ABSTRACT
The break within or, considered at its most extreme, the breakdown of Western civilization, consequently disappears from view. To explain this relationship, we propose to consider the Forces of Modernity as historical catalysts that dissolve the complex forms of Western civilization to simpler and more elemental manifestations. The whole catalytic process might be taken as a metamorphosis of Western civilization and its transformation into a global state of post-civilization. The eastern half became Byzantium through a process of civilizational change, which recent historian Joseph Vogt has called “the metamorphosis of Ancient civilization.” America is the leading power in the post-civilization condition of globalization, and what takes place in America is the key indicator of what the post-civilization condition will be like throughout the world. Globalization must be viewed in civilizational terms; it is much more than just a matter of trade and communication.
