Cause Of Conflict Between Civilizations

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The final reason for the increase of conflicts between civilizations is economic regionalism. This economic regionalism reinforces civilization-consciousness that was discussed earlier, but it will only succeed when it is applied to a common civilization. For example, “Common culture is clearly facilitating the rapid expansion of the economic relations between the People’s Republic of China and Hong Kong, Taiwan, Singapore, and the overseas Chinese communities in other Asian countries” (Huntington, 28). Similarity in culture can help civilizations overcome differences in ideology. However, the stronger ethnic or religious identity can also create a divisive outlook. The author states, “As people define their identity in ethnic and religious terms, they are likely to see an “us” versus “them” relation exiting between themselves and people of different ethnicity or religion” (29). This “us” versus “them” mentality causes differences in policies that span through every aspect of a civilization with little room for negotiation, which is the cause of conflict between civilizations. There is a historical background to these clashes. There has been conflict between Western and Islamic civilizations for years. In the past, the religious power changes hands between Christianity and Islam every few centuries. Eventually, these conflicts extended into wars. According to the author, “After World War II, the West, in turn, began to retreat; the colonial empires disappeared; first Arab

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