| In this study I investigate an array of aspects concerning cultural conflict. I use Samuel Huntington's civilizations, from his theory of a Clash of Civilizations (1993), as a means of identifying different cultures. Taking advantage of an expanded data set that was not available to Huntington and most of his critics, I not only review his theory but advance well beyond it, exploring additional matters such as the distribution of cultural conflict, its intensities, underlying issues, and resolution techniques. I find support for a number of arguments including the following: different-civilization conflicts are more prevalent than those between same-civilization states, even though in general there is a higher likelihood of same-civilization rather than different-civilization conflict; this cross-cultural militarized conflict does not permeate all civilizations at the international level, but rather is principally limited to only a few; the cultures most prone to inter-cultural conflict are Islam and the West, while the Sinics (Chinese) are among the least prone; and while cultural differences play a role in this type of conflict, such issues are not among those that most frequently lead to serious conflict or war. I also find, though contrary to expectations, that cross-cultural dyads seek peaceful solutions to their differences more often than same-culture dyads, they have about the same success rate, and neither third party assistance nor bilateral negotiating techniques present a particular advantage for resolving different-culture conflict. |
