The Death of Huntington: the End of “Clash of Civilizations”?

Not long time ago, the famous American scholar Samuel P. Huntington passed away. His death has aroused a series concerns. Will his theory of “The Clash of Civilizations” fade away with time? What will civilization turn out to be in the future?

Huntington was a lifelong scholar at Harvard University. In 1996, he published a controversial book “The Clash of Civilizations and the Remaking of World Order”. Its substance: After the cold war, the violent conflicts among countries are due to cultural and religious differences. In order to solve the clash of civilizations, values such as American democracy and freedom need to be applied to unify global thoughts. Some people in America take it as gospel and try to fulfill Huntington’s theory by many extreme activities. Theories like a “unilateral world” and “human rights are higher than state sovereignty” have been noted.

Shattered American dream

The so-called “Human rights are higher than state sovereignty” theory is interpreted as the following situation. Some countries in the Middle East and Africa have notorious human rights records. To achieve democracy, freedom and human rights, there is an obligation to change these countries’ sovereignty by force and then give the power back to the followers of democracy and freedom.

Hence, invasions that breach the UN charters continually happened. U.S. war hawks, claiming to be defenders of human rights, changed the regime of Kosovo and overthrew the Somali military government. Without UN permission, they dispatched troops to Iraq and demolished this big oil producing country. Unfortunately, while they trumpeted their unilateralism, their belief that only the U.S. has the power to change the whole world and becomes the shinning model of all, the tragedy of September 11 happened. Two skyscrapers, the symbol of American prosperity, fell in just seconds and buried more than 3000 innocent lives. After this moment, instead of introspection, some Clash of Civilizations believers vowed to revenge on the Islamic terrorists. They sent troops ruthlessly, just to prove the correctness of Huntington’s theory. President George W. Bush even suggested converting the Muslims to Christianity, equalizing the act of sending troops to Afghanistan and Iraq with the Crusades of the 16th century.

Uncle Sam failed to eliminate the terrorists, fostering their anti-America attitude. In some Middle East countries, the so-called highly civilized America is no different from an invader. The Iraqi journalist, who humiliated the former US president Bush by throwing a shoe, became the hero of many Middle Eastern people.

Then the financial crisis swept across the U.S., along with the worst economic recession in recent times. The arrogant Americans have no other option but to scream for help. The fact is that with the fatal defects existing in the U.S. system, America is in a downturn and no longer the ideal nation in the world. It claimed to be the most civilized and powerful. By now, it is time to wake up!

Trend of Confucianism

So how do we deal with this chaotic world? A group of Nobel Prize winners gathered in Europe recently discussed the possible solution. After their fierce debate, Confucianism was recognized to be the final key. According to the “Golden Mean” of Confucius, “Sincerity is the universal value. Be sincere to the ultimate extent is the perfect way and virtue of humans.”

For people, open minds and objective attitudes would be the virtue. The governors should be neutral and kind to people. Only by those means can we have friendly relations, harmonious societies and peace all over the world.

When reviewing the contemporary Chinese history, the class fights aroused hostility among family members, extreme stances in society and endless anarchy. Nevertheless, the theory of Chinese President Hu “to build a harmonious society” is able to bring up people’s good nature, as well as promote friendliness and peaceful interchange among countries. Finally, the world can steadily progress toward better relations.

People are born in different situations but with equal rights. They can have different religious beliefs. As long as it leads people toward good, no religion is better than another. There may be differences among countries, either developed or developing, in prosperity or poverty. However, the differences should not be an excuse for the stronger country to take advantage of others. It should be a reason for countries to help each other out. The one with power should assist the development of the weak and gradually create a better world. Only that can be called the real universal value.

Apparently, Confucius’s Golden Mean contradicts Huntington’s Clash of Civilization. Which one is correct? Which one works in the end? The doubts can be examined by practice. Confucius’s theory has prevailed in China for thousands of years. Even nowadays, it still has its influence on the Chinese and been accepted by more and more countries. By the end of 2008, there were 249 Confucius Institutes and 56 Confucius classrooms in 78 countries over the world. Confucianism is becoming popular with times.

On the other hand, Huntington’s clash of civilization has only been around for 12 years. It has proven to be dangerous by the decline of the U.S. decline the global tide against America. The time of Huntington is over, as extreme U.S. politics have come to an end. If America sticks to its old ways, sooner or later it will be discarded by history.

So long Huntington! The outstanding American education system enabled him to do a life-long research. Unfortunately it did not conclude with a panacea but a theory that led the U.S. in the wrong way. It is time now for Americans to examine where they went wrong.