Samuel P. Huntington argued that the economic ideological divisions since WWII are challenged by cultural and religious identities that are more encompassingly civilizational. They open a wider or broader picture of the globe.
Samuel P. Huntington, "Clash of Civilizations?", 1993.
Key aspects of this theory include:
Core Hypothesis: The fundamental source of conflict in the new world is cultural, where nations align with others sharing their culture, leading to larger, multi-civilizational conflicts.
Major Fault Lines: Huntington predicted that conflict would be most intense between Western and non-Western civilizations, specifically Islamic and Sinic (Chinese) civilizations.
Decline of Western Influence: The theory argues that the world is moving away from Western dominance, with non-Western civilizations, particularly in Asia, gaining economic and military power. (Google, 2025)
Civilization is society where dependence on each other has become foremost. Civilization is defined as the stage of human social and cultural development and organization that is considered most advanced. In civilization, skilled labor become distinct units and work together for a greater common and civilized good. For example, metal work is done by metal workers. Metal workers produce metal, but rely upon other skilled labor units to produce for their other needs, such as the houses they purchase and live in. Skilled labor refines product and output, but it depends upon other labor skilled in other areas. Dependence requires trust. Therefore, if civilization is dependent, then civilization requires trust.
Civilizational thinking uses a wider timeline. Civilizations reach back hundreds and thousands of years. English civilization peaked at the turn of the 20th century, while Harrapan civilization dates back to 3300 BCE. Generally, the human mind focuses on a more immediate timeline of decades or less. We are framed in a single lifetime of about 75 years.
Transition to a global picture where civilizational concepts of culture and religion thread into the past hundreds and thousands of years become more and more relevant, and which require an adjustment over decades if not generations. Adjustment is a period where a realization occurs and remains. The realization that the world order is no longer defined by economic ideological differences, but culture and religion captured by the various civilizations recorded in an understanding of the past.
Trust is found in law and the many agreements upheld by the courts. Trust is found in the school where parents trust their children are learning to succeed in life. Trust is found in business where a buyer and seller's exchange is satisfied. Civilization is dependent on other. Other persons and other skilled labor. Civilization is complex and dynamic, and forms over a lifetime, and has lasting impact. Civilizational thought opens the mind to include a wider timeline. The conflict that Huntington identified in 1993 is still in process.
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