Is this the Clash of Civilizations?

Samuel Huntington shook up the world intellectual community by his 1993 study The Clash of Civilizations claiming that the end of Cold War hostilities between the capitalist, democratic West and the communist, tyrannical East can open the way for the clash between traditional Western/Northern civilization and the world of Islam and of Arabic people. Many protested against Huntington¹s allegedly artificial civilizational contradictions whereas others believed that his assessment was the analysis of real tendencies. When recently asked whether the September 11 attacks and the succeeding war meant the opening of the clash of civilizations, Huntington stated that the time for that had not come yet. See Samuel Huntington¹s original essay. See interview with Huntington, Nein, kein Kampf der Kulturen.

Is Anarchy Coming?

Are we approaching chaos? With the end of the Cold War bipolar order, are we entering an age of uncertainty? We are now threatened by diseases, drug trafficking, international terrorism and crime, mass migration, global corruption, nuclear and chemical and biological weapons! Is this the age of AIDS, Al-Kaida and Anthrax? Is international anarchy going to take roots? Many of our questions are unanswered. To see a fuller picture of the concept of an approaching chaotic global existence, read Robert D. Kaplan¹s essay.

Are Human Rights Universal?

The democratic and constitutional Western political tradition has always placed great emphasis on the recognition and protection of basic human rights. Britain¹s Bill of Rights, France¹s Déclaration des Droits de l'Homme et du Citoyen or the American Declaration of Independence and many of the Constitutional Amendments have all reflected the central nature of the concept of human rights in political democracy. The most significant document summarizing the human rights tradition is the United Nation's Universal Declaration of Human Rights adopted in 1948 - it was actually accepted by many nations outside of Europe or North America. Western (Northern) democracies have also long asserted that they expect non-Western (Southern) countries to adhere to the recognition of these universal human rights. Many non-Western thinkers claimed that forcing the Western concept of human rights on Middle-Eastern, Asian or African civilizations would violate the self-determination of these peoples. The issue, therefore, is rather complicated. Read Shashi Tharoor¹s essay to understand it better.