The Clash of Civilizations?: The Debate

The consummate collection of readings on contemporary international relations. According to Samuel Huntingtons seminal 1993 essay The Clash of Civilizations world politics is entering a new phase in which the great divisions among humankind and the dominating source of international conflict will be cultural. Civilizationsthe highest cultural groupings of peopleare differentiated from each other by religion history language and tradition. In the resulting era of cultural conflict that is emerging the United States must forge alliances with similar cultures and spread its values wherever possible. In Huntingtons final analysis the West must be accommodating if possible and confrontational if necessary; moreover all civilizations will have to learn to tolerate each other. This collection includes a series of responses to Huntingtons original essay by eminent writers in the field. Contents includes articles originally published in Foreign Affairs including: "The Clash of Civilizations?" by Samuel Huntington Foreign Affairs Summer 1993 "The Summoning" by Fouad Ajami Foreign Affairs September/October 1993 "The Dangers of Decadence" by Kishore Mahbubani Foreign Affairs September/October 1993 "The Case for Optimism" by Robert L. Bartley Foreign Affairs September/October 1993 "Civilization Grafting" by Liu Binyan Foreign Affairs September/October 1993 "The Modernizing Imperative" by Jeane J. Kirkpatrick Foreign Affairs September/October 1993 "Do Civilizations Hold?" by Albert L. Weeks Foreign Affairs September/October 1993 "The West is the Best" by Gerard Piel Foreign Affairs September/October 1993 "If Not Civilizations What?" by Samuel Huntington Foreign Affairs November/December 1993