The End of the Century: Emerging Themes, Disappearing Themes

Abstract

As we near the end of the century, many are hypothesizing on the characteristics of the coming epoch. Samuel Huntington`s ”clash of civilizations” argument has been one of the most hotly debated predictions. This article critiques Huntington`s theory of probable future developments by looking to the past. In 1897 noted naval strategist Alfred Thayer Mahan argued that modern technological advances were leading to increased contacts between civilizations and thus the twentieth century was likely to see violent conflict between the West and a modernizing East. Nothing that the twentieth century was actually characterized by conflicts mainly within the West itself, as well as between Eastern countries, this author argues for the necessity of taking a wider view of the characteristics of international relations. In addition to the forces of power, economics, and civilization, there are many non-geopolitical forces that characterize interaction between states. Many such cooperative efforts are being made in the areas of human rights, economic and social cooperation, cross-border humanitarian concerns, the environment, scholarly exchange, and technical cooperation. Moreover, these efforts began to occur before the end of the Cold War and have developed independently of geostrategic concerns.