i n his controversial book ‘the clash of civilizations’ the thinker samuel p. huntington says he believes that the conflict in this world we live is not ideological or economic. the biggest difference between humans lies in the difference between the asian concept and the american concept which may be philosophical. confucian values are originally built on power and hierarchy, and the subordination of the individual’s interest and rights to the interest of the community, avoidance of confrontation, the preservation of the face, the belief in the sovereignty of the state over society and the individual. the western values are based on equality, democracy and individualism, a tendency to mistrust government actions, oppose authoritarianism, push for governance, control executive actions, encourage competition, and sanctify human rights. to find out more about this difference, i remember reading or hearing about huntington’s book, more than 20 years ago, about a good example of the difference between the two minds and how each of them behaved in a certain situation. a comprehensive survey was made on some motorists from america and japan, who were stopped and asked what they would do if they found themselves facing a natural disaster while only had only one chance to make one phone call. a majority of the americans said they would contact their families to reassure them, while most japanese motorists said they would call their superiors for instructions on what to do. in his book, huntington focused on islam and said that its inner regions are bloody. he pointed to muslim conflicts with other religions, as happened in sudan and its south, between india and pakistan, and other regions of the world, not to mention the problems of migration in europe and the growing racism there and so on. huntington also cited iraq’s invasion of kuwait in 1990, and how saddam’s popularity was high among arabs and muslims, although most of their governments did not support his positions and joined an international coalition led by america to liberate kuwait. all political islam groups opposed the international coalition and saddam used a populist speech, portraying the war as between islamic groups. huntington describes several scenarios of the west’s relationship with others. he argues that the west is not facing an economic challenge from anyone. the west uses a combination of military power and international institutions to promote the values of democracy and liberalism to protect their interests and ensure their hegemony over the world. he says that the struggle and the military and economic quest for power are what will determine the shape of the conflict between the west and other civilizations, no matter how the west tries to say that the values of democracy, human rights, freedom, secularism and the constitution are universal values that benefit all humanity. according to huntington, it is correct that some aspects of the western civilizations affected other civilizations, but the values of democracy, the rule of law and the free market economy may not seem logical in the mindset of muslim or christian hardliners, and this will lead to negative reactions. huntington outlined three conflict scenarios between the west and others: one, these countries try to isolate themselves and protect their societies from ‘western corruption’ and isolation from the international political arena, but few countries have the ability to do so. two, the state should act in alliance with the west and alienate with its societies, like what turkey has done. and three, these countries or civilizations should be allied with other non-western civilizations and seek to form an economic or military force with them, to achieve a balance between the western countries.