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person1960s-2008

Samuel Huntington

Disciplines:
political science

Summary

American political scientist who predicted that post-Cold War conflict would be organized along civilizational rather than ideological lines — in The Clash of Civilizations.

Core Contribution

The Clash of Civilizations: after the Cold War, the fundamental source of conflict will be cultural and religious — seven or eight civilizational blocs, especially the conflict between the West and Islam/Confucian civilization. Political Order in Changing Societies: political development requires institution-building before democratization. The Third Wave: a study of democratization processes.

Key Spikes & Highlights

  • Clash of Civilizations was attacked from the left (for providing cover for Western imperialism), the right (for being defeatist about the West's universal claims), and the center (for being crude). It has been more confirmed than denied by subsequent events.

Notable Works & Achievements

The Soldier and the State

Political Order in Changing Societies

The Third Wave

The Clash of Civilizations

Historical Influences

Edward Gibbon Realist International Relations

Intellectual Lineage

American Political Science Realism

Contemporaries & Peers

Francis Fukuyama Kenneth Waltz

Minds Influenced

International Relations Civilizational Theory

Intellectual Posterity

Civilizational Theory

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