Political Forum Post

Question: What, if anything, do the current conflicts between Russia and Ukraine, and among the Shi'a and Sunnis in Iraq and Syria, say about the utility of Huntington's thesis about the clash of civilizations? Answer: At the end of the cold war, the expertise of international relations and the political scientists were discovering the predictable and probable situations after this devastating revolution. The conflict between Russia and Ukraine took place due to some important reasons. The conflict arose when the presidents of Ukraine refuse to make an economic deal with Russia regarding the agreement in association. After a few days, that particular individual agreed to accept another economic deal with Russia. This was one of the effective reasons to for the conflict of Russia and Ukraine. On the other hand, Russia chose Ukraine for making their economic deal because Ukraine is possessed with the products of high quality along with its low prices. As a result, Russia would be benefited to make a free agreement with Ukraine. The primary reason between the conflict of Shias and Sunnis was differentiation of their values, beliefs and ethics. As per the Muslim theology, God renders the blessing through the prophets who plays the role of messengers[1] . Shias do not prefer to believe on messengers as they believe to reach the god directly[2]. As per their point of view, human being does not need to go through the prophet in order to receive the blessings of god. The beliefs and values of Sunnis were just the opposite. That was the root of arising conflict between Shias and Sunnis. This has become the ancient religious divide made a conflict regarding transforming a map for the people of Middle East. The current scenario has been changed right now. At present, more than ten thousands militants have been spread throughout Iraq and Syria. It was the amalgamation both Shias and Sunnis. The primary concern of many expertises was reducing the violence between them. Still, it is a matter of argument whether the religious conflict between this Shia and Sunnis would be reduced or it would go to the ultimate violence that would become a severe threat for leading a life successfully or for maintaining peace in the international field. In this situation, the well-known political scientist Samuel Huntington described the future aspect of the international system and policies[3]. Samuel believed the fact that one particular region is possessed with various cultural divisions such as Western, Islamic and Hindu and so many. Each and every cultured is attached with their own perception and values. As per his point of view, Islamic civilization had been raised as one of the major troubles. The inhabitants of Arab do not intend to share their values and perception with the Western countries. As a result, a major communication gap has occurred in between them. The nature of the conflict: The post situation of the cold war, the political scenario was it was entering to the new age of revolution. The nation states were getting back their rivalries, that was maintained traditionally and the aspect of tribalism and globalism was supplying the strength to the decline of the nation. As these aspects were the matter of main concern of the era, they missed the central aspect of the globally inspired politics. The aspect of civilization after the cold war: The migration to the Western Europe was incredibly increased by the growth of population in the Arabian countries. The aspect of racism was broadly open that time. The clash of civilization was indicated by the differences between the Islam and the west culture. The conflict was increasing on the area of northern border in Islam, which involves the Orthodox and Muslim people, which expressed as the violence between the Serb and Albanian, and the relationship was also getting destroyed between the Bulgarian and the minorities of the Turkish[4]. Conclusion: It was not that much surprising, as people were so much excited for the after effects of the cold war, the thesis of Huntington was a little bit controversial. The facts of civilization was globally criticized by the critics, as it consists of the unclear definition of the concept of civilization, as the western civilization is mainly consists of the western and modern, i.e. non-western civilization. Reference: Huntington, Samuel P. The Clash of Civilizations?Foreign Affairs72.3:22-49. (1993) Kenny, Charles. The Convergence of Civilizations.Foreign Policy(2013) Ayoob, Mohammed. 2012. Was Huntington Right? Revisiting the Clash of Civilizations.Insight Turkey14.4: 1- 11. (2012.)