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I haven't followed too much of Huntington's work but I think he was a JFK/Scoop Jackson kind of Democrat who was somewhat liberal but believed in a strong defense and a strong US stance in the world?

Just the fact that the excecrable Edward Said whined about SH makes me think there was something right about the "clash of civilizations" thesis. Leftists always whine about "simplistic" etc. when anyone shows clearly how great the dangers facing us might be, whether from communist-scum or Islamo-scum or other leftist-scum.....

"Despite criticism his thesis was simplistic or in the words of Middle East scholar Edward Said promoted the idea of "West versus the rest....""

Considering that Said spent most of his life promoting "the rest vs. the West" it is amusing that he was critical of SH on this point, but it is a reminder that leftists like Said are continually working to undermine our resolve to defend ourselves.

Huntington was one of the truly great political scientists. He was unashamedly pro-American. His great work, “Political Order in Changing Societies” may be dated now, but it was highly influential for many years. RIP.

Violence also occurs between Muslims, on the one hand, and Orthodox Serbs in the Balkans, Jews in Israel, Hindus in India, Buddhists in Burma and Catholics in the Philippines. Islam has bloody borders.

This alone should have been an indication that it is no as simple as "the West vs. the rest". Perhaps, "the civilized vs the tribal religious fanatics" might be closer to the mark. Watch a short video of Gaza and decide.

I read Clash of Civilizations back in 2005 after my adviser at grad school recommended it to me. It's really excellent. It was written in 1996, yet it explains the causes of 9/11 better than anything I've read after the attacks.