Samuel P. Huntington's The Clash Of Civilization
Introduction
Different approaches attempt to explain the reasons of conflict and war in International Relations theory; most of them are related to power, ethnicity, self-interest, or “clash of civilizations”. Unlike power that seeks specifics of conflicts among nations; ethnicity explores the culture-based diversity between nations. The diversity between states might suggest that the states are not guided by principles but rather cultural factors. A number of international relations scholars have formulated discourse about the role of culture in conflict between states, however Samuel P. Huntington’s work on “The Clash of Civilizations?” published in Foreign Affairs of Summer 1993; is the main focus of this paper. Through his work, Huntington has made a significant contribution in shaping the theories of international relations. The aim of this article review is to critically analyze the arguments presented in Huntington’s work. Drawing from Huntington’s primary notion that the prime reason for international conflict is mainly due to
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His work challenges the fundamental realist idea that the world politics is driven by the state’s desire for power and security. He further asserts that this need to balance the power of other powerful states is the main reason leading to warfare among states is rather invalid. Thus, the theme of his work was that the most intense international warfare in the post-cold war was mainly due cultural, religious and civilizational factors. In other words, the international conflict post cold war would not be leaded by tensions between states, but rather clash between Western civilization and other (Islamic, Confucian, Japanese, Hindu, Slavic-Orthodox, Latin American and African) civilization because these civilizations as the author asserts possess a challenge to the Western values and
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