Samuel Huntington`s Clash of Civilizations

p Clash of Civilizations

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Class Published nearly a decade before the terrorist attacks of September 11th , Sam Huntington 's Clash of Civilizations created quite a stir among students of political science , international affairs , and foreign policy worldwide . The , which was heavily read at the time , was later turned into a book The Clash of Civilizations and the Remaking of World in 1996 . Shortly after the September 11th attacks , Edward Said published in The Nation a long awaited response ' entitled The Clash of Ignorance . Both s addressed the

s of ideologies , culture and religion in international relations

According to Huntington , the Cold War was an ideological war between the West (USA , Western Europe , etc ) and the East (Soviet Union , Eastern Bloc nations ) and a battle between the forces of Capitalism and Communism . After the breakup of the Soviet Union in the early 1990s the world changed and future conflicts would not be about ideologies , but cultures and religions (Civilizations . As we are seeing today , the current source of conflict involving culture and religion is in the Middle East . Presently the European Union must decide if Turkey (the largest Muslim country in Europe ) should be allowed to join the twenty-five member organization . For Turkey to become a member-state it must impose specific economic and social reforms , thus it must undergo a sort of cultural reform within itself

Shortly after September 11th Said published The Clash of Ignorance in The Nation . There he argued against the so called Clash of Civilizations . He argued that the 8 civilizations ' that Huntington claimed existed were false , claiming that grouping all

nations in the West as having Western ' culture and values was wrong He also claimed that you couldn 't group all Muslim countries together and say you 've created a Muslim civilization . Said argued that creating the eight civilizations ' to better classify regions of the world is ludicrous . Using the September 11th hijackers to expand his point he stated if a small group of people from a civilization commit an act (Terrorism , is the entire group to blame ? The 8 civilizations ' are simply a convenient way to label the world and divide it into simple regions based on culture and religion (Said 2001

Many Muslim countries are ruled under harsh governments that the United States supports . Saudi Arabia , Iraq during the 1980s , and Egypt all government supported by the United States even while the people have been suffering . Many of the citizens of these countries see this as a political game . The US rushes to the aid of those needing assistance in the Balkans but when those in need in oil producing countries ask for help the United States is conveniently not available to assist . Poverty isn 't the only thing that Muslims suffer from it 's a lack of respect from the United States . They see the US helping Israel and shielding them in the international community , yet when does the United States stand up for the Palestinian state ? Although this does...