The Clash of Civilizations and the Remaking of World Order

Huntington presents a nuanced view of Western power, contrasting its apparent dominance with evidence of long-term decline. On one hand, the West, led by the United States, holds disproportionate influence over global institutions, military affairs, economic systems, and cultural production. It controls hard currencies, international banking, advanced technology, and high-tech weaponry, and is capable of significant military intervention. This power enables it to shape political and economic outcomes in every region, rendering other civilizations dependent on Western cooperation to achieve their goals. 

Huntington juxtaposes this dominance, however, with signs of Western “decline” (82). Economic power is increasingly shifting to East Asia, India is emerging as a potential major power, and Islamic societies are becoming more resistant to Western influence. Internally, the West struggles with slow economic growth, demographic stagnation, social disintegration, and declining morale. Huntington cites scholars who note that American relative power, both economically and militarily, is eroding in favor of regional powers like China, India, and Iran, and to nonstate actors like multinational corporations.

Huntington argues that both images of Western power, dominance and decline, are simultaneously true. While the West will remain dominant into the early 21st century, fundamental shifts are underway. As the West’s global primacy diminishes, power is being redistributed to regional civilizations, particularly in Asia.