The Clash of Civilizations: A Conflictology Perspective
The Clash of Civilizations: A Conflictology Perspective
Abbas Aroua, 2006
Centre for Conflict and Peace Studies – Cordoba Foundation of Geneva
First Forum of Aljazeera Centre for Studies on Islam and the West: For a Better World
Doha, 26-28 May 2006
Abstract: The “The Clash of Civilizations” thesis prompted a wide debate when Samuel P. Huntington publicised it with his 1993 controversial paper in Foreign Affairs (1), followed by his essay on “The Clash of Civilizations and the Remaking of World Order” published in 1996 (2). This thesis gained a renewed interest in the aftermath of the 9/11 event.
The thesis can by summarized by the idea that: “In the post-Cold War world the most important distinctions among peoples are not ideological, political, or economic. They are cultural”. It predicts that “conflict between groups in different civilizations will be more frequent, more sustained and more violent than conflicts between groups in the same civilization”. Huntington divides the world into nine “major civilizations”: African, Buddhist, Hindu, Islamic, Japanese, Latin American, Orthodox, Sinic, and Western.
