The Clash of Civilization between the West and “Muslim World”Student’s Name

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The Clash of Civilization between the West and “Muslim World”

Samuel Huntington in his writing “The Clash of Civilization” postulated the post-cold war conflict that could arise not economically or politically based but culturally biased. In his work, Huntington provided a clear reflection of the of a 21st-century scenario where the universe civilization turns into a devastating act of dividing people with regards to religion and ethnicity as well as other cultural-based limitations. The Western superpowers, where the most influential were European nations and the United States considerably spread civilization throughout the world as they regarded their religion and culture superior (Rashid, 1997). It is right that they had superiority when it comes to the military, political and economic sectors but the case was different when it came to cultural beliefs as significant opposition faced them. The Islamic religion emerged to be one of the most aggressive antagonists towards the western culture in the name of protecting their cultural norms. Huntington suggests that the conflict in the new world will not be on economic and ideological levels, but the most significant division will be a human being and the predominant source of fighting will be cultural related. He continues to state that the future battle lines will be developed from the fault lines flanked by civilizations.

Suitable examples of the countries that are significantly affected by the clash of civilization as Huntington show in his essay include Egypt, Algeria, and Iran which are the fundamental bases of Muslims. Egypt is a perfect example in showing that the world is divided basing their vast difference between the Western values and their cultures. Today, greatest distinctions that bring about hostility and conflict in the entire globe is cultural differences. For instance, in the regions where a high population of people is Muslims, they come together to form the Islamic religion which is related violence and extremism (Kumari, 2014). Considering the speech of Barack Obama in Cairo to the Muslim world, the liberals have the mentality of togetherness where he argued that both the Western and the Islamic nation can join heads to have common grounds regardless of their cultural disparities. However, it was opposite to his views as the conservatives proclaimed that it was not possible for the two parties coming together, and the Western nations should prepare for the inevitable battle.

Iran is another country where Islamic religion has dominated and cultural differences at most times emerge to the causative factor of their war with the United States and other Western nations. Violence and conflict become the order of the day where the antagonists form groups by which they can plan and accomplish their deleterious and deadly missions. The facts put across by Huntington have been proven right as conflicts today arise with due to the social violence of cultural differences. In the Middle East especially Iran, the conflict has led deprivation of the social-economic and political instability, but the West antagonists have to fight to the end of their culture. The conservative conscience also influences Algeria regarding the culture where the Judeo-Christian West tried to overpower the Muslim World (Sidanius, et al 2016). However, this was challenging as on the other hand the Muslims always fight back to prevent their culture.

As elaborated above, Egypt Iran and Algeria are excellent examples of the “Muslim World” nations where civilization has been a cause of violence between their protagonists, Europe and the United States. According to Huntington, it is recommended to accept multi-civilizations and reject multi-culturalism as if is a degrading and back drawing factor in the society. Many nations across the world recognized civilization but in the name of technology advancement, industrialization as well as economic boosting by the Western countries. However, vast differences still exist where culture will remain the significant hindrance of civilization in the world.

References

Kumari, L. (2014). Emergence of Muslim Fundamentalism by Critically Evaluating Huntington’s Thesis of ‘Clash of Civilization’.

Rashid, S. (Ed.). (1997). The clash of civilizations?: Asian responses. Oxford University Press, USA.Sidanius, J., Kteily, N., Levin, S., Pratto, F., & Obaidi, M. (2016). Support for asymmetric violence among Arab populations: The clash of cultures, social identity, or counterdominance?. Group Processes & Intergroup Relations, 19(3), 343-359.