Is the Western Civilization in Decline?
Ningyuan Zhang, Lauren Sutherland
Abstract
Open-access reader
Ningyuan Zhang, Lauren Sutherland
Abstract
Open-access reader
Under the status quo with the development and continued economic growth of some developing countries, historians begin to realize and discuss whether western civilization is in decline or not. This essay will display arguments from Francis Fukuyama and Samuel Huntington. With their two different perspectives and framework of overlooking the world, the globe after the cold war can be demonstrated vividly. Analysis from traditional historians Francis Fukuyama and Samuel Huntington is reasonable, but their over-generalization of western civilization is worth discussing. Commonly, commentaries from historians and scholars are too generalized and not precise since they often attribute the status and behaviors of one western country, such as the United States or the United Kingdom, to the entire Western civilization to comment on whether the Western civilization has declined or not. As a general term for all Western countries, Western civilization itself is too abstract. The model of using different “civilizations” to judge the world by concluding countries with different cultures and interests together is questionable.
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Under the status quo with the development and continued economic growth of some developing countries, historians begin to realize and discuss whether western civilization is in decline or not. This essay will display arguments from Francis Fukuyama and Samuel Huntington. With their two different perspectives and framework of overlooking the world, the globe after the cold war can be demonstrated vividly. Analysis from traditional historians Francis Fukuyama and Samuel Huntington is reasonable, but their over-generalization of western civilization is worth discussing. Commonly, commentaries from historians and scholars are too generalized and not precise since they often attribute the status and behaviors of one western country, such as the United States or the United Kingdom, to the entire Western civilization to comment on whether the Western civilization has declined or not. As a general term for all Western countries, Western civilization itself is too abstract. The model of using different “civilizations” to judge the world by concluding countries with different cultures and interests together is questionable.
Key concepts: Western culture, Civilization, Globe, Status quo, Western europe, History, Development economics, Political science