Book Summary
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The West won the world not by the superiority of its ideas or values or religion […] but rather by its superiority in applying organized violence. Westerners often forget this fact; non-Westerners never do.
The Clash of Civilizations and the Remaking of World Order
With a new prologue by Zbigniew Brzezinski, this classic study of post-Cold War international affairs is more relevant than ever in the post-9/11 world.
The Clash of Civilizations and the Remaking of World Order has become a classic work of international relations and one of the most significant books ever written on foreign affairs since its first publication. It is as important to our understanding of American foreign policy now as it was the day it was written, as it is an astute and compelling explanation of the factors driving global politics. "It has earned a position on the shelf of only about a dozen or so genuinely timeless books that give the key insights necessary for a wide knowledge of international politics in our day," writes former National Security Adviser Zbigniew Brzezinski in his new preface to the book.
Conflicts between civilizations are the biggest threat to world peace, according to Samuel Huntington, but an international order founded on civilizations is the strongest guarantee against conflict. The wisdom of its analysis has been shown by events following the book's release. The assaults of September 11th, 2001, and the conflicts in Iraq and Afghanistan have underlined the menace of civilizations, as well as the importance of international cross-civilization collaboration in reestablishing peace. World politics has been reshaped as ideological divisions between states have been supplanted by cultural differences. New conflicts—and new cooperation—have replaced the Cold War's old order across the world.
The Clash of Civilizations and the Remaking of World Order examines how the Muslim world's population expansion and East Asia's economic ascent are altering global politics. These changes put Western supremacy in jeopardy, encourage resistance to ostensibly "universal" Western ideas, and exacerbate intercivilizational conflict on topics like nuclear proliferation, immigration, human rights, and democracy. The development of China might lead to a worldwide battle of civilizations, as the Muslim population increase has sparked several local conflicts across Eurasia. Huntington proposes a plan for the West to maintain its distinctive culture while also emphasizing the need for people all around the globe to learn to cohabit in a complicated, multipolar, multicivilizational environment.
The West won the world not by the superiority of its ideas or values or religion […] but rather by its superiority in applying organized violence. Westerners often forget this fact; non-Westerners never do.
