Clash of Civilisations

I'm almost done with the book (finally...). I think that it raises a few very valid points.

• Human beings group ourselves according to a few civilisations. This grouping is dynamic and changes.
• We identify ourselves with our own civilsiation by identifying how we are different from other civilisations.
• Factors that contribute to the identification include skin colour, language, traditions, geography (less significant now) and most importantly, religion.
• Most of humanity's most significant conflicts are along civilisational lines (e.g. WWI and WWII, Palestine-Israel, etc)
• The clash of civilisations was temporarily replaced by a clash of ideologies during the Cold War.
• That with the end of the Cold War, the differences amongst civilisations will once again be the dominant cause of conflicts.

My favourite line in the book thus far is this:
The repressive but peaceful order of states committed to the proposition that there is no god was replaced by the violence of peoples committed to different gods.

As mentioned, I've not finished the book. But I thought I'd write down some thoughts before I forget them.

• Singapore is a society with many diverse civilisations all compressed into a very small space, all of whom still identifying closer to their own parent civilisations than with a common Singaporean identity. This could be because Singapore is only a nebulous political notion.
• Humanity, with its ever increasing capability for death and carnage and ever more complex inter- and intra-civilisational relationships, stands on a knife edge. One wrong gamble by any parties, and we could be well on our way of wiping ourselves out.
• We should really start considering making a quantum leap in civilisational evolution into the model of Huxley's Brave New World.

I shall have another post with more detailed thoughts about the book when I've actually finished it... and when I'm actually freer.