Samuel Huntington’s Theory: A Clash of Civilizations

I was introduced to Samuel Huntington’s Theory: A Clash of Civilizations as I neared the end of “Against All Enemies” by Richard A. Clarke. I decided to further investigate in the hope of a better understanding.

An Interview with Samuel Huntington

Interviewed by Amina R. Chaudary, for Islamica Magazine www.islamicamagazine.com

In the following interview, Samuel Huntington attempts to defend his "Clash of Civilizations" theory by admitting the internal diversity of both the West and the Muslim world, although he maintains that the most important dichotomy in the post Cold War world remains the supposed divide between the West and Islam. However, Huntington is silent on the fascinating phenomenon of shared cultural values between members of the same socio-economic class around the world. He also fails to insert the significance of sizable religious minorities in both the Muslim world and the West. 

In the end, the "Clash of Civilizations" thesis is remarkable only in its continued ability to mystify the hegemonic drive of the world's political and economic power brokers; as if the U.S. invasion of Iraq was primarily motivated by deep-seeded misunderstandings between the American and Iraqi people rather than the desire to secure Middle East oil reserves. But the reader should draw her own conclusions.

For 13 years, three words have dominated the discourse on cultural, international, and religious affairs as they relate to foreign policy in our times. The "clash of civilizations," as argued by Harvard University Professor Samuel Huntington, has stirred heated debate across the globe, but particularly among many Muslim nations. His theory is often interpreted to proclaim a fundamental incompatibility between the "Christian West" and the "Muslim World."  The scale of impact it has had on global politics is sometimes difficult to comprehend.

A Google search of  "clash of civilizations," for example, produced 2.62 million hits, and to this day, this famous phrase is quoted in newspapers, books, journals, and articles from around the world.  One of the most recent global acknowledgments of Huntington's theory is from the United Nations, which under the patronage of Kofi Annan, launched an initiative called the "The Alliance of Civilizations" -- presumably as a means of countering this "clash."  The influence of Huntington's ideas is readily apparent, and will most likely continue to remain at the forefront of international relations for decades.

I had the opportunity to sit with Professor Huntington and ask him to elaborate on this controversial theory. His home is small and quaint, a historic relic tucked away on a quiet brick-lined street in downtown Boston. One wouldn't imagine that behind such a controversial and combative theory is someone so quiet and soft-spoken. He introduced me to his wife, kindly offered something to drink, and asked me about the weather. We then began to discuss politics of the day.

 After about an hour of discussion and questions, I came to better understand not only his famous theory, but also arguments from his more recent works.  I left with a better sense of his views and began to consider that the idea we know popularly to be the "clash of civilizations" may not be the thesis that Huntington originally conceived. Many use the "clash" as a way of supporting a line of reasoning that combines the Muslim world into one monolithic entity, something he explicitly denies.

 I was not sure what to expect before we began our discussion.  Nonetheless, I had a few questions that I dove right into. I also decided to use "the Muslim World" as opposed to Muslim majority countries or any other simplified title, just to be consistent with his thesis and to facilitate the flow of our, what I hoped to be, engaging discussion.

AMINA R. CHAUDARY:  I'd like to begin with a general question on your book "The Clash of Civilizations." Your theory on the clash of civilizations argues that "current global politics should be understood as the result of deep-seated conflicts between the great cultures and religions of the world."

This thesis gained momentum as a result of Sept. 11, and now the war against terrorism is often defined in terms of the West against Islam as a fundamental clash between these two civilizations. Do you feel that your thesis is accurately used when describing the war against terrorism as a war of the West against Islam? If not, what modifications to that application of your theory would you make?

SAMUEL HUNTINGTON:  The argument in my book on the clash of civilization was well reflected in that short quote saying that the relations between countries in the coming decade are most likely to reflect their cultural commitments, their cultural ties and antagonism with other countries. Quite obviously power will continue to play a central role in global politics as it always does. But usually there is something else. In the 18th century in Europe, the issues to a large extent involved questions of monarchy and monarchy versus the emerging republican movements, first in America and then in France.

In the 19th century it was basically nationality and people trying to define their nationalism and create states which would reflect their nationalism. In the 20th century, ideology came to the fore, largely, but not exclusively, as a result of the Russian Revolution and we have fascism, communism and liberal democracy competing with each other. Well that's pretty much over. The other two (fascism and communism) have not entirely disappeared but have been sidelined certainly, and liberal democracy has come to be accepted, in theory at least, around the world, if not always in practice.

So the question really is what will be the central focus of global politics in the coming decades and my argument is that cultural identities and cultural antagonisms and affiliations will play not the only role but a major role. Countries will cooperate with each other, and are more likely to cooperate with each other when they share a common culture, as is most dramatically illustrated in the European Union. But other groupings of countries are emerging in East Asia and in South America. Basically, as I said, these politics will be oriented around, in large part, cultural similarities and cultural antagonism.

AMINA R. CHAUDARY:  So, if your thesis entirely explains relations between states post 9/11, then how do you situate the alliance between, for example, Pakistan and the United States against Afghanistan for example, or similar types of relationships?

SAMUEL HUNTINGTON:  Well, obviously Pakistan and the U.S. are very different countries, but we have common geopolitical interests in preventing communist take over in Afghanistan and hence, now that Pakistan has a government that we can cooperate with, even though it is a military government, we are working together with them in order to promote our common interests. But obviously we also differ with Pakistan on a number of issues.

AMINA R. CHAUDARY:  You said in your book, "For 45 years, the Iron Curtain was the central dividing line in Europe. That line has moved several hundred miles east. It is now the line separating the peoples of Western Christianity, on the one hand, from Muslim and Orthodox peoples on the other."

Some scholars have reacted to such an analysis by stating that making such a dichotomous distinction between the West and Islam implies that there is a great uniformity within those two categories. Additionally some argue that such a distinction implies that Islam does not exist within the Western world. I understand that this is a criticism you have often received. In general, how do you react to such an analysis?

SAMUEL HUNTINGTON:  The implication, which you say some people draw, is totally wrong. I don't say that the West is united, I don't suggest that. Obviously there are divisions within the West and divisions within Islam -- there are different sects, different communities, different countries. So neither one is homogeneous at all. But they do have things in common. People everywhere talk about Islam and the West. Presumably that has some relationship to reality, that these are entities that have some meaning and they do. Of course the core of that reality is differences in religion.

AMINA R. CHAUDARY:  Is there any reconciliation or point of convergence between, as is often described, both sides of this "Iron Curtain"?

SAMUEL HUNTINGTON:  First, you say "both sides," but as I said, both sides are divided and Western countries collaborate with Muslim countries and vice versa. I think it's a mistake, let me just repeat, to think in terms of two homogeneous sides starkly confronting each other. Global politics remains extremely complex and countries have different interests, which will also lead them to make what might seem as rather bizarre friends and allies.

The U.S. has and still is cooperating with various military dictatorships around the world. Obviously we would prefer to see them democratized, but we are doing it because we have national interests, whether it's working with Pakistan on Afghanistan or whatever.

AMINA R. CHAUDARY:  You have also recently said that communism disintegrated because it relied on ideology as opposed to religion and culture as a means of binding a society together. So as a result, when people became disillusioned by that ideology, as they always do, the countries fell apart. Similarly, you have argued that as civilization changes in America, it has moved toward focusing on democratic liberalism as an ideology.

SAMUEL HUNTINGTON:  That always has been the American ideology.

AMINA R. CHAUDARY:  Right. So how do you see this trend developing in America, in terms of the relation to the fall of the Soviet Union as they focused on communism as an ideology and what lessons do you think America should learn from that experience?

SAMUEL HUNTINGTON:  That's a very interesting question. As I said, since the revolution of the 18th century, America has basically had an ideology of liberal democracy and constitutionalism.  Generally, in my other writings, however, I try to avoid the use of the term ideology to describe this. I talk of American beliefs and values.

When you mention the word ideology, everyone has communism in the back of their minds, which was an entirely well formulated ideology and statement of belief. You read the Communist Manifesto and you know what the core of it is. What we have, however, is a looser set of values and beliefs, which have remained fairly constant for two and a half centuries or so.  And that's really rather striking.

Obviously changes and adaptations in it have occurred as a result of economic development, industrialization, the huge wave of immigrants that have come to this country, economic crisis, depression, and world wars - all of these have had an effect. But the core of the American set of beliefs has remained pretty constant.

If one of the drafters of the Declaration of Independence came back today, he would not be surprised about what Americans were saying and believing and articulating in their public statements. It would all sound rather familiar.

Other countries have gone through rather dramatic changes in outlook, from the clash of the monarchies and their replacement by republican regimes or communist regimes in various parts of Eurasia.  Nationalism is a central ideology for people who are trying to establish their own states in which they can play a dominant role.

So as far as ideology or political beliefs are concerned, countries are very different. In addition, of course, two significant developments in the past several decades have been the collapse of communism as an ideology and the general acceptance, as you said, in rhetoric, if not practice, of liberal democracy.