Oswald Spengler (1880-1936) was a German historian and philosopher best known for The Decline of the West (Der Untergang des Abendlandes), published in two volumes between 1918 and 1922. In this work, Spengler offered a sweeping, cyclical theory of world history, arguing that civilizations, like living organisms, pass through predetermined stages: Birth, development, fulfillment, decline, and death. He contended that Western civilization had entered its period of decline, characterized by decadence, materialism, and cultural exhaustion. Spengler rejected linear notions of progress and instead emphasized the fatalistic, organic decline of cultures. In The Clash of Civilizations, Huntington’s own theories of civilization are informed by Spengler’s earlier work, referring to Spengler’s theory of the decline of the West as “a central theme in twentieth-century history” (83).

Although Huntington distances himself from Spengler’s cultural determinism and pessimism, he draws on Spengler’s core idea that civilizations are the fundamental units of historical analysis. Spengler’s depiction of cultures as holistic and deeply rooted entities helps underpin Huntington’s own resistance to the idea of universal modernity or a single global civilization. Where Spengler sees the West as doomed, Huntington sees it as embattled and needing to be defended, reinvigorated, and understood in comparative, not universal, terms. 

Spengler’s work thus provides a philosophical backdrop to Huntington’s call for a multipolar world defined by civilizational identities rather than liberal homogenization. In this respect, Spengler provides a foundation for Huntington’s own theories. As Huntington describes civilizations defining themselves in opposition to other civilizations, Huntington defines his theories in opposition to Spengler’s earlier work.

Arnold J. Toynbee (1889-1975) was a British historian and philosopher of history, most famous for his 12-volume A Study of History (1934-1961), which attempted a comprehensive analysis of the rise and fall of civilizations. Toynbee developed a “challenge and response” theory, suggesting that civilizations advance by creatively responding to internal and external challenges. He identified over 20 major civilizations in world history and argued that the health and longevity of a civilization depended on the vitality of its cultural and spiritual elites.

Huntington regards Toynbee as a foundational thinker for his own civilizational framework, even if he is critical of Toynbee’s moral tone and spiritual determinism. What Huntington borrows is the comparative method: The idea that civilizations are distinct, complex, and long-lasting cultural entities that shape global order. Toynbee’s broad scope and attention to cultural patterns support Huntington’s conviction that civilizations do not easily change and are not readily subsumed into a global liberal project. Both thinkers suggest that understanding the past and trajectory of a civilization is essential to grasping its political behavior in the present, a central idea in The Clash of Civilizations.