Definition

The term “Clash of Civilizations,” made famous by US political scientist Samuel Huntington, implies that culture will be the principal source of conflict in the post-Cold War world rather than ideology or national identity. Western (Protestant and Catholic Christian), Islamic, Confucian, Japanese, Latin American, Hindu, Orthodox Slavic,  Islam, Hinduism, Japanese, and Orthodox Slavic cultures are the civilization analyzed in the concept. 

Clash of Civilizations Explanation

While nation-states will continue to play a significant role in international affairs, they will create alliances based on common cultures, like family members. Second, he predicts that the other civilizations would reject the West, which will be diminished by comparative demographic and economic decline, out of anger at western cultural hegemony and political dominance.

He suggests that western cultures should increase adherence to their fundamental cultural values, abstain from meddling with other civilizations, and put more effort into preserving a stable power balance between the core states of competing civilizations.

Criticism

People who firmly disagree with the premise that religion plays a role in international politics have often criticized Huntington for exaggerating the internal cohesiveness of his civilizations. Although his openness to regard other cultures as civilizations with qualities implies otherwise, he has been accused of being an advocate for the West.

He has been criticized for ignoring evidence that all civilizations develop similarly as they get more affluent. He is accused of exaggerating the fundamental contradiction between the ideals of different civilizations. In the early 1990s, when the Asian economies were thriving, his fear about the relative financial downfall of the West sounded realistic. However, a decade later, it looked like a foolish prognosis.

Studies of recent conflicts, most of which focus on the national rivalry between neighbors and separatist efforts, do not support the theory either. Huntington can, ironically, end up being correct for the wrong reasons. The US invasion of Iraq in 2003 and other US foreign policy measures have led to a sharp rise in anti-American sentiment across the Muslim world.