Barbarians and Civilization in International RelationsThe terrorist attacks in New York and Washington have led to popular conceptions of Muslims as terrorists. Some commentators have harked back to the 'Clash of Civilizations' argument outlined by Samuel Huntington which has become a touchstone in postcolonial studies. Huntington argued that, after the collapse of the Cold War, culture would become the main axis of conflict for civilizational alliances. Mark Salter takes issue with Huntington's theory and explains how the terms of his argument are part of an imperialist discourse that casts other civilizations as essentially barbarian.Although many commentators have engaged with Huntington's claims, few have pursued the political implications of his argument. Barbarians and Civilisation offers a decisive exploration of the colonial rhetoric inherent in current political discourse. Charting the usefulness of concepts of culture and identity for understanding world politics, Salter brilliantly illustrates the benefits and the limitations of the civilized/barbarian dichotomy in international relations. |
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Empire of Barbarians | 28 |
A CivilizedBarbaric Europe | 64 |
New Barbarians | 91 |
Copyright | |
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Adam Watson Adam Watson Oxford Africa American analysis argues barbarian barbaric British Bull and Adam Cambridge University Press civilization/barbarian civilizational civilized/barbarian civilizing mission Clarendon Press Clash of Civilizations Coker Cold War conflict contemporary critical decline decolonization demographic described discourse Egypt empire enemy Europe European civilization European identity foreign policy Foucault gender German global Hedley Bull History Hitler Holocaust Holsti Huntington Ibid identity politics ideology imperial Imperial Leather imperialist International Politics International Relations International Society International Theory Islamic Kaplan Kiernan London McClintock McWorld Mein Kampf Michael modern moral Muslim national identity Nazi Nietzsche nineteenth century Operation Barbarossa Orientalism popular culture population portrayed post-Cold post-structural postcolonial propaganda race racial realist representations represented rhetoric Routledge savage scholars Schuman Second World sexual Sigmund Freud social specific Spengler Standard of Civilization stereotype Study theorists Third World threat Toronto trans trope violence warfare West Western civilization World Order world politics York