The West promotes a universal culture it is increasingly unable to impose.

Evidence

Alone among civilizations the West has had a major and at times devastating impact on every other civilization. The relation between the power and culture of the West and the power and cultures of other civilizations is, as a result, the most pervasive characteristic of the world of civilizations. As the relative power of other civilizations increases, the appeal of Western culture fades and non-Western peoples have increasing confidence in and commitment to their indigenous cultures. The central problem in the relations between the West and the rest is, consequently, the discordance between the West’s—particularly America’s—efforts to promote a universal Western culture and its declining ability to do so. — Samuel P. Huntington, The Clash of Civilizations and the…, 488 (#expands, via linked claim)

Some Americans have promoted multiculturalism at home; some have promoted universalism abroad; and some have done both. Multiculturalism at home threatens the United States and the West; universalism abroad threatens the West and the world. Both deny the uniqueness of Western culture. The global monoculturalists want to make the world like America. The domestic mulitculturalists want to make America like the world. A multicultural America is impossible because a non-Western America is not American. A multicultural world is unavoidable because global empire is impossible. — Samuel P. Huntington, The Clash of Civilizations and the…, 890 (#complicates, via linked claim)

Categorization

• XREF: connects to: Western secularism claims universality while resisting genuine multicultural inclusion — Nadim N. Rouhana and Nadera Shalhoub-Kevorkian, When Politics Are Sacralized:…, 296; Culture follows power, so declining Western dominance erodes Western culture’s reach; Leaders cannot erase indigenous culture nor purge Western influence (+11 more)

Broader Connections

• Western universalism persists even as Western relative power and cultural appeal decline #expands (0.92) — Samuel P. Huntington, The Clash of Civilizations and the…, 488
• Universal civilization advocates demand Western domination they refuse to endorse #complicates (0.75)
• A non-Western America cannot be American, but a truly multicultural world is unavoidable #complicates (0.74) — Samuel P. Huntington, The Clash of Civilizations and the…, 890