@harveyulric,
Quote:"The West won the world not by the superiority of its ideas or values or religion, but rather by its superiority in applying organized violence..." Samuel Huntington.
The quote is using selective blindness for this assertion.
The organised violence uses advanced technology. Advanced technology comes from
idea, built on idea, built on idea....and so on, so very many more times down the line. The ideas are generated through placing a high
value on innovation, ideas, and entrepreneurship. They were supported by ideas of lawfulness (ie minimised corruption) and security (what is yours stays yours. Business transactions are enforceable, etc). The point is - there are many ideas, and values that supported advancement, to a much greater degree than the East (Some places like Asia are catching up, and perhaps even overtaking the west in some regards)
Also, the
superiority of the values & ideas
that drove the cultures to advanced economies allowed, in the quotes own words - the superiority of their version of organised violence.
Organised violence is itself is driven by values and ideas. And in this area, the quote is saying they had
superior (as in more advanced) ideas and
superior (as in more effective) values - directly relating of course, directly to organised violence (how you conduct war is affected by your values)
Now the above is very different from whether or not the values are subjectively better, or morally or ethically better...but one can't say the quote (of Samuel Huntington) and think it the truth without wilfully ignoring all those ideas and (and the values that drove them) resulting in superiority in many facets.
......................................
Perhaps a different quote would have been more supportive, or accurate, relating to the things that follows in you OP.
Syria itself is in a very sad place.
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