-Caveat Lector-
After 9/11, a 'Clash of Civilizations,' but Also of Empires
By Franz Schurmann, Pacific News Service, Dec 18, 2001
As tensions keep rising in the Middle East, Samuel P. Huntington Jr.'s vision of
the "clash of civilizations" is leading to spin-off visions among Middle Eastern
observers. One such vision can be expanded to the idea of "clashes of empires
and their civilizations." Franz Schurmann ([EMAIL PROTECTED]) is
emeritus professor of history and sociology at UC Berkeley. He is the author of
"The Logic of World Power" (Pantheon, 1974).
After Sept. 11, President Bush told Americans that the war against
terrorism would last a long time. With the war in Afghanistan now
simmering down and al Qaeda on the run, what war is left?
One Arab observer, Karim Baqraduni, has an answer. He sees a coming
rivalry "between America on the one side and Russia, China and Iran on
the other." The stakes in this "Great Game" are access to Central Asian oil
and natural gas. And the more demand for fossil fuels heats up, the more
"ferocious and vicious" the rivalry will turn.
Baqraduni is secretary-general of Lebanon's right-wing Phalangists (in
Arabic, Kata'ib, Squadron), representing the country's Maronite Catholics.
During the 1975-1990 civil war, the Phalangists got support from Israeli
invaders led by Ariel Sharon. But after 1990, they lost power. Now, as
Baqraduni's commentaries reflect, they see themselves as a bridge
between the prosperous West and an angry Islam.
Like many Western conservatives, Baqraduni is pessimistic about the
future. He quotes remarks made last April by former Secretary of State
James Baker, that "all it would take to bring about a worldwide energy
crisis is a revolution in an OPEC country."
However, unlike many Americans, Baqraduni sees the roots of the current
Central Asian rivalry in ancient history.
Two thousand years ago, both the Roman and Chinese empires coveted
Central Asia's riches. The Silk Road, a 6,000-mile lucrative trade route
between Rome and China, arose to tap these riches. And now Baqraduni
sees a new American Empire moving into Central Asia to tap its huge oil
and natural gas reserves. And three old empires -- Russia, China and Iran
-- are emerging as the imperial newcomer's rivals.
For two and a half millennia, empires have battled over Central Asia.
Ancient Iran's heartland, in fact, was in Central Asia (Khorasan and
Bactria). Two thousand years ago the Romans tried to defeat the Iranian
Parthians to get access to Central Asia, but failed. At the same time, the
Chinese took much of Central Asia, but could not hold it. More than a
millennium later, Russia grabbed Central Asia with swords and settlers.
Expanding Baqraduni's historical approach beyond Central Asia, a fourth
empire must be added: India. In the third century B.C., India's Buddhist
monks spread their faith all over Central and East Asia. It was India that
showed that religion could reap expansionist victories denied to the sword.
Baqraduni has often written about Samuel P. Huntington Jr.'s predictions
about the coming "clash of civilizations." He agrees with Huntington about
a coming clash between the West and Islam. But he also sees battles
among the three Asian empires he mentions, as well as conflicts with
America.
India can easily be added to this emerging clash of empires in Central
Asia, too. Like Afghanistan, Kashmir -- for five decades an India-Pakistan
hotspot -- is both Central and South Asian. And India wants to become the
second dominant power in the Indian Ocean after America.
The real Great Game that is now being fought out in Central Asia is one of
both empires and civilizations. Islam is solidly entrenched in Central Asia,
including Afghanistan. But America is now introducing its secular lifestyles
into the region, along with its military expansionism. American civilization
also has swept over China, Russia, a good part of Indian society and even
Islamic Iran.
All five empires are each stockpiling and sharpening their swords. But at
the same time, each has cultural riches that it exports all over the world.
The civilizations of three of them -- Iran, China and India -- are having
significant impacts.
Iran, though Shi'ite, is a symbol of Islam all over the world. And Islam is
the fastest growing religion in America and Western Europe, enriching the
lives of many, but also seen as threatening.
China poses an ironic challenge to American civilization. It has become so
Americanized, especially in culture and economics, that it sees itself
becoming more American than an America that may be headed into
chronic recession or worse. In fact, the Chinese took the best of Soviet
socialism and made it work. They are now reviving their own cultural
traditions, including Confucianism, Taoism and Buddhism.
India is a country where imagination and spirituality are a key part of life.
Indian imagination has already become an irreplaceable component of
Silicon Valley. And, despite its caste system, India may have found the
only road leading to a world that can be united both by viable secular and
spiritual values. No civilization has so easily incorporated into its own
minds and hearts so many kinds of foreign worship.
As a Christian, Baqraduni wants to find a middle path between Western
and Islamic civilizations. But that can only come about if all five empires
agree that peace and prosperity are better than war and rivalry. The Great
Game in Central Asia may offer hope after all.
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