Sam Huntington, 1927–2008

With ideology disappearing as a source of identity, he saw religion moving to the fore.

By Fareed Zakaria | NEWSWEEK
Published Jan 3, 2009
From the magazine issue dated Jan 12, 2009

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  • Posted By: kwonawa @ 03/02/2009 2:44:16 PM

    EnterI would like Your Comment
    I would like to know how to access Huntington's writing of the Vietnam war? Please advise.

  • Posted By: polscigirl @ 02/16/2009 1:54:31 AM

    As a fresh graduate of Polsci from the Philippines, Huntington's writings became my bible. Most of the relevant topics today can be explained by his insights. He'll surely be missed. the world lost a great teacher and a political scientist... :(

  • Posted By: paulk43 @ 01/07/2009 1:54:39 PM

    The few sentences of Huntington's you quote on '60's radicals and America are brilliant. Thank you for including them.

  • Posted By: JKLF-R @ 01/06/2009 3:41:07 PM

    "The Clash of Civilization".The phrase is pregnant with the force that can drive west into a course with unknown result, while it will provide a motivation for the muslims to take a course of collision.We must understand the universality of human urge.That urge is to be secure where he feels he is at home with his soroundings.This urge of security is reflected in an individual, a family, a community,a state or province,a country and then on global issue this urge of security is reflected in our persuit for global causes like environment and Aids.An individual tries to be secure with his job and friends, A family builds a fence in their back yard to feel secure(not that they hate the neighbour) a community feels secure in a community hall when they can relate to each other, a state or a country feels secure as long as its boundaries which must conform to their culture , social contract in which religions, their co existance in most of the cases, heritage and history is integrated.

    When an individual, a community , a society feels insecure, instintively it reacts to the coercive forces that change or try to change his ortheir comfort zone.
    I am reminded of Bertand Russel , he said and I qoute " If two people disagree on the shape of the earth , both of them should take yoyage rather than coerce one opinion on other".
    People who are in power to make a difference must reflect and act rather than react and act.This goes for the much speculated change which Obama seemingly has suggested.We are one civilization, it is only a matter of time when we find that their is alien civilization out their in space that wants to colonize the planet earth.I wonder if we as human beings will still talk of clash of civilization within or with aliens.I am sure we all will be one civilization that will either perish or be victorious.Why wait for then why not become one now.

  • Posted By: acgc @ 01/06/2009 1:08:01 PM

    I would like to thank Fareed for sharing his insights on the works of Huntington especially the most important message of "The Clash of Civikizations". I would really like to hear Fareed's views on the underlying reason for the return of religion over ideology, and what governments should do to minimize clashes due to the undelying force.

  • Posted By: bjblue @ 01/06/2009 6:13:39 AM

    @Chaotician:

    Bad form, sir. "At best, Americans are good-hearted..." Really? So I guess all my friends here in Beijing, speaking fluent Mandarin, and others living, learning and working around the world are "bumbling idiots when it comes to other cultures..." (Despite my degree in Asian Studies as well...). Don't confuse the media image with reality, buddy. Although your hyperbole was likely intentional, I still felt the need for a rebuttal.

    But Fareed is also a favorite of mine, from "Illiberal Democracy" to "Post-American World", keep it coming! I enjoy reading you, especially in China!

  • Posted By: Chaotician @ 01/05/2009 11:08:08 PM

    I must confess that you are my Hero, albeit, a very young one! As far as I can tell, you may be the only American with even a clue about life outside of America! At best, Americans are good-hearted bumbling idiots when it comes to other cultures, other values...or for that matter any values! The over-riding characteristic of "modern" America is its complete lack of ideals, aspirations, and goals for living a "good" life! I suppose the attractions of fundamental religions are the absolutes cast about by the racketeering Priests of the various sects; manna to the starving souls so disconnected from their own lives. The American melodrama, sectioned into sound bytes between commercials for useless and worthless goods; the endless hunt for the magic elixir of happiness, the endless and senseless machinations of those lost in the power game of big and bigger corporations, financial gamesmanship, political opportunism in incestuous governments labeled Democracies ... are a sad racial epithet of our approaching demise...by our own hand no less!

  • Posted By: black saint @ 01/05/2009 8:44:41 AM

    We can see Sam Huntington was right in his book Clash of Civilizations if we will only look and be rational. But too many are not prepared for logic or rational discourse and resort to hurling racist insults. If we are realistic and look at the havoc caused by the millions invading Hispanics on our communities, culture, economy, welfare and standard of living the only conclusion possible is that no Nation can withstand or assimilate Millions of citizens from another culture without changing to the very same type of culture and society the invading millions have created and built in their own Countries!

    We really need the infrastructure and construction jobs so we can put the millions of Illegal Aliens back to work, so they can send money home to support Mexico! The contractors can charge the tax payers union scale, hire Illegals at slave wages, pocket the profits, and hit the tax payers for both their wages and the billions in cost to educate their many children, provide medical and welfare.

    Sounds like the same old scam, reward the invading horde and soak the tax payers! You would think the Politicians would be content with just outsourcing all the jobs that are possible but No they want to bring in Slave labor ( while ignoring Article IV Section IV of our Constitution against invasion, the rule of Law, and their Oath of office) to take the jobs that cannot be outsourced! To add insult to injury they make the American citizens still working pay billions in extra taxes to educate, provide medical, welfare and jail cells for the invading horde that are taking our jobs and driving down our standard of living! While keeping busy Robbing, Raping and Killing American citizens at an rate that Ben Laden can only dream about!

    But the Republicans love the slave labor for their Pay Masters in the Chamber of Commerce and business. The Democrats love the millions of Welfare votes. So there is little or no hope for American citizens and the future viability of this nation as we know it.

    The future is an over populated, Spanish speaking third world Nation that is an Cesspool of Corruption, Crime, Poverty and Misery modeled on Mexico!

    • Posted By: Cazador1972 @ 01/05/2009 9:44:57 PM


      How does your argument connect with Huntington's? No society can afford to take an unlimited number of people, but Hispanics and Americans are considered part of the same subgroup according to Huntington. You are right in arguing that most people would rather hurl insults at Huntington instead of actually reading his work, but it doesn't sound like you read him either.

      Hispanics integrate by, at the latest, the second generation. The Italians, Irish, Polish and Eastern European immigrants took longer to assimilate because of the less inclusive nature of American society during the late 19th and early 20th Centuries. It took most of these groups three or four generations to even get out of poverty. It is also good to keep in mind that THE SAME argument was used against them when ALL of these groups began to settle en masse in the US (Pat Buchanan uses the same arguments against Hispanics that others used against his ancestors when they came here).

      You have a right to make your comments but they do not add to the discussion since you don't seem to have read Huntington to begin with.

  • Posted By: elvischannel @ 01/05/2009 8:01:50 PM

    Identity is much more fluid than many realize. Having spent more than three decades as a secondary school teacher, I have seen teenagers easily discard the identities demanded of them by parents and teachers and struggle mightily to establish their own. Black saint's pessimistic appraisal of illegal immigration and its impact on the American identity is based on a view of a monolithic, unchanging Mexican identity. I recall once showing a film in class on a nineteenth century Polish immigrant boy seeking to build an American self. At one point the boy's father slaps him for not speaking Polish at home. Afterwards, a Latino girl said the same thing happened in her family. Her aunt slapped her own daughter for refusing to speak Spanish. My point is the inexorable force of assimilation is still forging a larger and stronger American identity despite a huge immigrant tide. Black saint, lay down your fears. In a generation there will be millions of Mexican Americans as American as you are and knowing less Spanish than even you. This fluidity of identity with the passing of generations also plays out in the larger world. A whole new generation of Iranians looks cynically on the Islamic identity of their parents and yearn for secularism. They know first hand the bankruptcy of a religious ideology. The "clash of civilizations" could easily end with a single generation when the young discard the foolishness of their parents. It's happened before. The religious wars of the seventeenth century begat the Enlightenment of the eighteenth century. It will happen again.

  • Posted By: slsaul @ 01/05/2009 5:13:36 PM

    Sam Huntington's conclusion in Clash of Civilizations is a depressing one. We'd all like to believe there are easy answers. We would all like to believe that the people of Gaza want only to prosper in peace. So we ignore the fact that they elected Hamas - a group that wants to rid the Middle East of Jews - even while Hamas uses the Gazans as human shields in their rocket attacks. We ignore the fact that even Egypt won't allow the Gazans into their country for fear of them inciting their people. Out of sheer convenience, we develop these asinine notions of moral equivalence and prportionate responses. The Germans are now better without the Nazis as the Palestinians would be far better without Hezbollah and Hamas. Stop treating Palestinians like children. They DO know better. Your pity is only encouraging them, Newseek.

  • Posted By: black saint @ 01/05/2009 7:51:34 AM

    We can see Sam Huntington was right in his book Clash of Civilizations if we will only look and be rational. But too many are not prepared for logic or rational discourse and resort to hurling racist insults like bigot and racist. If we are realistic and look at the havoc caused by the millions invading Hispanics on our communities, culture, economy, welfare and standard of living the only conclusion possible is that no Nation can withstand or assimilate Millions of citizens from another culture without changing to the very same type of culture and society the invading millions have created and built in their own Countries!

  • Posted By: black saint @ 01/05/2009 7:48:35 AM

    We can see Sam Huntington was right in his book Clash of Civilizations if we will only look and be rational. But too many are not prepared for logic or rational discourse and resort to hurling racist insults like bigot and racist. If we are realistic and look at the havoc caused by the millions invading Hispanics on our communities, culture, economy, welfare and standard of living the only conclusion possible is that no Nation can withstand or assimilate Millions of citizens from another culture without changing to the very same type of culture and society the invading millions have created and built in their own Countries!

  • Posted By: Bluestocking08 @ 01/05/2009 7:09:29 AM

    Mr. Zakaria, thank you for the interesting article. I agree with the other commenters that the basis for Huntington's "Clash" is incorrect in many aspects. I feel that the "Clash" not only ingrained the idea of "Islam vs. the West" idea in Western society, but it also homogenized a diverse people whose religion was seen as the single most important part of their identity. This past weeks' protests all over the world against the Israeli bombardment of Gaza whether they be majority Muslim or majority Christian countries, I think, in a way debunks this idea of inherent hate between Islam and the West. People no matter what their religion or ideological standpoint nowadays, will protest against injustice no matter who or what they are. At least that's what I hope!

  • Posted By: jantje @ 01/04/2009 4:44:52 AM

    In my opinion, going to war for recources has everything to do with an ideoligy. Only overdevelopped capitalist countries in crisis nowadays have the power and the rude selfish egocentrism to make a war over resources (that they need so much to cover up a their structural crisis). Huntignton is a perfect prophet for imperialist systems in crisis, he even succeeds in confusing so-called 'non-neocons':-) But at the end his work only helped serving the war-scenarios against Iraq and Afghanistan.

    • Posted By: Cazador1972 @ 01/04/2009 6:02:38 PM

      Huntington's thesis was that absent old ideologies people would bind on the basis of religion, but states don't go to war over religion alone, religion was used as an emotive weapon and ideal (think Isabel and Fernando of Spain funding Columbus' trips to "spread the Word" - but they wanted markets, new routes and eventually slave labor, religion was secondary and used to justify). This is of course, simplifying a more sophisticated argument by Huntington but his basic premise and it is wrong. Ideologies have been used to justify war but never has it been the sole purpose and reason for war. It is not limited to the powers nowadays either, world history proves this has always been the case. What Huntington underestimated was people's ability to have more than one source of identity and not be deterministically beholden to only one.

  • Posted By: Cazador1972 @ 01/03/2009 8:01:42 PM

    Great column. As a student in the late '90s I thought The Clash was the new blue print for the brave new world and after 9-11 my belief in it was cemented. Yet, during one single lecture on one of the last classes I took in college (my second on Islam) my professor debunked the premise of The Clash and after a heated debate, I had to admit my professor was right and The Clash, although incisive, is fundamentally wrong. It still should be read, albeit with caution; people after all, don't go to war on the basis of religion or abstract ideals, those are if anything, more kindle for the fire. People go to war over resources, not ideologies.

    I'm glad to hear Mr. Huntington was a stand-up man, because in my mind (and for no good reason) I saw him as another self-righteous, arrogant neo-con. Glad to hear I was wrong.

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