Samuel Huntington’s The Clash of Civilizations is widely regarded as one of the most important books to be published in the last quarter century. It argued that in the post-Cold War world, the most important distinctions between people will not be political, economic, or ideological. They will be cultural. Huntington foresaw that world politics was entering a new phase, in which the fundamental sources of human conflict between people were rooted in their cultural identities. In this seminar, we will consider some of the central questions raised by Huntington’s provocative book. What are the primary civilizations in today’s global order? What is the relationship between power and culture? What challenges and challengers will the West face in this new global order?

This course is supported by Judy Fleischer, as part of the Fleischer Forum initiative on American civilization.