Social Sciences

Social Sciences

1. What argument or point of view is the author trying to advance?

After the end of Post-cold war period two theories emerged were the 'The End of History' and 'The Clash of Civilizations'. Francis Fukuyama discusses in his book, “The End of History and the Last Man”, the agreement of all nations on capitalism and democracy, the spreading of western liberalism globally and the blending of unlike elements in all civilizations due to the technological and wealth sources. Fukuyama emphasized that the key ingredient in the transformation included the human effort for recognition and the quest for human dignity and equality. Fukuyama believed that the democracy is the only observed system which is viewed as successful by diverse traditions and regions across the world. Although some cultures may not accept the liberal democracy which he referred were the ones stuck in the history. He argued that history had ended in a sense, after the post-cold war period, the main obstruction had been overcome, but only a minor amount of problems need to be fixed. This meant that when the fundamental differences regarding the organization of societies were resolved, there wouldn't be many issues of disagreement left out. The international relations theory that perceives history as a cycle of conflict was also rejected by Fukuyama. In his article, (Hussien, 2001) also concluded as claimed by Fukuyama that the history hasn't ended yet. If it would have ended, it would be advantage for the international politics and a disadvantage for domestic one.

Samuel Huntington's perception in 'The Clash of Civilizations and the Remaking of World Order' was that the globalization would generate conflict instead of consensus. Huntington stated that despite the technological and economical unification, there may not any mergence of social systems. This means that the cultural clashes may be observed rather than conventional clashes of nations against each other. He argues that there are seven civilizations currently present; these are Islamic, Western, Hindu, Orthodox, African, Sinic and Japanese. He sees western universalism as the contributor to the clash between these seven civilizations and states that the peace is temporary. (Tsygankov, 2003) adheres to this his view by stating that the ideas formed by one country may no be merely accepted by the other countries due to their different cultures and values. These differences may result in conflicts.

2. Compare and contrast the two theories advanced by Huntington and Fukuyama?

The Huntington's “Davos Culture” which refers to the meeting of elites in Switzerland bears a resemblance to the Fukuyama's homogenization. The Huntington's “Davos Culture” represented people who almost controlled majority of the governments, most of military and economic resources and most international institutions. As the Masses and these institutions have different agendas, it may result in clashes.

Many critics saw Huntington's article as a call for the west against the other civilizations. The later book form Huntington revealed that this was not the case. In fact, he wanted to avoid the clash of the civilizations turning in to a ...