“Clash not Culture” Cultural differences in a post-Cold War era will not empirically lead to more frequent and

violent conflicts between civilizations, regardless of their relationship or proximity to each other.

As proven through history, conflict is inevitable and today theorists continue to debate where and

why the next war will occur. Our world is a mist a diverging global society with non-state actors

competing for new world order. Many states are suffering great turmoil, while others are gaining

economic strength and power. Although the world has reached a point that we are poised for

conflict, there has actually been a decline in conflict among civilizations. Among those that are

geographically positioned for a border dispute, there has been no significant increase in conflict.

Many would argue that clashes between western civilizations and non-western civilizations

should be at the top of the list, but this has not been the case either.

Conflict and war has occurred since the beginning of man and has been recorded right along

religious strife. Conflict occurs for several basic reasons including: an attempt to increase a

standard of living, to prevent a decrease in a standard of living, greed-more power and territory,

religious idealism, and corrupt governments. When developing an analysis to determine the

next confrontation, there are several points that must be considered: relative power of non-state

actors; an unprecedented shift in relative wealth and economic power from West to East;

continued economic growth-coupled with 1.2 billion more people by 2025; the number of

countries with youthful populations; the greater spread of lethal capabilities in the Middle East;

and Terrorism. Taking into consideration these factors, I find it difficult to simply pinpoint

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