Globalization

8 Pages 1984 Words

GLOBALIZATION
AND CULTURAL IDENTITY


In the review of 'The Clash of civilazation and the remaking of world order', Stephen M. Walt concedes to the fact that, while Samuel P. Huntington's book may "enjoy a longer shelf life" than other works in its league, he ultimatly dismisses it as a "potentially dangerous blueprint for policy." Samuel Huntington says that 'the great divisions among humankind and the dominating source of conflict will be cultural' which in turn constitutes a 'Clash of Civilazations' because of differing norms and values. In an interview following the 9/11 attacks, Mr. Huntington was featured an a PBS series where he was asked to explain how his theory has held up over the years. Here he speaks of his "Clash of Civilization", a prelude to his in-depth explanation of the lessons we learned from the World Trade Center incident;
"Well I think the essence of the argument is that during the Twentieth Century and the Cold War, ideology was a key factor in international relations. The wars were between fascists, communists and liberal democratic countries. Ideology has faded from the scene and people no longer identify with ideologies; they identify with their cultures and cultures may exist at a very local level, but there are also broader cultural entities, and the broadest cultural entities are civilizations. And the argument of the book is that the most dangerous conflicts in the future will be between states and groups from different civilizations because these have a potential to escalate." And when asked about the 9/11 tragedy, he affirms his point with this:
"Following September eleventh, how did the world divide in terms of cultures and civilizations? The countries that are closest to us culturally--Britain, Canada, Australia--immediately came forward, sent military forces to work with ours. The reaction in Europe, part of Western civilization as we are, was again enthusiastic sympathy and expressions of sup...