Refusing to acknowledge civilizational divides guarantees failure in confronting them

Evidence

Although Europeans universally acknowledge the fundamental significance of the dividing line between Western Christendom, on the one hand, and Orthodoxy and Islam, on the other, the United States, its secretary of state said, would “not recognize any fundamental divide among the Catholic, Orthodox, and Islamic parts of Europe.” Those who do not recognize fundamental divides, however, are doomed to be frustrated by them. … Overall the U.S. government has had extraordinary difficulty adapting to an era in which global politics is shaped by cultural and civilizational tides. — Samuel P. Huntington, The Clash of Civilizations and the…, 856

Categorization

• APHORISMS: “Those who do not recognize fundamental divides are doomed to be frustrated by them” reads as transferable advice about acknowledging structural realities before acting.