LESSON 03 OUTLINE

• Introduction
• Lesson Objectives
• Activities
• Geopolitics of Global Dangers
• Anti-Geopolitics
• Huntington's "The Clash of Civilization"
• Said's "The Clash of Ignorance"
• Said on Orientalism
• Reflection Paper Instructions
• Summary and Final Tasks

Lesson 03: Contemporary Thought

Huntington's "The Clash of Civilization"

As you read Huntington's "The Clash of Civilizations" do some critical thinking and ask yourself:

• The Cold War had ended only a few years earlier and Fukuyama had announced "the end of history". Why would Huntington publish such a controversial and dark vision of coming conflict?
   
• Toal is extremely critical of Huntington. Is Huntington as off base as Toal suggests or are Toal's own cultural filters blinding him to some value in Huntington's discourse?
   
• What are the implications of Huntington's thesis for American foreign policy (and the supporting intelligence community) if policy makers were to embrace it?

Steven M. Walt provides another critique of Huntington's ideas in "Building Up New Bogeymen" which appeared in Foreign Policy issue 106 in the Spring of 1997. Foreign Policy is published by the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace. Follow this link to the "Building Up New Bogeymen" file if you would like to peruse this optional reading.

Stanley Hoffmann provides a post September 11 viewpoint on these geopolitical discourses in "Clash of Globalizations" that appeared in Foreign Affairs in the July/August 2002 edition. Follow this link to the "Clash of Globalizations" file if you would like to peruse this optional reading.