clash of civilizations?

So for those of you who wonder what it is that I'm doing with myself when I'm not researching Mongolian death worms (see previous post), I thought I'd write a bit about the academic stuff I'm working on at the moment...

I'm writing three papers this semester that have to do (to one degree or another) with a popular political argument that you've all heard in one form or another - the "clash of civilizations," particularly the purported clash between the Secular/Christian West and the Muslim Middle East (both problematic terms but used for lack of much better ones). Samuel Huntington, an Important And Brilliant Scholar From Harvard, wrote some articles and a book in the 1990's about the "clash of civilizations." He broke up the world into eight major civilizations, mostly organized around religions, and argued that the next era of violent conflicts in the world are going to be between groups of people in different civilizations. Instead of fighting about nationalism, ideology, or other stuff that people used to fight about, Huntington says that we'll be fighting and making alliances based on cultural differences. He's particularly concerned about the Islamic civilization, which he says has "bloody borders."

His argument's pretty convincing. He IS a Harvard professor, after all. And in the last several years this clash-of-civilizations argument has been the stuff of seemingly constant headlines. But is it true...?

Based on the evidence I've been reading, it's not. Several scholars - from Yale to UCLA - have been testing Huntington's hypotheses with big data sets that have recorded violent conflicts within and between countries. None of them have been able to find evidence of increasing conflicts between groups or countries from different civilizations. If anything, they've decreased since the end of the Cold War.

So why do so many Americans and others believe that this clash-of-civilizations thing is where it's at? I guess because that's what we're told. And more ominously, is it going to become a self-fulfilling prophecy?

the mongolian death worm

So I was innocently watching USA network, when I saw an ad for one of those natural wonders/adventure shows. This one was about the Mongolian Death Worm. Never heard of it? Well, me neither. So instead of working on one of my several required essays, I thought I'd go googling.

Turns out it's a cryptozoological wonder - a mystery animal on par with Nessie the Loch Ness monster and the Abominable Snowman. I found a real "gem" of a documentary on CFZTV (which is short for Centre for Fortean Zoology, "fortean" meaning paranormal):

http://www.cfztv.org/inv.htm

The next time you're bored out of your mind and/or desperately seeking distractions, check it out...

Speaking of Mongolia, I recently came across a TV miniseries/documentary that ran a few years ago called "The Long Way Round." It's about two actors (Ewan McGregor and his best friend Charley Boorman) who ride their motorcycles around the world. Now, being a girl (1) whose mother always told her about the dangers of motorcycles and boys who ride them AND (2) who loves traveling, I absolutely loved this series. It has also made me appreciate Ewan McGregor in a way I never could have before, lol. So the reason that this is semi-relevant is that they drive through Mongolia. It's really beautiful in a barren desert kind of way. You can see clips of it on YouTube. As a result of watching all 10 episodes in quick succession TWICE, I now have the themesong permanently playing in my brain. I'm glad it's a good song. :)