Amazing Quotes 21: Samuel P. Huntington

From: wikipedia

We have tons of intellectuals during the 2nd half of 20th century. One of the most influential one is Samuel P. Huntington (1927 - 2008). Everyone, even laymen, know him thanks to his book "The Clash of Civilization." That is a pity, because that book is weak in comparison with his other book like "The Soldier and the State" or "Political Order in Changing Societies." Nevertheless, we can get tons of powerful quotes from him. Here are some of his most remembered quotes:

"Graduate students, are more reluctant to challenge this or that professor and have been captured by jargon and orthodoxy of the discipline."

If a scholar has nothing new to say he should keep quiet.”

"The quest for truths is synonymous with intellectual controversy."

The architects of power in the US must create a force that can be felt but not seen. Power remains strong when it remains in the dark; exposed to the sunlight, it begins to evaporate.

-- In “American Politics: The Promise of Disharmony” (1983) p. 75.

A world without U.S. primacy will be a world with more violence and disorder and less democracy and economic growth than a world where the United States continues to have more influence than any other country in shaping global affairs. The sustained international primacy of the United States is central to the welfare and security of Americans and to the future of freedom, democracy, open economies, and international order in the world.

-- "Why International Primacy Matters," International Security (Spring 1993):83.

The West won the world not by the superiority of its ideas or values or religion, but rather by its superiority in applying organized violence. Westerners often forget this fact, non-Westerners never do.

-- “The Clash of Civilizations and the Remaking of World Order“ (1996) p. 51.

The Economist identified 32 major conflicts going on in the world in the year 2000, and if you look at those 32 conflicts more than two-thirds involve Muslims fighting other Muslims or Muslims fighting non-Muslims

--In the conversation with Anthony Giddens, Fall 2003, published by “New Perspectives Quarterly”