문명은 어디서 충돌하는가? ― 문명충돌론을 둘러싼 미⋅중의 담론 대립

Abstract

The US and China, two major powers vying for global hegemony, have been waging a fierce trade war since 2018. The US is not only enforcing economic sanctions on China on the one hand but also pressuring China with the discourse of Clash of Civilizations, which was raised by Samuel Huntington in the 1990s. China is confronting the US offensive with the discourse of Dialogue of Civilizations that emphasizes exchange and cooperation between civilizations. On the surface of the argument, if the U.S. insists that the confrontation between the US and China exists in reality is a clash of civilizations, China defines it as a clash of views of civilization, not a clash of civilizations, that is, an exclusive view of the US and an inclusive view of China. But this explanation of the current conflict between China and the US is not appropriate in that it can conceal the context and complex interests of the reality in which the US-China conflict is taking place. In particular, an unintended cooperative relationship that is formed behind the intense conflict between the two hegemonic states - the U.S. and China - that creates a dichotomous confrontation so that no third view or alternative critical discourse can exist is concealed in this discourse. This makes neighboring countries more puzzled than the economic and military hegemonic struggle between the US and China, and makes them unable to accurately recognize reality and fall into the trap of irrational dichotomous choices between Washington and Beijing. Therefore, it is necessary to clearly recognize what context of reality the fierce discourse competition between the US and China over the discourse of Clash of Civilizations is in, and what interests it shows between the US and China. Then we can get away from the schematic perception of simply substituting the complex practical confrontation between the US and China for the confrontation of ideological discourse related to civilization. And while the two powers clash head-on with the discourse of Clash of Civilizations, we can avoid being trapped in the dichotomous trap of choice and making irrational judgments.