We certainly do not need another descriptive review of this masterpiece which developed out of an initial article in the Foreign Affairs journal that created such a stir among academic circles and that dealt such a hammer blow to Edward Said’s notion of a multi-polar, multi-cultural harmonious world. Comparable in its stature to On Political Economy by David Ricardo and Parson Malthus in the 19th century that tore apart the wonderful world of Adam Smith to depict the terrible and inevitable doom that lay ahead of mankind, this book will make you sit up. To avoid the descriptive pitfall, let me summaries the entire argument of the book in one line- In the future, the world will be divided on the lines of civilization, with each such regime revolving around one core state (for instance, China for Sinic civilizations, India for Hindus), with conflict imminent. What I intend to do in this review is criticize thoroughly three strands of Huntington’s arguments in which he puts forward generalizations that are meant to be ‘one size fits all’, but don’t really fulfill that category when applied to India.

Firstly, he argues that if a civilization adopts a Kamelist approach, ultimately it will result in a backlash from the core of that civilization, resulting in it returning to its roots (his most detailed example is that of Turkey). He goes on to say that people who tend to proclaim their superiority to the west- ideologically or culturally, unwittingly resort to following paths shown by the west itself (obvious example is USSR and its ideology), again resulting in a backlash from the elites to return to its roots. However, we can take this further by arguing that civilizations that resort to a more moderate form of copying the west (while maintaining the air of superiority about their indigenous norms) ultimately end up diluting their culture and ending up identity less. The most striking example is that of Mainland China, where western institutions, values, norms are speedily attaining a level of automatic assumed undisputed superiority, unquestionable and above all indigenous counterparts. Lastly, countries which aim to co-exist peacefully with others and do not proclaim the superiority of indigenous cultures end up sticking closest to their roots, at the same time developing economically and socially (India).

Secondly, I shed doubts on his arguments on 'language of wider communication' (LWC). I feel that if English is used as a third language (common as second language to both the involved parties), then his argument about LWC stands. Thus, it is also valid to point out the south Indians using English and not Hindi as their preferred means of communication. However, when an Indian speaks English to a British or an American, then his argument loses ground because rare is the case when the latter speaks Hindi. Thus, aren't people of other civilizations (non-English) losing the integrity of their culture when they are speaking English to an English speaking person? Thus, the case against his argument that English is not becoming a world language stands firmly

Lastly, Huntington makes one gross generalization. He constantly labels India as the core of the 'Hindu' civilization and mention that there is a distinct 'Islamic' civilization in India. This is inaccurate given that the civilization of the sub-continent is generally tremendously heterogeneous and can only be termed 'Indian' and not branded according to religion. The Hindus and Muslims in India can be better labeled according to language, caste, class or region, but not religion. Even in Pakistan, which was a nation based on the false notion of Islamic brotherhood, the Punjabis, Sindhis, Afghanis, Pathans, Mohajirs are very much divided on the above categories and not bound together at all by the common religion. The only entity that binds the whole sub-continent is the inherent 'Indianness' of the culture that has developed over 5,000 years and whose primary characteristic is 'unity amidst diversity'. Any religious labeling of this land is bigotry. Thus, in my view India will not emerge just as a core for the Hindu world, but for all those who have similar civilization traits, namely South East Asia, certain parts of Africa besides South Asia.

Overall, however, Huntington can be forgiven. Unlike many of his western counterparts, he does admit his lack of proficiency in the issues revolving round India, some of which as illustrated above, certainly appear markedly different from the universal generalizations. To me, the best part of his book remains where he mentions the possibility that China and the US might stumble into a bitter and mutually destructive conflict in the future and thereafter the world being left wide open for India to shape it as it pleases. All I have to say to that is ‘Amen’.   

–  Aruni Mukherjee
October 17, 2004

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