Monday, February 20, 2012
"The Clash of Civilizations?": Samuel Huntington, Edward Said, Arundati Roy, and Chalmers Johnson
1. Samuel Huntington’s “Clash of Civilizations?” was published in 1993; is it a prescient essay for 9/11, or an attempt to justify not delivering the promised “peace dividend” at the end of the Cold War? both?
2. What is Edward Said’s main critique of Huntington’s argument, and why does Huntington’s piece retain intellectual currency?
3. What is Arundati Roy’s critique of the War on Terror, and what would Roy say to Huntington if they were to debate? What would Huntington argue, in response?
4. How does Chalmers Johnson’s Blowback attempt to “explain” 9/11?
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Samuel Huntington’s “Clash of Civilizations?” was published in 1993; is it a prescient essay for 9/11, or an attempt to justify not delivering the promised “peace dividend” at the end of the Cold War?
ReplyDeleteI don't necessarily buy that CofC was a "prescient" piece. However, I do believe that the Cold War wrap up had a heavy influence on the research and the opinion which tweaked it.
2. What is Edward Said’s main critique of Huntington’s argument
Edward Said's main critique seemed to be that Huntington took other people's research and manipulated it to enforce his point: that religion and culture would divide the masses in the post Cold War World.
Personally, I think Huntington was right. If you look at the world right now, the main states in play are feuding over cultural differences and religious differences. I think it's fair to say that 9/11 happened because of strong religious beliefs: That tha US is full of "infidels" that must be exterminated. However, I do see what Edward means, too. There does seem to be a weakness in Huntington's article- where is the evidence he produced?