Introduction: The West and Cultural World Order

Abstract

In the decade since the conclusion of the Cold War, International Relations scholars have anxiously sought to identify and explain the actors and forces that are shaping the emerging world order. Among the debates stimulated by the conclusion of the Cold War, two of the most dramatic focus on the contrasting visions of world order presented by Samuel Huntington’s ‘clash of civilizations’ and Francis Fukuyama’s ‘end of history’ theses. Huntington’s 1993 essay1 has become one of the most widely discussed articles of contemporary International Relations.2 His analysis of the post-Cold War world is radical and shocking, suggesting an era in which world politics is dominated by conflicts between civilizations. His thesis contains dire warnings to the West that it must consolidate to meet the threats of disintegration from within and attack from without. Conversely, Fukuyama’s image of world politics is one of a world divided between societies still evolving through the processes of history, and those which have successfully evolved to a post historical state. In this context, the West is viewed as at the forefront of a broad civilizing process, providing the model of the rational state towards which the rest of humanity is evolving.