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Showing 1 - 13 of 13 matches in All Departments
In his seminal work "The Clash of Civilizations and the Remaking of World Order, " Samuel Huntington argued provocatively and presciently that with the end of the cold war, "civilizations" were replacing ideologies as the new fault lines in international politics. Now in his controversial new work, "Who Are We?, " Huntington focuses on an identity crisis closer to home as he examines the impact other civilizations and their values are having on our own country. America was founded by British settlers who brought with them a distinct culture, says Huntington, including the English language, Protestant values, individualism, religious commitment, and respect for law. The waves of immigrants that later came to the United States gradually accepted these values and assimilated into America's Anglo-Protestant culture. More recently, however, our national identity has been eroded by the problems of assimilating massive numbers of primarily Hispanic immigrants and challenged by issues such as bilingualism, multiculturalism, the devaluation of citizenship, and the "denationalization" of American elites. September 11 brought a revival of American patriotism and a renewal of American identity, but already there are signs that this revival is fading. Huntington argues the need for us to reassert the core values that make us Americans. Timely and thought-provoking, "Who Are We?" is an important book that is certain to shape our national conversation about who we are.
In this text, the author argues that as people increasingly define themselves by ethnicity and religion, the West will find itself more and more at odds with non-western civilizations that reject its ideals of democracy, human rights, liberty, the rule of law, and the separation of the church and state.;Picturing a future of accelerated conflict and increasingly 'de-Westernized' international relations, this text further argues for greater understanding of non-western civilizations and offers strategies for maximizing Western influence.
Realists have long argued that the international system must be based on hard calculations of power and interest. But in recent years, religion's role on the international scene has grown. The Influence of Faith examines religion as a growing factor in world politics and U.S. foreign policy. Particular attention is placed on the American reaction to the persecution of Christians and Jews overseas, as well as the role of faith-based groups such as missionary and relief organizations in the formulation and implementation of U.S. policy. The Influence of Faith considers these timely issues from diverse points of view, offering broad historical analysis as well as concrete examples taken from current affairs.
In a classic work, Samuel P. Huntington challenges most of the old assumptions and ideas on the role of the military in society. Stressing the value of the military outlook for American national policy, Huntington has performed the distinctive task of developing a general theory of civil-military relations and subjecting it to rigorous historical analysis. Part One presents the general theory of the "military profession," the "military mind," and civilian control. Huntington analyzes the rise of the military profession in western Europe in the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries, and compares the civil-military relations of Germany and Japan between 1870 and 1945. Part Two describes the two environmental constants of American civil-military relations, our liberal values and our conservative constitution, and then analyzes the evolution of American civil-military relations from 1789 down to 1940, focusing upon the emergence of the American military profession and the impact upon it of intellectual and political currents. Huntington describes the revolution in American civil-military relations which took place during World War II when the military emerged from their shell, assumed the leadership of the war, and adopted the attitudes of a liberal society. Part Three continues with an analysis of the problems of American civil-military relations in the era of World War II and the Korean War: the political roles of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, the difference in civil-military relations between the Truman and Eisenhower administrations, the role of Congress, and the organization and functioning of the Department of Defense. Huntington concludes that Americans should reassess their liberal values on the basis of a new understanding of the conservative realism of the professional military men.
The classic study of post-Cold War international relations, more
relevant than ever in the post-9/11 world, with a new foreword by
Zbigniew Brzezinski.
This stunningly persuasive book examines the persistent, radical gap between the promise of American ideals and the performance of American politics. Samuel P. Huntington shows how Americans, throughout their history as a nation, have been united by the democratic creed of liberty, equality, and hostility to authority. At the same time he reveals how, inevitably, these ideals have been perennially frustrated through the institutions and hierarchies required to carry on the essential functions of governing a democratic society. From this antagonism between the ideals of democracy and the realities of power have risen four great political upheavals in American history. Every third generation, Huntington argues, Americans have tried to reconstruct their institutions to make them more truly reflect deeply rooted national ideals. Moving from the clenched fists and mass demonstrations of the 1960s, to the moral outrage of the Progressive and Jacksonian Eras, back to the creative ideological fervor of the American Revolution, he incisively analyzes the dissenters' objectives. All, he pungently writes, sought to remove the fundamental disharmony between the reality of government in America and the ideals on which the American nation was founded. Huntington predicts that the tension between ideals and institutions is likely to increase in this country in the future. And he reminds us that the fate of liberty and democracy abroad is intrinsically linked to the strength of our power in world affairs. This brilliant and controversial analysis deserves to rank alongside the works of Tocqueville, Bryce, and Hofstadter and will become a classic commentary on the meaning of America.
This now-classic examination of the development of viable political
institutions in emerging nations is a major and enduring
contribution to modern political analysis. In a new Foreword,
Francis Fukuyama assesses Huntington's achievement, examining the
context of the book's original publication as well as its lasting
importance.
Much discussed but poorly understood, globalization is praised as the answer to all the world's problems and blamed for everything from pollution to poverty. In Many Globalizations, Peter L. Berger and Samuel P. Huntington bring together an array of scholars from around the world, who paint a far subtler and more richly shaded portrait, showing both the power and the unexpected consequences of this great force. Here the stereotypes of globalization as American imperialism on the one hand or economic cure-all on the other fall apart under the close scrutiny of these leading scholars. Looking at globalization in countries such as Chile, Japan, South Africa, Germany, Turkey, Hungary, Taiwan, India, and the United States, they show that an emerging global culture does indeed exist, one that is heavily American in origin and content, but that is far from a centrally directed force like classic imperialism--nor is it simply a "metastasized Disneyland." They examine the currents that carry this culture, from a worldwide class of young professionals to nongovernmental organizations, and define globalization's many variations (ranging from Buddhist influences to Islamic modernism) as well as subglobalizations that bind regions together. The authors also draw attention to globalizing forces that have escaped media scrutiny, such as the role of evangelical Protestantism (which both adapts to local languages and cultures, and introduce distinctively American values) and Opus Dei, the conservative Catholic movement that originated in Spain. Analytical, incisive and stimulating, Many Globalizations offers rare insight into perhaps the central issue of modern times, one that is changing the West as much as the developing world.
El presente libro, basado en un influyente articulo que ha configurado la totalidad de los debates politicos de estos ultimos anos Foreign Policy, es un informe incisivo y profetico, en la linea del Francis Fukuyama de El fin de la historia, sobre las distintas formas adoptadas por la politica mundial tras la caida del comunismo. La fuente fundamental de conflictos en el universo posterior a la guerra fria, segun Huntington, no tiene raices ideologicas o economicas, sino mas bien culturales: El choque de civilizaciones dominara la politica a escala mundial; las lineas divisorias entre las civilizaciones seran los frentes de batalla del futuro . Y, a medida que la gente se vaya definiendo por su etnia o su religion, Occidente se encontrara mas y mas enfrentado con civilizaciones no occidentales que rechazaran frontalmente sus mas tipicos ideales: la democracia, los derechos humanos, la libertad, la soberania de la ley y la separacion entre la Iglesia y el Estado. Asi, Huntington al tiempo que presenta un futuro lleno de conflictos, gobernado por unas relaciones internacionales abiertamente desoccidentalizadas acaba recomendando un mas solido conocimiento de las civilizaciones no occidentales, con el fin, paradojicamente, de potenciar al maximo la influencia occidental, ya sea a traves del fortalecimiento de las relaciones entre Rusia y Japon, del aprovechamiento de las diferencias existentes entre los estados islamicos o del mantenimiento de la superioridad militar en el este y el sudeste asiaticos.
Between 1974 and 1990 more than thirty countries in southern Europe, Latin America, East Asia, and Eastern Europe shifted from authoritarian to democratic systems of government. This global democratic revolution is probably the most important political trend in the late twentieth century. In "The""Third Wave, "Samuel P. Huntington analyzes the causes and nature of these democratic transitions, evaluates the prospects for stability of the new democracies, and explores the possibility of more countries becoming democratic. The recent transitions, he argues, are the third major wave of democratization in the modem world. Each of the two previous waves was followed by a reverse wave in which some countries shifted back to authoritarian government. Using concrete examples, empirical evidence, and insightful analysis, Huntington provides neither a theory nor a history of the third wave, but an explanation of why and how it occurred. Factors responsible for the democratic trend include the legitimacy dilemmas of authoritarian regimes; economic and social development; the changed role of the Catholic Church; the impact of the United States, the European Community, and the Soviet Union; and the "snowballing" phenomenon: change in one country stimulating change in others. Five key elite groups within and outside the nondemocratic regime played roles in shaping the various ways democratization occurred. Compromise was key to all democratizations, and elections and nonviolent tactics also were central. New democracies must deal with the "torturer problem" and the "praetorian problem" and attempt to develop democratic values and processes. Disillusionment with democracy, Huntington argues, is necessary to consolidating democracy. He concludes the book with an analysis of the political, economic, and cultural factors that will decide whether or not the third wave continues. Several "Guidelines for Democratizers" offer specific, practical suggestions for initiating and carrying out reform. Huntington's emphasis on practical application makes this book a valuable tool for anyone engaged in the democratization process. At this volatile time in history, Huntington's assessment of the processes of democratization is indispensable to understanding the future of democracy in the world.
This title looks at why some countries and ethnic groups are better off than others, and the role that cultural values play in the shaping of nations' and peoples' political, economic and social performance. Prominent scholars and journalists ponder the question of why, at the beginning of the 21st century, the world is more divided than ever between the rich and the poor, between those living in freedom and those under oppression.
At the request of the President of Harvard University, six Harvard scholars have joined forces to write a book that lays out the facts about nuclear weapons for all concerned citizens who want to think through the nuclear dilemma for themselves. "Living with Nuclear Weapons" is written by specialists for the general reader. It conveys crucial information clearly, concisely, and without technical jargon. "Living with Nuclear Weapons" presents all sides of the nuclear debate while explaining what everyone needs to know to develop informed and reasoned opinions about the issues. Among the specifics are a history of nuclear weaponry; an examination of current nuclear arsenals; scenarios of how a nuclear war might begin; a discussion of what can be done to promote arms control and disarmament; a study of the hazards of nuclear proliferation; an analysis of various nuclear strategies; and an explanation of how public opinion can influence policy on the nuclear arms question.
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