The Emerging Clash of Civilizations Essay

The clash of civilizations occurs when there is a conflict between two or more identity groups from different civilizations. It is hypothesized that in the future, and the global politics continues to develop, aspects such as religion and cultural identities will be the major sources of conflict in the post-world war era (Heywood 187). In this case, the paper will focus on supporting the argument that there is an emerging clash of civilizations in the contemporary world.

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Globalization is stimulating the growth of identity politics which is in turn considered as a form of resistance towards the various cultures across the world. Globalization is, therefore, seeking to create a homogenous culture that will be adopted by the entire world. Some of the aspects evident include the urban development, integration of technology, the rise of consumerism, and finally the mixture of cultures (Heywood 187). In this case, globalization is, therefore, acting as a threat towards the national cultures within various countries across the world as well as the individual traditional forms of identity among these people.

Following the rise of identity politics, the clash of civilizations is inevitable. Heywood (187) acknowledges the insights presented by Samuel Huntington in his thesis titled 'clash of civilizations.' Particularly, Huntington outlines that cultural conflict exists at the micro level and the macro level. The micro-level conflict occurs when an individual's culture clashes with another human tribe culture which may even stimulate communal wars. In the macro level conflict, it involves a clash between the various civilizations themselves precipitated by the national grounds. For instance, there have been controversies between China and Western countries whereby despite the rapid economic growth evident in China, the country is still embedded in the Sinic cultural values (Heywood 188). The conflict arises where the emergence of western culture was to create a homogenous cultural identity that is to be embraced across the world as each nation develops. In fact, a country is considered to be developed upon embracing western civilization. It has therefore led to the conflict between western culture and the rest of the world which stimulated the development of movements such as the anti-west alliance.

Another significant conflict between civilizations is the clash between the west and Islam. It has been attributed where for example, the western culture attempt to create a democratic world which appears to be incompatible with Muslim civilizations. According to the Muslims, this is immoral and therefore dangerous to their cultural identity. This has stimulated major differences between the religious beliefs among the Muslims and the western political context (Heywood 188). The cultural conflict can, therefore, be connected to the 9/11 attacks which occurred due to the tensions between the religious conservatism among the Muslims and western civilization.

Today, people are embracing the significance of cultural identity as the primary force in fueling the global politics. The cold war has a significant contribution in these conflict whereby it lessened the ability of states to define their identity. Therefore, most individuals are striving to define who they are based on religion, history, values, language, ancestry, and customs (Heywood 190). Despite holding a similar form of civilization these groups rally to support their kin nations which have led to the rise of various cultures such as Hinduism, Islam, and Russian among others. Therefore, as people continue to rally for a stronger sense of belonging, it creates tension and conflict.

Work Cited

Heywood, Andrew. Global Politics. Houndmills, Basingstoke Hampshire, 2011, pp. 181-205.