Why Civilizations Really Clash

January 10, 2016 | 14:03 GMT

A man stands in the rubble of the World Trade Center on Sept. 11, 2001. (DOUG KANTER/Getty Images)

Twenty years have passed since famed political scientist Samuel Huntington published his seminal work, The Clash of Civilizations and the Remaking of World Order. It not only anticipated many of the conflicts that took place after the Cold War, but it also fitted them within a context that was starkly different from the view that was widely held at the end of the 20th century: that a more peaceful, democratic and liberal world order was upon us. But 20 years later, in a world that seemingly confirms Huntington's predictions in many ways, it is becoming increasingly clear that his model doesn't hold up in today's global system