The Clash of Civilizations and the Remaking of World Order
The Clash of Civilizations and the Remaking of World Order is an influential and controversial book on grand strategy and world futures, by the late political scientist Samuel Huntington. [1] It takes a darker view than some alternative models, such as that of Thomas P.M. Barnett in The Pentagon's New Map.[2]
Huntington's basic premise is that a number of great cultures are in unavoidable conflict:
- Western: Beginning in AD 700, Huntington says it still has three subcomponents: European, North American, and Latin American. It also includes European-settled countries such as Australia and New Zealand
- Latin American: While the civilization has European and North American roots, it has a distinct identity. Huntington's rationale for separating it is its political interactions more than its cultural ones
- Islamic: Clearly beginning in the seventh century, while it has an inherent concept of unity (i.e., Dar al Hab and Dar al Islam, there is still strong factionalization into Arab, Turkic, Persian, Malay and other subcivilizations
- Sinic: dating back at least to 1500 BC and perhaps a millenium earlier, Huntington referred to this as Confucian in earlier works but considers Sinic more accurate, to include Vietnamese and Korean civilizations — although Vietnamese and Koreans might have hearty objections
- Hindu
- Orthodox
- Japanese: an offshoot of Sinic, which was recognizable somewhere between 100 and 400 AD.
A pan-African civilization does not now exist, but may form.
Some of his lists include a Buddhist civilization, but he argues that it is largely extinct in India and has been absorbed in China and Japan. The places where the strongest arguments can be made are Burma, Cambodia, Laos, Sri Lanka and Thailand (Therevada Buddhist subcivilization); Bhutan, Mongolia and Tibet (Lamaist Mahayana Buddhist). [3]He does not include Vietnamese culture as Buddhist.