The US and Iran may be polar opposites in every other sense, but there is one lesson that is equally useful for both. 4 min read Apr 27, 2026 07:25 PM IST First published on: Apr 27, 2026 at 07:24 PM IST Earlier this month, US President Donald Trump issued an apocalyptic warning to Iran’s leaders on Truth Social: Reopen the Strait of Hormuz or else “a whole civilisation will die tonight, never to be brought back again.” This might, then, be a good time to rethink Samuel Huntington’s The Clash of Civilisations and the Remaking of the World Order, arguably the most influential theoretical framework and thesis in international relations since its publication three decades ago. Huntington’s thesis is that future geopolitical conflicts will increasingly be among the world’s major civilisations, defined along cultural, religious, and racial categories. “The fault lines between civilisations will be the battle lines of the future,” he maintained.…