In the wake of the Communist collapse in Eastern Europe, we are asked by Samuel Huntington to beware of illusions concerning a peaceful future. In particular, conflict seems to be rife between Islam and the West. This thesis has been dramatised in the media - but a sober assessment of Huntington's text and of some attendant facts would seem to deflate the urgency and the validity of these scary projections. In particular, we deal critically with the issues of (i) agency, (ii) coping, and (iii) the volatility of modernisation.
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