The Clash of Civilizations?: The Debate [Paperback]

Samuel P. Huntington (Editor), Foreign Affairs (Author)

Book Description

ISBN-10: 014026731X | ISBN-13: 978-0140267310 | Publication Date: January 1996 | Edition: 1

The consummate collection of readings on contemporary international relations.

According to Samuel Huntington's seminal 1993 essay, The Clash of Civilizations, world politics is entering a new phase, in which the great divisions among humankind and the dominating source of international conflict will be cultural. Civilizations—the highest cultural groupings of people—are differentiated from each other by religion, history, language and tradition. In the resulting era of cultural conflict that is emerging, the United States must forge alliances with similar cultures and spread its values wherever possible. In Huntington's final analysis, the West must be accommodating if possible and confrontational if necessary; moreover, all civilizations will have to learn to tolerate each other. This collection includes a series of responses to Huntington's original essay by eminent writers in the field.

Contents includes articles originally published in Foreign Affairs including:
     • "The Clash of Civilizations?" by Samuel Huntington, Foreign Affairs, Summer 1993
     • "The Summoning" by Fouad Ajami, Foreign Affairs, September/October 1993
     • "The Dangers of Decadence" by Kishore Mahbubani, Foreign Affairs, September/October 1993
     • "The Case for Optimism" by Robert L. Bartley, Foreign Affairs, September/October 1993
     • "Civilization Grafting" by Liu Binyan, Foreign Affairs, September/October 1993
     • "The Modernizing Imperative" by Jeane J. Kirkpatrick, Foreign Affairs, September/October 1993
     • "Do Civilizations Hold?" by Albert L. Weeks, Foreign Affairs, September/October 1993
     • "The West is the Best" by Gerard Piel, Foreign Affairs, September/October 1993
     • "If Not Civilizations, What?" by Samuel Huntington, Foreign Affairs, November/December 1993

Product Details

• Paperback: 68 pages
• Publisher: Foreign Affairs; 1 edition (January 1996)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 014026731X
• ISBN-13: 978-0140267310
• ASIN: 0876091648
• Product Dimensions: 8.5 x 5.8 x 0.5 inches
• Shipping Weight: 8 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (4 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #58,255 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)
  • #49 in Books > 4-for-3 Books > Nonfiction > Politics > General

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

26 of 26 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars A companion to Huntington's Clash of Civilizations, November 4, 2009

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Metallurgist (USA) - See all my reviews
(TOP 500 REVIEWER)   

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This review is from: The Clash of Civilizations?: The Debate (Paperback)

There may be some confusion regarding this book and another with a similar title published at the same time, so let me first clarify things. In 1993 Professor Samuel P. Huntington wrote an article entitled "The Clash of Civilizations?" in Foreign Affairs Magazine. This article generated a considerable amount of interest and criticism and two follow-up books. Professor Huntington expanded his original thesis into a book "The Clash of Civilizations" which was published in 1996. At the same time, his original article, along with 7 critical responses and a rebuttal of this criticism by Professor Huntington was also published. The book being reviewed here is the book containing these critical articles, hence the term debate in the title.

Huntington's thesis is that future international conflicts will be based mostly on cultural lines, resulting in a clash of civilizations, with a very important one being the clash between the civilization of Islam and the West. Seven distinguished professors and journalists, namely; Fouad Ajami, Kishore Mahbubani, Robert L. Bartley, Liu Binyan, Jeane J. Kirkpatrick, Albert L. Weeks, and Gerard Piel, wrote the critical articles contained in this book. As noted, the book also contains the original article and a rebuttal to these seven articles. It is important to read other viewpoints and these articles make an important counterpoint to Huntington's book and should be read along with it.

Be forewarned however, this book is only 67 pages long, of which 25 pages are taken up with Professor Huntington's original article, with an additional 12 pages allotted to his rebuttal of the criticism leveled against it. Most of the critical articles are very sketchy and very short. One of the articles is only a single page long, one is only two pages long, two are four pages long and two are five pages long. This leaves only that by Fouad Ajami, which at ten pages is long enough to develop its criticism. If you already have the book that expands upon the original article, you will be getting relatively little new material for your money. If you have neither book, this (the debate book) is a nice place to start since it provides the original article and opposing views. Then, if you are sufficiently interested in more, you can get the book containing the expanded version of Professor Huntington's ideas. It would have been nice if both books could have been combined, but this was not possible as there are different publishers for each.

6 of 6 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Good compilation of essays regarding the West vs. the Rest, July 9, 2008

By 

J. Keegan Beck (Ba'qubah, Iraq) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: The Clash of Civilizations?: The Debate (Paperback)

This short book does an excellent job of providing the reader with both sides of the "West vs. the Rest" debate. In addition to Huntington's essay, originally published in the fall of 1993, there are several counter-essays that argue against Huntington's original "Clash of Civilizations?" The book is finished off with another essay by Huntington, a counter to the counter-essays, entitled "If Not Civilizations, What?" Even though the essays were all originally published in the early 1990's, alot of their arguments still ring true in the world we live in today.

30 of 44 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars not worth buying....read at some bookstore, August 8, 2005

By 

mdr "mdr" (4points) - See all my reviews

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This review is from: The Clash of Civilizations?: The Debate (Paperback)

I enjoyed the original book but this debate replies don't go in depth to become intriguing. It is a collection of responses from 7 other economist/historian/etc., and it is a very basic responses. I would just read it at some bookstore, and save the money. [.]