The Clash of Civilizations and the Remaking of World Order

The Clash of Civilizations is an influential and controversial work in the fields of international relations theory and political science. It asserts the primacy of cultural identity in shaping global order and disorder. At the heart of Huntington’s argument lies a fundamental reorientation of global conflict away from ideology and economics and toward culture and civilization. 

Huntington dismisses the universalist assumptions embedded in liberal internationalism, especially the idea that Western values are globally desirable and destined to prevail. Some critics have argued, however, that civilizations in his schema are treated as monolithic entities with coherent values and stable identities, sharply divided from one another and predisposed to competition. This essentialist framework overlooks the hybridity, contestation, and internal diversity that characterize any large-scale cultural formation. Islamic, Western, or Sinic civilizations are not singular actors but are riven by ideological disputes, class hierarchies, religious differences, and shifting geopolitical interests. By ignoring these fissures, critics have suggested, Huntington constructs an artificial geography of culture that tends to flatten complexity in the service of a binary logic of conflict.

Huntington’s concept of civilization could also be interpreted as naturalizing political conflict. By casting cultural difference as the primary fault line in international affairs, critics have said that he risks presenting violence as the inevitable outcome of cultural proximity or misunderstanding.