The Clash of Civilizations

Huntington argued in the 1990s that after the Cold War the main lines of conflict would run between civilisations, defined largely by religion and culture, rather than between ideologies or nation-states. He sketched the major civilisations, including Western, Islamic, Sinic and Hindu, and the fault lines where they meet.

The thesis has been heavily criticised for treating civilisations as monolithic and for underplaying conflict within them. It has also proved influential and sometimes prescient. Read critically, it remains one of the essential texts for debates about identity and international order.