The New World Order: Its Impact on Culture and Civilisation

At the end of the Cold War two famous articles were published which produced contrasting visions of a new world order, namely: Francis Fukuyama's The End of History (1989) and Samuel P.Huntington's The Clash of Civilizations (1993). The content of these two articles not only framed the post-cold war debate but the prospect of two great geo-political realities capable of influencing global events. Fukuyama's The End of History provided an optimistic prediction of a New World Order in which liberal democracy and capitalism would triumph over all other ideologies to form a lasting social order of peace and prosperity. In contrast, Huntington's article was far more pessimistic in its future predictions and argued that the post-cold war would produce a multi-polar world of regional tensions and conflict in which civilizations were destined to clash. As global capitalism leads towards greater levels of economic interdependence a universal culture of mass consumption will become increasingly evident in all societies. This will create a growing population of consumers whose ideas, tastes and aspirations will increasingly reflect Western ideals. The effects of globalization may provoke feelings of hostility at the imposition of liberal democratic values but such hostility will not necessarily lead to a clash of civilizations In a New World Order civilizations will need to embrace global capitalism or risk becoming increasingly alienated and disempowered. National and cultural identities may strengthen as a result of globalization but this will not undermine the global balance of power. Therefore, the strength of opposition to global capitalism will be ineffective in preventing the spread of consumer culture and civilizations will exist as benign entities within an increasingly globalized world.

Table of Contents:
Acknowledgements; Foreword; Abbreviations; Chapter 1: Introduction; Chapter 2: Literature Review; Chapter 3: The New World Order; Chapter 4: The Liberal Peace (Revisited); Chapter 5: The Clash of Civilisations; Chapter 6: Global Consumer Culture; Chapter 7: The Last Man at the End of History; Chapter 8: Conclusion; Bibliography; Appendices.

About the Author :
Mark Poynter grew up in the coal mining town of Witbank in apartheid South Africa during the 1980's. After completing high school he studied Theatre Technology at the Natal Technikon in Durban KwaZulu-Natal before returning to the UK in 1992. He lectured part-time at Boston College in rural Lincolnshire teaching courses in performing arts at the Sam Newsom Music Centre. In 1995 he returned to higher education obtaining a BA (Hons) in English and Politics and an MA in Politics and International Relations from De Montfort University. In 2002 he took up a teaching position at the Ashesi University College in Ghana, where he taught courses in political philosophy, comparative politics and literary criticism. As a lecturer of political science he developed an interest in the ideas of Francis Fukuyama and his famous article The End of History (1989). In 2011 he returned to the UK and completed an MPhil in Politics and International Relations examining the geopolitical developments of the Post-Cold War and the extent to which the spread of globalization has shaped the social and political nature of the New World Order.