ABSTRACT
In key Western capitals there is a deep sense of unease about the future. The confidence that the West would remain a dominant force in the twenty-first century, as it has for the past four or five centuries, is giving way to a sense of foreboding that forces such as the emergence of fundamentalist Islam, the rise of East Asia, and the collapse of Russia and Eastern Europe could pose real threats to the West. A siege mentality is developing. Within these troubled walls, Samuel P. Huntington’s essay “The Clash of Civilizations?” is bound to resonate.
