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Assignment 2: Summary and Reflection on the “Clash of Civilizations”

The summaries and reflections on the topics that we discuss throughout the semester are designed to insure that you have reviewed the PowerPoint presentations carefully and thought about the important points and critical issues.

All of the summaries and reflections will have the same format and include two sections: Part 1 - a simple list of important points and critical issues that we have covered in each of the subject or geographic areas, much like the table of contents of a book, an outline of a book chapter, or a list of key statements from each of the sections covered in one or more PowerPoint slides of each presentation, and Part 2 - your reflection or comments on each topic, or one or more selected elements of each topic. The first part clearly represents a brief overview of each topic. The second part is designed to show that you have seriously thought about some of the important points and critical issues and to demonstrate your thoughtful reactions or creative and constructive ideas.

The Clash of Civilizations is a hypothesis that people's cultural and religious identities will be the primary source of conflict in the post-Cold War world. The American political scientist Samuel P. Huntington argued that future wars would be fought not between countries, but between cultures. It was first proposed in a Bradley Lecture at the American Enterprise Institute in Washington in October of 1992, which was then developed in a 1993 Foreign Affairs article titled "The Clash of Civilizations? ”, in response to his former student Francis Fukuyama's 1992 book, The End of History and the Last Man. Huntington later expanded his thesis in a 1996 book The Clash of Civilizations and the Remaking of World Order.

Huntington (1996) wrote, “That article [The Clash of Civilizations?], according to the Foreign Affairs

editors, stirred up more discussion in three years than any other article they had published since the 1940s. It certainly stirred up more debate in three years than anything else I have written. The responses and comments on it have come from every continent and scores of countries. People were variously impressed, intrigued, outraged, frightened, and perplexed by my argument that the central and most dangerous dimension of the emerging global politics would be conflict between groups from differing civilizations. Whatever else it did, the article struck a nerve in people of every civilization.”

For your commentary or reflection on “Clash of Civilizations” (Part 2), you may choose to focus on any

of the key points of Samuel Huntington’s hypothesis and the criticism of Edward Said (The Myth of the "Clash of Civilizations"). You could also focus on the benefits and challenges generated by globalization and multiculturalism and the best ways for addressing global conflicts and internal divides. Others may choose to comment on the key causes for global conflicts. In other words, what you choose to focus on is completely open. The key purpose for writing the commentary or reflection is to demonstrate that you have carefully reviewed the lecture materials, thought about some of the key points that we have discussed, and have some ideas on how we could approach these challenges constructively and develop some realistic and effective solutions.

As I indicated many times, you should use the Powerpoint presentation posted on the Blackboard as the foundation for completing your assignment. You are encouraged to incorporate materials that you have learned in other related courses or from other sources. For this particular assignment, you are expected to have watched the following videos: Charlie Rose Interview with Samuel P. Huntington on Thursday 01/30/1997

https://charlierose.com/videos/17838 (22:04)

Edward Said: The Myth of the "Clash of Civilizations" (Lecture given at UMass Amherst)

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aPS-pONiEG8 (52:03)

You may also find the following article and chapters helpful: Samuel P. Huntington, 1993. The Clash of Civilizations? Foreign Affairs, Vol. 72, No. 3, p. 22-49 (Available on the

Blackboard).

Samuel P. Huntington, 1996. The Clash of Civilizations and the Remaking of World Order, SIMON & SCHUSTER,

New York, NY 368 p. (Chapters 1 & 12 available on the Blackboard)

Part 1 (simple list of important points and critical issues) should be about 1-2 pages long (single

space). Part 2 (your commentary or reflection) should be about 2-3 pages (double space and 12-point size).

Please submit your completed assignment through the Blackboard by clicking “Assignments” and then following the on-screen instructions.

This assignment is due October 13, 2023.