A Modern View of the West

There are numerous views on how the West should be defined. In addition, there are just as many views on how one should define civilization. Just what is it that we refer to when we use the phrase ‘Western Civilization’? This is much more than an exercise in semantics. It is an important question especially if we accept the current war against terrorism as a manifestation of a clash of civilizations. It will be claimed here that there are some major policy implications which flow from the discussion of what the West is. Introduction This paper will proceed as follows. First, we will be concerned with a brief review of the literature pertaining to the West and civilization. It should be noted that one of our tasks is to develop coherent political concepts related to the subject. As such, we desire to develop clear notions of some practical use to the political actor. Consequently, it is assumed that the terms ‘the West’ and its cognates, and ‘civilization’ are not empty terms. This is assumed in order to focus our attention to the task at hand. Next, some problems will be raised with regard to the various definitions of the above terms. Finally, an attempt will be made to remedy such problems and to draw definitive conclusions about the topic at hand.