The Clash of Civilizations

Huntington defines a civilization as the broadest cultural grouping of people as well as the broadest level of cultural identity. A civilizational identity is something beyond local or even national identifiers. A person from America and a person from Spain will have different local and national identities; according to Huntington, however, they have a shared common identity linked to the culture, norms, and religions practiced across “the West.” Conversely, a man from Germany and a man from Japan will be more aware of the distinct differences between their values and cultures than they would be when each facing someone from their own civilization (the West and Japan, respectively). Huntington lists seven major existing civilizations as the future forces of conflict and power in the world: Western Christian, Confucian, Japanese, Hindu and Buddhist, Islamic, Slavic-Orthodox, and Latin American communities, with African civilization as “possibly” a similarly powerful entity in the future. A common criticism of “The Clash of Civilizations?” is that Huntington treats non-Western cultures as monolithic, as when he groups all of sub-Saharan Africa into one civilization despite the region’s incredible diversity of cultures.