The Clash among Civilizations: The Greatest Threat to Humanity in the Twenty-First Century - Report Example

The Clash among Civilizations: The Greatest Threat to Humanity in the Twenty-First Century Introduction Many historians claim that the twentieth century was the bloodiest in human history considering that both world wars took place in this particular era along with other major conflicts which victimized if not all, most countries in the world (Bienik 7). However, one could say that the onset of the twenty-first century did not guarantee complete peace to the entire world, as various threats to humanity begin to emerge. On September 11, 2001, the whole world stood in shock to what major sources of information are reporting – the twin towers in New York City as well as the Pentagon in Washington D.C. in the United States of America had been under attack. The effects of the September 11 attack on these two important cities of the United States placed the whole world at risk. In fact, many people thought that we are indeed in the brink of another world war. Fortunately, at this time, the third world war never came but there are always security threats posed at both the national and global levels. The so-called post-9/11 era (Gregorian 14) has ushered in a new event in the history of the world, the rise of Islamic Revivalism and Fundamentalism whose ideologies are usually associated with terrorism and other violent conflicts seen across the globe. It is also because of the aforementioned that more that a quarter of the states of the world today are considered at risk of instability or collapse. Is the Islamic Ideology then the greatest threat to humanity or is it the continuous clash among civilizations, brought about by civilization as “prophesized” by Huntington? This paper aims to look into the reason why this clash among civilization, most importantly between the West and the Arab world are perceived to be the greatest threat to humanity? What are the reasons behind the West’s belief that it is Islam who continuously threaten the global security whereas Muslims in the same manner considers the West as the threat to their existence? The Islam teachings only point that the reason behind their clamor for their own identity is to protect the ummah, (literally, Muslim community) which is continuously being threatened by Western ideologies (Magdalena 1). Due to the controversial nature of this paper, the author aims to present a comparison of the beliefs of both the Muslims and the Westerners with regard to this topic, as made available by secondary data such as books and articles obtained from the World Wide Web. Why the Clash of Civilizations? Undoubtedly, it was during the European Period of Exploration when the power of Islam became to diminish. This then led to the establishment of two very important schools of thought within Islam that are considered to be of relevance to explaining the current nature of the world. The first school was established based on the belief that the decline of Islam is caused by moral laxity and the departure from the true path of Islam (Vaughn 3), thus calling for an Islamic revival. On the other hand, the second school was the reformers who are then faced with the task to reform their societies without actually being subject to Westernization (Vaughn 3). Basically, the Muslims are seeking to preserve and restore their culture which has generally deteriorated with the coming of Westernization. Islamic Revivalism and Fundamentalism has not only threatened the security of states such as the US and its allies. More significantly, it has also led to the rise of secessionist movements all over the world, most especially in the South and Southeast Asian Region, and to some extent, the former Soviet Block, Eastern Europe. The main reason behind the secession of these groups is their desire to have their own government, to be completely independent from the role of a central government which has assimilated them after independence, believing that they were part of the territorial boundaries set by former colonial masters (Brown 53). Simply put, they still wanted to protect their community from the influx of ideas that are foreign to them. On the other hand, the clash of civilizations has also been caused by the globalizing culture of the West which deteriorates the indigenous traditions such as that of Islam. Moreover, the United States’ declaration of war against terror has generally aggravated the problem by pronouncing a war not just on the terrorists but the Muslims collectively (Vaughn 4). In the same manner, the fact that the allies of the United States has joined contributed to the pressing problem as they also begin to join the war and find themselves being subjected to threats or otherwise facing a disintegration of national territory brought about by secessionist movements (Brown 55). As a result, both civilizations continue to fight each other in protection of themselves against each other’s perceived threat of the other to their existence. Without a doubt, this clash of civilizations has brought about to existence major violent conflicts that make this world no different from the hostilities that characterized the twentieth century. The Solution to Alleviate the Threat: The Actions of Governments and International Agencies One can say that no government or international institution was able to come up with a solution to stop the clash of the Western civilization and the Arab world. True enough, the War on Terror is still on going with both sides fighting each other to the bitter end. Moreover, more and more secessionist movements are surfacing due to their clamor to gain independence in order to establish their own Muslim rule, separate from the country where they belong in which they consider as allies of the west (UNESCO 47). In addition to what has been mentioned, countries who are close allies of the United States tend to participate in the latter’s declaration of war against terrorism especially if the former are also threatened by such violence (UNESCO 47). It is because of this that the world continues to be divided into two: the Islam Fundamentalists who are usually associated with terrorism and those who side with the United States in fighting terrorism. The clash between these two civilizations, if not alleviated may bring more violent conflicts, thus preventing world peace. Back in 2001 however, the Security Council of the United Nations adopted Resolution 1373 which was binding on all the member states (US Department of State 1). The main task of this resolution is to place barriers on the movement, organization and fund-raising activities of terrorist groups. Also, the member states of the United Nations are also encouraged to join in the fight against terrorism, which has been defined in another resolution (1566) drafted by the council (United States Department of State). According to this resolution, terrorism is defined as: criminal acts, including against civilians, committed with the intent to cause death or serious bodily injury, or taking of hostages, with the purpose to provoke a state of terror in the general public or in a group of persons or particular persons, intimidate a population or compel a government or an international organization to do or to abstain from doing any act." In one way or another, this resolution helps in alleviating the clash between civilizations as it does not limit terrorist activities as something unique to the believers of the Islamic Ideology. Simply, terrorism can be committed even by citizens of the United States of America, by Christians, etc. Conclusion The clash among civilizations, especially between the Western states under the leadership of the most powerful nation of the world, the United States of America and the Islam fundamentalists threatens the security of the international community as a whole as domestic events could now be magnified on a global scale due to the interconnectedness of states brought about by globalization (UNESCO 48). The controversial nature of this topic is brought about by the difference in the beliefs of the two contending parties. Of course, the West sees Islamic Fundamentalism as threat to humanity whilst Muslims, especially the fundamentalists and revivalists justify their battle for identity as a reaction to the threat that westernization poses upon the disintegration of their civilization (UNESCO 48). Governments, whether by foreign policies or diplomatic ties, and international organizations such as the United Nations (created to ensure world peace) were not able to do anything in order to prevent these clash of civilizations. In the same manner, these were not able to alleviate the problem posed by the problems of the post-9/11 era (UNESCO 58). The clash of civilizations must be resolved as this only aggravates the problem with regard to security as it continues to create violent conflicts in many nations all over the world. Works Cited Bieniek, Paul M. The Twenty-First Century. n.d. 20 August 2008. Brown, David. The State and Ethnic Politics in Southeast Asia. London: Routledge, 2004. Gregorian, Vartan. Meeting the Challenges of the 21st Century. New York: Carnegie Corporation, 2007. Magdalena, F.V. Islam and the Politics of Identity: Lessons from the Philippines and Southeast Asia. Hawaii: University of Hawaii-Manoa, 2003. UNESCO. What Agenda for Human Security in the Twenty-First Century? Paris: UNESCO, 2002. United States Department of State. United Nations Security Council Resolution 1373. 2001. 20 August 2008. < http://www.state.gov/s/ct/index.cfm?docid=5108> Vaughn, B. Islam in South and Southeast Asia. n.d. The CRS Report for Congress. 29 June 2008 from the CRS Web. Read More