states? Can you think of states from
different civilizations that seem to get along well, or states
from the same civilization that are generally at odds?
3) What does Huntington mean when he says that the
paramount axis of world politics will be the relations between
the West and the Rest ? Do you agree?
4) Have events since the article was written seemed to bear out
or contradict Huntingtons thesis? Would Osama bin Laden
agree with him or disagree?
5) What do you think the foreign policy implications of
Huntingtons argument are?

Notes:
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