My Take | Why Western civilisation is incapable of saving Western society today
People who argue for the uniqueness and high moral standing of the West are actually weaponising it as an ideology against the non-Western cultures of the Global South
Many Anglo-American conservatives think Western civilisation is what holds the world together. Some have long argued a study of it for young people in college, usually meaning a sustained reading of the so-called Great Books of the Western world, should be made mandatory to learn their own culture and its unparalleled greatness.
At the Munich Security Conference, US Secretary of State Marco Rubio said: “We are part of one civilisation: Western civilisation.
“We are bound to one another by the deepest bonds that nations could share, forged by centuries of shared history, Christian faith, culture, heritage, language, ancestry and the sacrifices our forefathers made together for the common civilisation to which we have fallen heir.”
A New York Times columnist praised the speech in a piece titled, “Western Civ can save us – again.”
“What, exactly, is Western civilisation?” he asked. “The West is not some make-believe concept devised to oppress others. It is the only civilisation worth defending not just for the sake of those already in it but for everyone.
“To confront [the West’s enemies], whether they’re centred in Moscow or Tehran or Beijing, it’s necessary to have two things: pride in who we are and a serious understanding of what we’re all about.”