This is a hugely controversial thesis (1996) from Samuel P. Huntington. (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Samuel_P._Huntington). His argument is that the fundamental source of conflict in the future will not primarily be ideological or economic but rather cultural. The fault lines between civilizations will be the battle lines of the future, he contends.
Every fresh news story, particularly to do with the Middle East and Islam, can be interpreted as refuting or corroborating Huntington’s thesis. My own view is that the truly fundamental fault line is now between the secular world view and the whole basket of religious world views. This is a variant on the Huntington hypothesis. Have a go at this and see what you think. You might never read your daily newspaper in quite the same way again.
368 pages in Free Press paperback edition.
ISBN 978-0743231497