Islam and the Clash of Civilizations
World civilization has known in the last decades some of the most important political, economic, and in particular cultural developments of the 20th century. The era after the end of the Cold War determined a series of events that triggered numerous conflicts around the world, from the war in Kuwait in the early 1990s, to the genocide in Rwanda, human rights abuses and apartheid in South Africa, to the escalation of the terrorist phenomenon to dimensions never attained before.
The peak of the terrorist threat was reached on September 11, 2001 when the attacks on the World Trade Center in New York fully demonstrated the power, influence, and capacity terrorist groups can master. Along with the terrorist phenomenon, the other regional conflicts still ongoing in parts of the Middle East and Africa, point out the increased differences that exist throughout the world between different types of civilizations, cultures, and economic development. From this point-of-view, the theory presented by Samuel Huntington in his article, "The clash of civilization" from 1993 can be seen as valid to explain the conflicts and clashes that persist between the Western world represented in particular by the United States and the Islamic world. The differences that exist between the two major cultural and civilizational blocks are at the core of the conflicts that are constant between the two. Despite the fact that the idea of "clash of civilization" is a term and theory established in a period in which terrorism was not the most significant threat to the national security of a state, Huntington was right in pointing out that the new conflicts the world would be engaged in after the Cold War would be fought against the civilizational lines of peoples and cultures. The clash between the United States as representative of the Western world and the Islamic world are a proof of this theory.
The Clash of Civilization theory proposed by Samuel Huntington in his 1993 article of Foreign Affairs has the following premises clearly pointed out in the beginning: "it is my hypothesis that the fundamental source of conflict in this new world will not be primarily ideological or primarily economic. The great divisions among humankind and the dominating source of conflict will be cultural" (Huntington, 1993). It must be pointed out that the historical context that the theory was presented included a wide debate on the world that would follow the Cold War. More precisely, after the fall of the Soviet Union, the role of the United States as the single and most important great power of the world was recognized. This was not necessarily due to a clear-cut improvement in the way in which the United States developed in previous decades, but rather as a result of the disappearance of the second pole of power that had been the U.S.S.R. From this point-of-view, the inevitable question arose as to where the world of politics and international relations would develop given the fact that the era of the nuclear armament was nearing its close and there was no clear definition of the new threats on the horizon.
Huntington uses the term civilization to signify "a cultural entity. Villages, regions, ethnic groups, nationalities, religious groups, all have distinct cultures at different levels of cultural heterogeneity" (1993). Even if there are clear differences even between the cultures present in the same country, these aspects are not taken into account as representing distinct cultures as they tend to share a common historical background or state organization. As presented by Huntington though, civilizations do not depend or are not characterized by the number of individuals but rather by their uniqueness and dynamism. These are the elements that are taken into account when determining the sustainability of Huntington's theory.
Another important aspect underlined by Samuel Huntington in his article relates to the identity of the actors of the international scene. This
It is probable that Cameron inspired his film from the traditional conflict between Christianity and Islam. Some of the most influent forces in society have been devoted to impose their power over the rest of the world, similar to how humans did not hesitate to take up arms against the Na'vi when the latter did not want to comply with the former's requests. In Avatar, the human race is apparently
They contend that all the violent activities implicating Muslims are distortions and departures from the true and noble teachings of Islam. Virtually all Muslims admit that Islam is not a pacifist tradition, while it allows and legitimizes the use of violence under certain conditions. This condoning of the use of violence is not exclusive to Islam All religions have their respective concept and justification of what is meant or what
The doom tree is presented as a mythical eagle, an ancient idol, the river -- "a sacred snake, one of the ancient Gods of the Egyptians"(Salih). People in this remote and stuck in time village have dreams about the past, some prophetic dreams and some other dreams that are yet to be interpreted. The efforts to reconcile modern life, represented by the city and tradition, represented by the village are
Yet it is somewhat biased, due to the author being a strict fundamentalist. Said, Edward. "The Clash of Definitions." Emran Qureshi & Michael a. Sells, eds. The New Crusades: Constructing the Muslim Enemy. New York: Columbia University Press, 2003, 70-80. This essay presents a very divergent viewpoint as compared to that of political theorist and practitioner Samuel P. Huntington whose views on the "Clash of Civilizations" is now being questioned and
" The book argues that the reality of history is a "ludicrously compressed and constricted warfare," Said continues; but indeed Huntington cannot grasp the notion that there are no strictly defined Muslim cultures but to make his book work he has to build a case that there is such a stereotypical, predictable Muslim culture. Said goes so far as to say that Huntington's book attempted to give his original article a
Christianity and Islam: A Clash of Civilizations Ever since the beginning of the 7th century CE, the relationship between Christianity and Islam has been characterized by wariness and suspicions, feelings that became especially pronounced following the terrorist attacks of September 11, 2001 in the United States. Today, the billions of Christian and Muslim adherents have squared off in their respective ideological corners and scarcely a day goes by without the headlines
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