The colonial experience all Muslim countrieswent through may be a factor in the fight against Western domination, British, French or whatever. They were until recently largely rural societies with land owning governing elites in most of them. I think they are certainly moving toward urbanization and much more pluralistic political systems. In almost every Muslim country, that is occurring. Obviously they are increasing their involvement with non-Muslim societies. One peak aspect of this, of course, is the migration of Muslims into Europe.
Samuel P. HuntingtonI think we've seen at least the beginnings of rather significant social and economic change in the Muslim world, which I think will in due course lead to more political change.
Samuel P. HuntingtonNationalism is a central ideology for people who are trying to establish their own states in which they can play a dominant role.
Samuel P. HuntingtonIt will take a long time, and certainly the West will remain the dominant civilization well into the next century, but the decline is occurring.
Samuel P. HuntingtonI think it's hard to talk about the Muslim world and Christian world as blocks.
Samuel P. HuntingtonThe question really is what will be the central focus of global politics in the coming decades and my argument is that cultural identities and cultural antagonisms and affiliations will play not the only role but a major role.
Samuel P. HuntingtonThe major difference for us in America with respect to Hispanic immigration is that it is so large and that it is coming from neighboring countries rather than those countries off the Atlantic or Pacific. That creates different issues and different problems for us as compared to the past. It is still very different, however, from the situation in Europe where we see people with a very different non-European religion coming from neighboring countries.
Samuel P. Huntington