[Brian Allen]

A civilization is something that permits cultures to ineroperate .....

Semantics?

Or:

A Civilization is defined by the WRITTEN Body of Law that ensures its multi-generational survival!

Western [IE Human] Civilization's knife edge is thus that epitomized in the only Constitutional Republic ever Founded and standing on the Principle of Individual Liberty -- The United States of America!

[annalex]

You need a generic term that applies to any set of interconnected cultures that share a common ethos. That term is civilization. A written body of law is a mark of an advanced civilization, but not a part of its definition.