A conflict’s perception as civilizational determines whether it becomes one.

Evidence

The Afghan War became a civilization war because Muslims everywhere saw it as such and rallied against the Soviet Union. The Gulf War became a civilization war because the West intervened militarily in a Muslim conflict, Westerners overwhelmingly supported that intervention, and Muslims throughout the world came to see that intervention as a war against them and rallied against what they saw as one more instance of Western imperialism. — Samuel P. Huntington, The Clash of Civilizations and the…, 684

Categorization

• DEFINE: Huntington defines ‘civilization war’ not by objective characteristics but by how the parties perceive and frame the conflict — subjectivity is the criterion.
• XREF: connects to: Catastrophic conflict can rest on visible or cultural difference. — David Theo Goldberg, John Solomos, A Companion to Racial and Ethnic Studies, 700