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The thesis of this provocative and potentially important book is the increasing threat of violence arising from renewed conflicts between countries and cultures that base their traditions on religious faith and dogma. This argument moves past the notion of ethnicity to examine the growing influence of a handful of major cultures--Western, Eastern Orthodox, Latin American, Islamic, Japanese, Chinese, Hindu, and African--in current struggles across the globe. Samuel P. Huntington, a political scientist at Harvard University and foreign policy aide to President Clinton, argues that policymakers should be mindful of this development when they interfere in other nations' affairs.
Book Description
Based on the author's seminal article in Foreign Affairs, Samuel P. Huntington's The Clash of Civilizations and the Remaking of World Order is a provocative and prescient analysis of the state of world politics after the fall of communism. In this incisive work, the renowned political scientist explains how "civilizations" have replaced nations and ideologies as the driving force in global politics today and offers a brilliant analysis of the current climate and future possibilities of our world's volatile political culture.
Customer Reviews:
Pure hate... Author wants to blame everything to muslims.......2007-07-11
It scares me to find out that educated (so called intellectuals) are writing this type of hate infested books that are aimed at nothing but inflaming more hate and voilence in the world. Author has a stubborn belief that all muslim cultures have speriority complex and they are there to destroy the western influence. He needs to wake up and understand that every culture even western or african or latin is sustaining because there are good things there to fullfill the needs of the people along with bad things that represent historical events/influence, economic or social problems etc. Author completely ignores the fact that one (Malaysia) out of all muslim countries are run by our appointed dictators with the exception of Iran and Syria who are kept in isolation so they have no reason to praise us have any dialog going. I would suggest that the author should cosider psychotherepy and need to start reading outside of his shell.
A Classic?.......2007-05-18
As a retired agronomist with a strong science background I tend to check out references that are commonly used. This book is very often quoted, not always favorably. If you have recently, like I, become interested in world politics and especially Islam this is definitely one of the texts you should read. From my weak politics and history background I found Dr. Huntington making a lot of interesting observations. I found the book very intriguing and educational. I really enjoyed his take on the Bosnian War.
Helps you to understand current global affairs.......2007-05-16
This book helps you to understand current global affairs. Although one might not agree with some of the author's theories.
Although this book is from the Western perspective, the author does not glorify the western civilization and has shown respect for other civilizations.
Clash of Cultures and Politico-Religious Hegemony.......2007-05-11
Huntington provoked worldwide outrage by this book, both from conservative westerners who thought he was too "nice" about Muslim extremists, and from non-conservatives who believed him to be arrogant and ethnocentric. My opinion is that both are correct: there is a clash between those using religious identities to promote political agendas, and those attempting to keep religion at the personal level and politics at the macro level of society. This book infuriated many non-readers because of its apparent linking of Islam with political terrorism. Careful readers understood that this was merely reporting of what "experts" said, and not a personal attack by Huntington on faithful adherents to Islam. Below are a few of my favorite quotes:
--"This awakening is comprehensive--it is not just about individual piety; it is not just intellectual or cultural, nor is it just political. It is all of these, a comprehensive reconstruction of society from top to bottom."
--One study of militant leaders of Egyptian Islamist groups found they had five major characteristics, which appear to be typical of Islamists in other countries. They were young, overwhelmingly in their twenties and thirties. Eighty percent were university students or university graduates. Over half came from elite colleges or from the intellectually most demanding fields of technical specialization such as medicine or engineering. Over 70 percent were from lower middle-class, "modest, but not poor backgrounds," and were the first generation in their family to get higher education. They spent their childhoods in small towns or rural areas but had become residents of large cities. While students and intellectuals formed the militant cadres and shock troops of Islamist movements, urban middle-class people made up the bulk of the active membership. In some degree these came from what are often termed "traditional" middle class groups: merchants, traders, small business proprietors, bazaaris.
--Islamist activists "probably include a disproportionately large number of the best-educated and most intelligent young people in their respective populations," including doctors, lawyers, engineers, scientists, teachers, civil servants.
There is a clash today, and Huntington calls it rightly. There is violent conflict between those seeking political power through the power base of religious identities are opposed by those unwilling to give up values and ideals in their secular political system.
Already happening?.......2007-05-06
What exactly makes a 'civilization'? Why do tribal conflicts in Africa not spread too far outward? Why did the conflict in Yugoslavia prompt Orthodox Russia to support the Serbs, and Muslim Saudi Arabia, Iran and other Islamic states to support the Bosnians? Why couldn't the civil war in Lebanon be solved by dialogue? Why are Islam's borders so bloody? Even though Saddam Hussein was a vicious tyrant and killed many of his own fellow Muslims, why did so many in the Islamic world proclaim him a hero when the United States invaded Iraq? Will demographic decline in the West change the balance of economic and military power in the world? Is the West in severe decline and can it turn itself around?
If there is any book that can fit into the context of today's global political sphere and shed light on the questions above, it is this book. The book defines what a civilization consists of, and why some are incompatible with each other. World demographics are depicted and used to make predictions about the future balance of world powers. The buildup of non-Western armed forces is highlighted and used to show how the West could lose its military dominance, and what will the future hold with such a change in power. Will it be multiculturalism and tolerance, or will it end up being a giant Lebanon or Yugoslavia, and how could we prevent such a disaster if it were to occur?
Regardless of your political position on the book, I must say it is by far the most comprehensive one I have come across on this subject. Accurately and extensively researched and documented, this outstanding book may be the most important one explaining the conflicts of the 21st century.
Book Description
Blankley paints the picture of a Europe in which radical Islam is triumphant--a threat that is not only very real, but that would be more threatening to the United States than a Europe under Nazi domination. But there is hope--and a strategy--for Western survival; and Blankley illustrates what must happen to save the West.
Customer Reviews:
sad, sad case of racist hatered.......2007-08-19
In the '20s a certain person sitting in a prison finished a similar book on an other threat posed by a "homogeneous group of people", and about the clash of civilizations. The book's title was Mein Kampf, and we all know how well that turned out to be.
Fearmongering, ignorance, and downright stupidity -these are the words that can sum up this "work". As it can be seen from the majority of the reviews, it plays very well on the basic fears of the general, ignorant population. Fear of other, strange cultures, brown colored people, and anything different. It's sad that the author did not took it on himself to see what Europe is really like. There's no doubt the largely Muslim immigrant population does have problems integrating into the society - and most of these problems are not their doing. It is very frightening to see that based on some misinterpreted "cultural sensitivity" the school material is cropped in England, so that they don't offend Muslims. But it's hardly a threat to the "West". The reason why the majority of the Third World is pissed off by the West is another thing. Just learn history. Just look it up how Islamic fundamentalism was nurtured by Western governments. It's a monster we have created. It didn't start with 9/11. It started way before that, when Britain and other colonial powers -along with the US- started to force their short-sighted policies on them. It was a good idea to support Bin Laden and his friends against the Russians, right? Saddam was a good pal, too, even though we knew he was gassing people. The list can go on. We screwed up.
One thing to keep in mind: Rome was not destroyed from the outside.
Excellent analysis of Islam threat, but could be stronger on Western response.......2007-07-22
This is a must-read book to give anyone who thinks the Islamofascist terrorist threat is merely a persistent "nuisance" like prostitution (John Kerry) or a "bumper sticker slogan" (John Edwards), or that our response to the threat is so much neoconservative fear-mongering. Blankley convincingly raises the alarm against the West's complacency, political correctness and multiculturalism, especially in Europe, that blind us to the depth of the existential threat and anesthetize us from appropriate levels of response.
But the book is surprisingly upbeat in many instances. For example, Blankley argues that 2005 was a turning point in Europe, especially with the brutal daylight murder of Theo van Gogh in Amsterdam, a Dutch film maker and enfant terrible who offended Muslims with a short movie exposé of the constant cruelty meted out by most Muslims against women, and not just by the crazy jihadists (e.g., "honor" killings, wife beatings, forced marriages, house-bound slavery, genital mutilations of little girls, stonings-to-death for adultery). Blankley sees a silver lining in the French and Dutch rejections at the polls of the proposed EU constitution in 2005, coupled, as most of those votes were, to a rejection of allowing Muslim Turkey to enter the EU. He also predicts there will be more European restrictions on Muslim immigration and deportations of incendiary jihadist imams, predictions that have come true in the UK, Holland and Denmark.
My only reservations about the book (not significant enough to deny it 5 stars) are that Blankley can get a tad politically correct himself when analyzing Islam, and for all his passion about how Islamofascism needs as robust a response as the West gave Nazism and Japanese imperialism, he pulls his punches.
On the subject of endless jihad, he makes the same fundamental, erroneous assumption that many in the commentariat make: that the fundamentalist frontline terrorists are some sort of aberration from mainstream Islam, which is somehow, by contrast, passive and pacific. This is the Big Lie that Muslims have so far been very successful at propagating, with Tony Blankley just another victim. An honest assessment is that the Islamist terrorists' actions are not based on some sort of poison injected into Islam by Whahabbists or the Muslim Brotherhood. Instead, everything they say comes straight from the Koran. They don't have to make any of this stuff up about killing the infidels wherever they may find them, or that even the trees call out for the killing of Jews. It's all right there in the Koran. Mohammad was the Ur-Terrorist, misogynist, and yes, pedophile (a 54-year-old man for whom Allah took a moment out of all Eternity in the Koran to tell Mohammad it was OK for him to marry and bed a 9-year-old girl; for further on this and more, read Ayaan Hirsi Ali's book, Infidel, by a courageous ex-Muslim who exposes the core of Islam for what it is).
On the second point, some proposed Western offensives in this war, Blankley's book ends with some very good, concrete suggestions about how we can be more ruthless and aggressive in fighting Islamic attacks against the West. But if we are truly in an existential war as grave as WWII, and I agree with Blankley that we are, then I wish I had also seen in his book the following recommendations for future action that would be commensurate with the threat:
1. An immediate end to all Saudi funding of jihadist groups, including the madrassas and mosques they build worldwide and fill with extremist imams espousing the most virulent forms of aggression against the West. If necessary, we should engineer a coup d'état that puts the current corrupt princes out of business and replaces them with people of our liking, perhaps a military junta. That could be combined with pre-emptive military action by U.S. troops already in Iraq to occupy the predominantly Shiite eastern part of Saudi Arabia where most of the oilfields are and to take over those oilfields and the revenues from them to help pay for the West's war effort for as long as it takes to win that war. That move would no doubt find favor with Shiite Iraq and Iran to the extent it defangs the major source of the Sunni threat. Analogous moves in the past: the 1954 CIA-led coup in Iran against socialist Mossadegh, and the scuttling of the French fleet in WWII rather than seeing it fall into the hands of the fascist Vichy French; only in this modern version we would use the equivalent of that fleet for our own ends. Saudi Arabia is the Number One Enemy of the West, with Iran coming in second. So far, all the Islamic terrorist acts against the West have been Sunni, and either Saudi-inspired or Saudi-funded.
2. Making a Manhattan Project out of increasing our independence from foreign oil. A start would be to open up ANWAR in Alaska to drilling, as well as a more robust program of exploiting offshore resources; building more refineries and nuclear power plants; and enforcing conservation by increasing taxes on gasoline at the pumps, gas guzzler SUVs, boats and private airplanes, and using that money to fund alternative energy research and exploration. The only way self-indulgent Westerners, especially Americans, are going to stop wasteful energy use is to make it too expensive for them to continue doing so.
3. Institute a "national service" draft. For now - and hopefully into the foreseeable future - the all-volunteer armed forces are all we need or want for national defense and security; having uncooperative or disgruntled draftees in those services could be counter-productive. But if we are really at war - and I agree with Blankley that we are - then the only way to overcome widespread complacency among the public is to make people feel they have a role to play. We have not been asked in the "global war on terror" to make any personal sacrifices; instead, we are told "to go about our business as usual" in order to deny the terrorists their goal of terrorizing us. But why can't all of us be involved in the fight? And with or without terrorism, the goal of national service - however that should take form, e.g. as support help in hospitals or tutors for students with special needs, in the Peace Corps or AmeriCorps, or as civil defense coordinators in times of disasters - is a way for young Americans (and new immigrants) to develop a sense of patriotism. The Germans have universal "national service" conscription - why don't we?
4. We should have learned from Hurricane Katrina that most major U.S. cities are unprepared for disasters. See Ted Koppel's NPR commentary, "Grass-Roots America Isn't Prepared for Catastrophe" at http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=5597968. If the jihadists use a dirty radioactive weapon or bioterrorism as their next act, we all need to be individually better prepared to cope with the (literal) fallout. We should be exhorted to have emergency food, water, first aid, batteries, toilet paper, pet food, a portable radio and prescription medicine supplies in our homes. We ought to know from our local governments the emergency road routes and radio stations to tune into in the event of a catastrophic terrorist attack. Nobody is paying any attention to that right now.
5. London has taught us the value of video cameras everywhere in a major urban area, and not only to find the culprits after terrorist attacks, but to prevent the attacks as well. We need many more surveillance cameras in urban areas.
6. We need the equivalent of the Voice of America beamed at all the Iron Curtain countries during the Cold War, sending out to the Muslim world the broadcasts of imams to our liking (or of our own making, if need be), doing what they can to reform Islam from an 8th Century monster to a modern, truly tolerant and compassionate religion. The politically correct attitude about our government's not getting involved in religion has to be abandoned to one where the government is seen as getting involved in fighting a mortal enemy. If it was OK to exterminate the Waco Branch Davidians in a firefight, why not blast propaganda at a religion that is far more dangerous? Whether you see Islam as a religion or a death cult, as presently constituted (and led) it is a mortal threat to the Western way of life. It needs to be reformed, and if not, subverted. If that doesn't work, it needs to be destroyed. If this is truly an existential war, then it is either "them or us" who survive.
7. What is undermining Europe today, moving it in the direction of "Eurabia," is the huge population of Muslim immigrants, mostly from North Africa and Turkey, who refuse to assimilate and have an Islamist agenda of their own to take over Europe (and then, the world). One solution to Europe's need for young immigrant labor to offset their native populations' drops in birthrates would be to import Hispanics with their Christian culture. Instead of Mexicans pouring into the U.S. illegally, why not have them legally exported to work in Europe and to replace the hostile Muslim populations living in their "no-go-zone" ghettos, who should be paid incentives to leave Europe voluntarily for any Muslim country of their choice. The cost to import Mexican labor would be offset by the reduction in policing Muslim ghettos and the reduction in unemployment benefits and crime.
8. Remove the non-profit status of CAIR (Council on American-Islamic Relations) and other U.S. apologist, seditious pro-jihadist groups.
9. Block Internet jihadist web sites and jam and otherwise disable Al Jazeera and other conduits for the propaganda of Al Qaeda and other jihadist groups.
10. Announce to the world that if there is another 9/11 attack, all of Islam, which until now has been either silent about jihadist atrocities or approving of them, can expect the sacred black Kaaba rock at the heart of Mecca to become highly radioactive for decades to come, thus making one of the 5 pillars of Islam, the hajj to Mecca, a suicidal act. If they want to bring us to our knees by attacking us at our vulnerable foundations, then, in a ruthless do-or-die war, we need to be prepared to respond in kind. A small, targeted nuke on Mecca would be less disastrous than Hiroshima or Nagasaki, and just a credible threat of our willingness to do it would have far more effect. Sure, such an announcement would infuriate millions of Muslims. But aren't they already infuriated with us, anyway? How much more infuriated can they get? Isn't about time that we got just a little outrageous and crazy ourselves?
The foregoing no doubt will strike many as wildly extreme as responses to extremism. But war is in its very nature extreme. It usually means killing lots of people, including innocents. In WWII the Allies bombed entire cities, mostly filled with non-combatants, killing millions of people, and accepted that as the price of a war we did not start.
And inasmuch as Blankley counts on a European backlash to current Islamofascist terrorist acts to get them on a counter-offensive, he "ain't seen nothing yet" as to the next American backlash if the Islamofascists succeed in surpassing 9/11 in their next attacks on U.S. soil. For openers, the current crop of thumb-suckers in Congress will be swept away from power in droves. Sadly, though, it will probably take another 9/11 or worse to get America to focus on the real dangers in this world instead of the next Paris Hilton mishap.
A clear-eyed and realistic warning.......2007-06-28
Tony Blankley is an experienced political commentator and author, not to mention a UCLA-trained lawyer. In this fascinating 2005 book, Mr. Blankley puts forward the argument that the West is already locked in a "Clash of Civilizations" against militant Islam, and that Europe has allowed the immigration of many more Muslims than America, and as such is further along in its clash. How is this clash being waged? What can we look forward to if we lose? And, what must we do to win? Read this book and find out!
Overall, I found this to be a fascinating book. I think that the author did not go too far in spelling out what the future could bring, but presented a clear-eyed and realistic warning. If you are alarmed at what is happening around you, then you MUST read this book. I give it my highest recommendations!
Powerful, urgent message.......2007-04-10
Washington Times editor, Tony Blankley, delivers a powerful, urgent message that concentrates on the politics behind Islamist terrorism and the rise of multi-culturalism. Blankley is easily understood; a straight shooter. There is a bibliography, along with end notes with references. He states:
"My purpose in writing this book is to assess, with cold logic and objectivity, how the West is responding to radical Islamist threat and how we can and should respond."
Blankley begins with a nightmare scenario (some of which is already coming to fruition in Europe and cannot be allowed to take a foot-hold here; the border should be a warning). The people of Europe are coming to realize the growing danger. The threat is a new Islamist movement with increasingly younger recruits. The lack of assimilation and low birthrate could cripple Europe. A growing percentage of Muslims "don't want to integrate they want to dominate".
Tony does have hope and faith. But we are at war; the fear of offending and political correctness has run amuck; we are in denial and we are complacent. We have not even officially declared war on our enemy. Our country needs to sacrifice; it is time to reunite our nations as we did in W.W.II............
In 1940's America, hollywood contributed to the positive propaganda and the people joined with the government. They were willing to give up certain rights even censorship; today we are aiding the enemy in more ways than can be counted. The Patriot Act does not even come close to what was carried out during W.W.II; there was a total resolve then--not now. They focussed on winning--are we? "In the 1940's liberalism still understood our countries history and governments role in unifying our nations. National unity is the basis for National security."-----Justice Felix Frankfurter
"We [Americans] tend to sleep through history until we are awoken with a start; then we grab for our guns and all hell breaks loose. We are like a deep-sleeping dog that, when kicked, wakes up barking and biting. Europeans, more catlike, doze with one eye half-open."
Wish you well
Scott
Review of The West's Last Chance.......2007-02-07
A scary book, which appears to be carefully researched. Easy to read and digest; probably would be a good idea for Americans to read this.
Average customer rating:
- Universals Need Not Apply
- Bold admirable attempt worth reading
- A valiant try
- A Lesson for the Extremists
- Judaism, Globalization, and the Clash of Civilizations
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Dignity of Difference: How to Avoid the Clash of Civilizations
Jonathan Sacks
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ASIN: 0826468500 |
Book Description
The year 2001 began as the United Nations Year of Dialogue between Civilizations. By its end, the phrase that came most readily to mind was 'the clash of civilizations.' The tragedy of September 11 intensified the danger caused by religious differences around the world. As the politics of identity begin to replace the politics of ideology, can religion become a force for peace?
The Dignity of Difference is Rabbi Jonathan Sacks's radical proposal for reconciling hatreds. The first major statement by a Jewish leader on the ethics of globalization, it also marks a paradigm shift in the approach to religious coexistence. Sacks argues that we must do more than search for values common to all faiths; we must also reframe the way we see our differences.
Customer Reviews:
Universals Need Not Apply.......2007-06-05
There's a lot to like about Sacks' book. For example, its appreciation/critique of globalization is persuasive. "Morality," Sacks reminds us, "belongs no less in the boardroom than the bedroom, in the market-place as much as in a house of prayer." No argument there.
The book discusses theology as much as economics. And in doing so it does not capitulate to relativism (as a cheese-ball title like "Dignity of Difference" might lead one to believe). How could one call the book "relativist" when for Sacks, "the human project is inescapably a moral project"? How could the book be dismissed as another vacuous plea for ambivalence masked as "tolerance," when Sacks insists "something far stronger than toleration is required" in order for us to survive?
Here is Sacks' recipe for the postmodern world: "Absent religious faith, add the failure of the 'Enlightenment project' to create a universal ethic, and the result is moral relativism - a way of thinking (or rather, refusing to think) about life choices that may be suited to a consumer culture, but one that is wholly inadequate... to the challenge of assertive ethnicities and exclusive belief systems."
Rather than accepting the recipe, Sacks insists on the missing ingredient of religious faith. Though the Enlightenment predicted that religion's "public roles was at an end... The strange fact was, however, that religion refused to die. What has emerged is, in George Weigel's phrase, the "desecularization of the world."
In other words, the lunar eclipse is over, and what do you know, the sun was there all along. Contrary to the claims of generations of European intelligentsia, God is not going away. Religion is back (even though it never really left). And therefore, as Sacks puts it, the book is a "a theological basis for respect for difference, based not on relativism but on the concept of covenant."
And so, deeply respectful of religion, Sacks then sets out to give us religious folks a lesson in successful twenty-first century planetary cohabitation. But he does so by establishing a, shall we say, "New Covenant" with all world beliefs.
"The paths to salvation are many," Sacks explains. "There are multiple universes of wisdom, each capturing something of the radiance of being and drefracting it into the lives of its followers, not refuting or excluding the others, each as it were the native language of its followers, but combining in a hymn of glory to the creator." If the religions of the world therefore can just accept this idea (an idea which is arguably itself a religion) then there is hope.
Sacks' motivations are of course laudable. He doesn't want us to kill each other. Good for him. But here is his means of avoidance: God, Sacks writes, "has given us the means to save us from ourselves... we are not wrong to dream, wish and work for a better world." At such points the book, in my estimation, tends to degenerate into a well documented and sophisticated version of Can't we all just get along?
Despite my disagreements however I still can call Sacks' argument successful, because he is Jewish. He writes, "The God of the Israelites is the God of all mankind, but the demands made of the Israelites are not asked of all mankind." This is true enough. He concludes, "There is no equivalent in Judaism to the doctrine that extra ecclesiam non est salus, outside the Church there is no salvation."
But what if one is, while respecting the faith deeply, not "in Judaism"? What happens when the religion you profess is founded upon the fact that it is for everyone, as Christianity certainly is. In fact, one could make the case that the universal character of the Christian faith is the point of the New Testament (or at least of Luke, Acts, Galatians and Romans). Scholars often refer to the "sociological miracle" of the first century that resulted when the tribalized Roman world found unity in diversity in one new social body - the Church. The diversity that Sacks is seeking on a global scale may be contained by design within the Christian faith.
This ideal has of course often failed to be realized. But I don't see how anyone could convincingly argue that it's not in the charter. A Christian cannot follow suit [with Sacks' book], unless of course the charge to 'baptize all nations' actually reads 'baptize some nations' or the promise that 'every tongue shall confess and every knee shall bow' actually reads 'some tongues and some knees' or the assurance that 'Christ shall be all in all' actually reads 'Christ shall be some in some."
I can therefore read Sacks' book, learn from it, and strongly recommend it as a thoughtful perspective on globalization from a man both deeply intelligent and religious. But the very universal insistence that there can be no universal is a part I can't sign on to. Nor can a good Muslim. Nor can a good Marxist. And Christianity names itself among these as a universal religion with a truth to be offered to everyone.
Sacks says that "Unity in heaven creates diversity on earth." But a Christian does not believe in mere unity in heaven, but a diversity in heaven (the Trinty) that, strangely, can creates a unity on earth.
Sacks is concerned that we make space for one another in our dialogue, and this is of course a genuine concern. So much so that even God has followed Sacks' advice. If within the Trinity itself God has already permitted a diversity amidst Father, Son and Spirit - then there is no risk in humanity losing our distinctions (individually or even nationally) by participating in the life of this kind of God. To put it otherwise, if the "Absolute" is in itself diversified, then the postmodern prejudice against "Absolute Truth" has no beef with the Trinity.
The Trinitarian understanding of God is not that God is so "free" that he has to flex his infinite, absolute freedom leading to a Jean Paul Sartre's infuriated protest. God's freedom is well beyond the kind of smothering "divine" liberty that the existentialists abhorred. God is so free in fact that he can even give the different persons within his Godhead freedom - so free that he can even give his own creatures freedom to rebel against him. He is free enough to give them the choice to accept, or not accept his reconciling love.
Similarly, the Trinitarian understanding of God is not that God is so "powerful" that he has to flex his infinite, absolute power so mightily that it would threaten Nietzsche enough to have to compete - God is well more powerful than that. God has no need to be "macho" (which usually a sign of weakness anyway). Instead God is so powerful that he can become a creature among his creatures, allowing himself to be tried and condemned as a criminal before in a gesture of suffering love.
Such is the "freedom" and "power" of the Trinity. So free and powerful it can be bound helplessly to a cross. One might suggest a concept of God like that can afford to be universal.
I only wish there was room for such universality in Sacks' book.
Bold admirable attempt worth reading.......2007-03-19
Making world harmony a reality is a tall order and alliterated principles: control, contribution, compassion, creativity, co-operation, conservation, and conciliation are perhaps a bit `forced". But the deep and sincere thinking is much better than this might suggest. The title is more to the point; accepting the "dignity of difference" is entirely possible but for politicized extremists of every stripe (Faith) who ignore not only common principles but exclude any room at all for legitimate differences thereby proclaiming only they know divine will (the sin of `shirk' in Islam) and therefore there is no room for negotiation or compromise. This exclusivity is not unique to any faith or civilization except in the most delusional and arrogant self perception.
Perhaps empathy (compassion), a real sense of justice, and the space for what is essential to each faith are most important. The spirituality and morality of men of all faiths usually can provide toleration and conciliation - it is the politicians, ethnics, opportunists - and usually less spiritual individuals - who stop such developments.
This is a wonderful, even inspirational, book for people of good faith. But reactions, most of all from within the Rabbi's own faith so far, show the difficulty. Maybe psychology (as studied by books like "Blind Trust") needs to be integrated for a more actionable effective plan.
Now, a comment on limitations is required. Sacks remains idealistic and sometimes a bit superficial. He has not even reasonable agreement within his own community. There is little indicating real understanding of Islam in particular (perhaps this is much to ask in a short book). The discussion of education is lively but inadequate regarding quality versus quantity and the difficulty of opening minds. (The largely uncritical reading of "Clash" is itself an indication of limits of education.) It begs questions about why the oldest of the three faiths remains by far that with fewest adherents, and why a persecuted people now persecute others. The moral case for a market economy perhaps avoids too many of the negatives and how democracy evolves towards oligarchy without economic democracy. The critique of elements of globalism identifies but does not explain the role of that same capitalist "Washington Consensus". Greed and materialism more than empathy and generosity are characteristic of the present market economy. In general analysis is better than resolution of problems. Good will is not alone enough.
A valiant try .......2004-11-23
Rabbi Sachs is an intelligent and astute political thinker. His moral values his concern for the dignity of every human being his desire for peace in the world are felt strongly in the text.His overall prescription and hope is that the major civilizations of the world can through tolerant recognition and acceptance of each other bring great benefit to mankind as a whole. As an ideal prescription and formulation ' The Dignity of Differences' makes great sense.
But as a realistic assessment of where Mankind is and what precisely is going on within these Civilizations there is something lacking here. Any consideration of the present world situation which aims at providing some new and better direction has to look realistically at the character and goals of the major civilizations. The value of recognizing and tolerating others which Rabbi Sachs so rightly promotes is at this historical moment not the note which Islamic Civilization is ready to hear. In Huntington's Clash of Civilizations he spoke about an arc of confrontation in the world in which Muslim countries in thirty some odd places are engaged in aggressive violent behavior against neighbors. Islamic fundamentalist terrorism denies the fundamental premise of all that Rabbi Sachs is trying to teach. There is an assymetry between the Civilization which has to be recognized if there is going to be real progress toward a better world. Rabbi Sachs has made a valiant and admirable try here in offering a better way for the world. Unfortunately this does not address the ' threats' of the moment , threats of terror and violence, also by states which can bring disaster to Mankind. Let us hope and pray that Mankind will get in some years time into the position where all civilizations will recognize and tolerate the legitimate place of others.
A Lesson for the Extremists.......2004-10-26
I am an American who teaches overseas, and I think that this book clearly illustrates the problem facing our various countries today: as the author states, we "narrowcast," meaning that we seek out those who are like us, communicate with those individuals, and then pronounce ourselves correct without ever truly seeking a diverse opinion.
The political faultlines we walk today are a perfect example of what happens when we stop talking to each other and only desire positive feedback. This book, however, is not for any standard reader: it appeals, I believe, more to moderates than someone of a strident ideological background. If you blindly follow an extremist path in a political party or religion, I think this book could radically change your mind about said path, but you need to approach the book with as open a mind as possible.
I write this only a few days before the next U.S. presidential election, which has been the ugliest since I came of voting age in '92. I wish both candidates and their quislings would read this fine book.
Judaism, Globalization, and the Clash of Civilizations.......2003-01-24
As an International Relations major in college, I spent four years debating and writing about Samuel Huffington's warning of a "clash of civilizations." Then, it seemed that globalization and the United States' increasing role as the hegemonic superpower of the world were discussions limited to academia. In the years since, our world has become much smaller, we have been introduced to the "axis of evil," terrorism has penetrated our own borders, and a vocal anti-globalization effort has gone mainstream. Now, the chief rabbi of the British Commonwealth has proposed that we borrow values from Judaism to avoid the clash of civilizations, seeking an alternative to religious coexistence through his notion of the ethics of globalization.
Much of the Jewish media's coverage of Sacks' book has focused on his criticism of Israel's stance in the current conflict with the Palestinians. However, looking past this critique (only a short section of the book treats this subject), one finds a novel argument about how people of different nationalities and faiths can coexist in the new world. Sacks argues that religion does not have to lead to a clash between rival civilizations, but rather can be used to generate tolerance. In our politically correct society, we often look for ways to put our differences aside and search out our commonalities, and we feel the need to be all-inclusive in our dialogue efforts. Sacks challenges us by asking whether this "dialogue" is doing any good, or if we would be better served to embrace our differences. Monotheism doesn't mean there's only one way to God, he argues, rather, it's the belief that the unity of God creates diversity.
Our global borders have clearly shrunk, as evidenced by African children eating McDonalds and sipping Coke while wearing Nike shoes and watching MTV; and, we must now ask what the implications of globalization are to us as Jews. Sacks ingeniously looks to the Torah for insight into the great debates about globalization, the clash of civilizations, and the campaign against terror. He divides his book into seven moral principles (all beginning with the letter C) needed to make world harmony a reality: control, contribution, compassion, creativity, co-operation, conservation, and conciliation. We, in the Jewish community, have a long history of striving to attain these core moral imperatives, labeling them as acts of tikkun olam, repairing the world.
In this post-September 11 world of great uncertainty, we must not be too quick to label globalization, which Sacks argues has compromised human dignity, as wholly positive or negative. For every story of a Jew living in a remote part of the world once removed from Jewish existence and now able to participate fully in Jewish life due to vast technological advances, there is a story of how globalization has infused a community with American/Western values to the point that its own identity and cultural differences are forgotten.
As American Jews, there are many issues that drive our feelings about globalization and anti-globalization (most notably Israel), but we must not fall prey to oversimplifying the arguments of those in either camp. At a time when religious values seem to be dividing us, this book is a fresh perspective that charges us to use those values for good. With the current state of world affairs, the very least we could do is try.
Book Description
This collection is the consummate collection of readings on contemporary international relations. According to Samuel Huntington's seminal 1993 essay, The Clash of Civilizations, world politics is entering a new phase, in which the great divisions among humankind and the dominating source of international conflict will be cultural. Civilizations—the highest cultural groupings of people—are differentiated from each other by religion, history, language and tradition. In the resulting era of cultural conflict that is emerging, the United States must forge alliances with similar cultures and spread its values wherever possible. In Huntington's final analysis, the West must be accommodating if possible and confrontational if necessary; moreover, all civilizations will have to learn to tolerate each other. This collection includes a series of responses to Huntington's original essay by eminent writers in the field.
Contents includes articles originally published in Foreign Affairs including:
- The Clash of Civilizations? Samuel Huntington, Foreign Affairs, Summer 1993
- The Summoning Fouad Ajami, Foreign Affairs, September/October 1993
- The Dangers of Decadence Kishore Mahbubani, Foreign Affairs, September/October 1993
- The Case for Optimism Robert L. Bartley, Foreign Affairs, September/October 1993
- Civilization Grafting Liu Binyan, Foreign Affairs, September/October 1993
- The Modernizing Imperative Jeane J. Kirkpatrick, Foreign Affairs, September/October 1993
- Do Civilizations Hold? Albert L. Weeks, Foreign Affairs, September/October 1993
- The West is the Best Gerard Piel, Foreign Affairs, September/October 1993
- If Not Civilizations, What? Samuel Huntington, Foreign Affairs, November/December 1993
Customer Reviews:
Written and discussed long before any Danish Mohammed-Cartoon.......2006-02-07
The analysis, published 1993 by Huntington, written long before any Danish Mohammed-Cartoon, has refocused attention after the 9/11 Islamic terrorist attacks - and there seems to be no end: Madrid (3/11/04), bombings in Istanbul (11/20/03) and in London (7/7/05) or the ritual assassination of Dutch filmmaker and writer Theo van Gogh in Amsterdam (11/2/04). Protests against Danish Mohammed-Cartoons (2006), Hamas in Gaza, war against IRAQ, trouble with IRAN.
And therefore there is no end of TV-discussions how to react. Huntington, former foreign policy aide to the US State Department speaks of so-called "fault-line-wars", which exist between the cultures (religions) and will give endlessly smouldering. As examples the hunter Huntington specifies among other things the Gulf War and Afghanistan.
Hotspots seemed to be on the fault lines between the religions in Chechnya, the Middle East, Tibet, Sri Lanka, and Bosnia. In Yugoslavia the Serbs where supported by Russian diplomatist while Saudi Arabia, Turkey, Iran and Libya provided arms to the Bosnians. Yugoslavia is an example of what happens to a country where religious factors become the means for identifying oneself.
And it could develop worse: Koran-Sura 9, verse 5: "Fight and slay the pagans wherever you find them. And seize them, beleaguer them and lie in wait for them, in every stratagem [of war]." Islam teaches that Muslims must not befriend Jews and Christians. Surat Al-Maidah 5:51 says, "O ye, who believe, take not the Jews or the Christians for your friends and protectors. They are but friends and protectors to each other."
In the chapter about how to stop those "break-line-wars" Huntington writes: "The force along cultural break lines may stop for a while completely, but it rarely ends really." "These problems become still more complicated, if the cultures involved do not have a core state." Hierarchy-creditor finishing sentence of this important chapter: "A break line war cooks from down highly, a break line peace seeps from above down". We hope, Huntington will know, which at the end is "above". Another unsentimental, very tough-minded Huntington analysis: "The conflict can disappear fast and brutally, as a group extinguishes the other one."
The fact that cultural difference could brought to coexistence, into an equilibrium, supported by a progressive deliberated secularization of all denominations (accompanied by a sober transformation of all too denomination-linked educating systems) - such roots of thought we unfortunately miss in this provoking sermon, mainly dominated by a military perspective...
not worth buying....read at some bookstore.......2005-08-09
I enjoyed the original book but this debate replies don't go in depth to become intriguing. It is a collection of responses from 7 other economist/historian/etc., and it is a very basic responses. I would just read it at some bookstore, and save the money. [.]
Book Description
A magisterial history of the titanic struggle between the Roman and Jewish worlds that led to the destruction of Jerusalem.
In 70 C.E., after a four-year war, three Roman legions besieged and eventually devastated Jerusalem, destroying Herod’s magnificent Temple. Sixty years later, after further violent rebellions and the city’s final destruction, Hadrian built the new city of Aelia Capitolina where Jerusalem had once stood. Jews were barred from entering its territory. They were taxed simply for being Jewish. They were forbidden to worship their god. They were wholly reviled.
What brought about this conflict between the Romans and the subjects they had previously treated with tolerance? Martin Goodman—equally renowned in Jewish and in Roman studies—examines this conflict, its causes, and its consequences with unprecedented authority and thoroughness. He delineates the incompatibility between the cultural, political, and religious beliefs and practices of the two peoples. He explains how Rome’s interests were served by a policy of brutality against the Jews. He makes clear how the original Christians first distanced themselves from their origins, and then became increasingly hostile toward Jews as Christian influence spread within the empire. The book thus also offers an exceptional account of the origins of anti-Semitism, the history of which reverberates still.
An indispensable book.
Book Description
Since the Civil War whites and blacks have struggled over the meanings and uses of the Southern past. Indeed, today's controversies over flying the Confederate flag, renaming schools and streets, and commemorating the Civil War and the civil rights movement are only the latest examples of this ongoing divisive contest over issues of regional identity and heritage. The Southern Past argues that these battles are ultimately about who has the power to determine what we remember of the past, and whether that remembrance will honor all Southerners or only select groups.
For more than a century after the Civil War, elite white Southerners systematically refined a version of the past that sanctioned their racial privilege and power. In the process, they filled public spaces with museums and monuments that made their version of the past sacrosanct. Yet, even as segregation and racial discrimination worsened, blacks contested the white version of Southern history and demanded inclusion. Streets became sites for elaborate commemorations of emancipation and schools became centers for the study of black history. This counter-memory surged forth, and became a potent inspiration for the civil rights movement and the black struggle to share a common Southern past rather than a divided one.
W. Fitzhugh Brundage's searing exploration of how those who have the political power to represent the past simultaneously shape the present and determine the future is a valuable lesson as we confront our national past to meet the challenge of current realities.
Book Description
Shireen Hunter provides a pragmatic analysis of relations between Islam and the West, marked by specific cases from the contemporary Islamic/Western divide. Her book gives a realistic and accurate assessment of the relative role of civilizational factors in determining the nature of the state and the prospects for Muslim-Western relations (i.e., whether they will be conflictual or cooperative). Hunter answers the question: Can an accommodation between Islam and the West take place in a gradual and evolutionary manner or will it happen only after conflict and confrontation? And, contrary to Huntington's vaunted thesis in The Clash of Civilizations and the Remaking of World Order (Simon & Schuster, 1996), she finds that the reality of modern Islam offers room for hope. Hunter challenges many of the prevailing Western views of the Muslim world. For example, despite the widespread belief on the specificity of Islam because of an assumed fusion of politics and religion, in reality the fusion--of the spiritual and the temporal--has not been greater in Islam than in other religions. Therefore, Hunter asserts, the slower pace of secularization in Muslim countries can not be attributed to Islam's specificity. This is a major study that will be of interest to concerned citizens as well as scholars and students of the Middle East and Islam.
Customer Reviews:
Sobering........2005-08-15
The author's breadth of knowledge is impressive. That there is hope for a West-Islam rapprochement is well argued here; there are historic precedents for it. This is a short book carrying a powerful analysis of past and present relations between West and Islam. For me it was sobering and managed to ease my angst. Most of all, it gave me hope.
Book Description
Blankley paints the picture of a Europe in which radical Islam is triumphant - a threat that becomes more real with every passing day. Blankley also shows what the United States must do to avoid the same fate.
Customer Reviews:
The West's Last Chance: Will We Win the Clash of Civilizations.......2007-01-09
This is a must read for every interested American as we think through our challenge from barbarians threatening to destroy our country and way of life.
We Have Been Warned!.......2007-01-03
This book details the problem of the Islamic activism that is causing so many of the problems in the world. Our low birthrates in contrast to the high birthrates of the Muslim countries is even a of more long term concern than the present military/terrorism that we read about in the daily press. If this trend continues, the West will loose Europe and ultimately be involved in the choice of "convert or die!"
A must read.......2006-11-10
This is a thought provoking book that everyone should read. It is frightening and we can already see parts of it coming true in Europe. The book discusses the clash of civilizations in a very understandable way and should be in every thinking person's library.
Average customer rating:
- A thought-provoking challenge to Islam
- The Universal Hunger for Liberty
- An important message of hope for tomorrow
- The author humbly submits the following:
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The Universal Hunger For Liberty: Why the Clash of Civilizations Is Not Inevitable
Michael Novak
Manufacturer: Basic Books
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Book Description
"In this vital book the author tells how peacemakers can capitalize on man's universal inner longings for liberty and mutual respect, and so restore calm to a stressed-out world." -Washington Times
Starting with 9/11 and continuing with the struggle for peace in Iraq, the West has been forced to interact more fully with the civilization of Islam. In The Universal Hunger for Liberty, statesman and award-winning author Michael Novak sets forth a new model for facing this challenge-and for healing a still violently fractured world. In place of ongoing conflict, he offers a surprisingly optimistic vision of how the concept of fundamental human liberty-shared by the Islamic and Judeo-Christian traditions-can heal our cultural, economic, and political differences.
"It is Novak's nuanced explication of his own religion's relationship with the contemporary that is the most useful part of The Universal Hunger for Liberty." -Los Angeles Times
"Novak is particularly keen in his discussions of theology and gauging the extent to which religion will play an increasingly large role in world affairs during the 21st century." -Publishers Weekly
Customer Reviews:
A thought-provoking challenge to Islam.......2005-01-09
Novak challenges Muslims to find within their own religious and philosophical tradition the resources for justifying cooperation with the West in embracing a free and democratic social order. Along the way he revisits topics familiar to readers of his earlier works (the relationship between Catholicism and democracy; moral virtue and a capitalist economy). While much attention these days is paid to Islamic fundamentalist apologists for a war on the West, Novak has apparently done his homework and demonstrates the possibilities for moral renewal within Islam by appeal to their own tradition (the case made, in large part, not just by Novak but Muslims themselves).
Due to the unfortunate stigma attached to "neoconservatives" in the wake of the U.S. war on Iraq, I'm not sure how many would be inclined to read this book -- but their ignorance would truly be their loss. As with all of Novak's books, I learned a great deal (not only about Islam, but about Catholic social doctrine and political philosophy). I would encourage those with truly open minds to consider Novak's proposals for themselves. It is a book that deserves an answer.
The Universal Hunger for Liberty.......2004-12-30
This is a very interesting book about an extremely important topic. While many people band about words like globalization, multiculturalism, and clash of civilizations, Michael Novak has attempted to sketch an outline of a successful world civilization, a Caritapolis, in which all the world's religions and cultures could participate without losing their identity. More specifically, he is attempting to answer the question whether Islam can be incorporated into the benefits of democratic society without being untrue to its essence. He is especially to be commended for trying to describe the spiritual core of democracy and capitalism, that is the virtues and dispositions of character that enable the free society to function successfully. In short, this is the kind of book that deserves to be read and discussed by those concerned about the possibilities for a free and prosperous 21st century around the world.
Its main defect is that, in 230 pages, it attempts to sketch a picture of a possible world civilization, show how to best aid the world's poor and the environment, detail how Catholicism has dealt with the modern democratic movement, and show whether and how Islam can be reconciled with democracy. Because of this many things are asserted that need to be argued: for example, despite his frequent references to the Judeo-Christian inspiration of democracy and capitalism there is little attention paid to parts of the Bible that would seem to support an authoritarian society, divergences between Jewish, Protestant, and Catholic interpretations of concepts central to democracy and capitalism like free choice, or even the Catholic magisterium's explicit condemnation of many elements of democratic society in the 19th century. In fairness, a book that attempted to cover all the topics he treats thoroughly would probably span a 1000 pages or more and perhaps the book would lose some of its appeal if it was less broad in scope.
Nevertheless, despite its shortcomings, this is a book that deserves to be widely read and disseminated.
An important message of hope for tomorrow.......2004-12-06
The Universal Hunger for Liberty is a beautifully written and insightful book, unsurpassed in its depth of understanding. Michael Novak, one of the world's foremost theological thinkers, has demonstrated convincingly that the promise of democracy offers the best hope to people of all religions. His important message, if heeded sincerely, will serve to eliminate the most vexing problems that face us today.
The author humbly submits the following:.......2004-10-31
This book may be my most important since The Spirit of Democratic Capitalism (1982). It is a look ahead into the shape of the 21st century to come--its politics, economics and culture. Its focus is that bright crimson thread of human history, the search for liberty in all three spheres, in accord with the human hunger to understand and to choose freely and to take responsibility (and to evade it). I spell out why the 21st century begins locked within World War IV. (World War III, in retrospect, was "the Cold War.") Though not an expert, I try to meet the spiritual challenge of that false version of Islam (the religion), "Islamism" (a politicized desire to destroy others, dressed up falsely as the religion of Islam). I show how the desire of hundreds of millions of Muslims for prosperity, opportunity, and freedom from secret police and tyranny need not be in vain. Indeed, it may come to fruition in this century. I am not altogether optimistic, but there is a good chance that this may happen--and we must take work to make that happen. You cannot defeat terrorism by killing terrorists, but only by helping create a positive alternative, economic opportunity and political liberty, for young males especially (the source of so much violence),in the Islamic world. --Michael Novak, Washington, DC [A summary of the book may be found on my website, at www.michaelnovak.net]
Books:
- The Complete Idiot's Guide to American Government, Second Edition
- The Crisis of Islam: Holy War and Unholy Terror
- The Greatest Story Ever Sold: The Decline and Fall of Truth from 9/11 to Katrina
- The Intellectuals and the Flag
- The Language Police: How Pressure Groups Restrict What Students Learn
- The Looming Tower: Al-Qaeda and the Road to 9/11
- The Neocon Reader
- The Origins of Totalitarianism
- The Origins of Virtue: Human Instincts and the Evolution of Cooperation
- The Shi'is of Iraq
Books Index
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