The three authors in O'Meara's part II continue to challenge Huntington's argument for the cultural/religious relevance of global conflicts. Each proceeds from a different perspective.

1. Ajami: The complexity of modern politics that defies simple cultural categorzation:

• The tenacity of secularism and modernity in states such as Turkey and Egypt.
• The importance of global economy in opening up civilizations such as the Sinic countries.
• The complicity, rather than conspiracy, of civilizational alliances, such as the Sinic-Islamic ones, for economic gain.
• The use of religion to reach where politics fail (e.g. Saddam Hussein).

2. Sakakibara: the shortcomings in global economies highlight civilizational differences.

• The end of the Cold War leads to the dominance of the neo-classical economic paradigm: the world will infinitely progress based on technological innovations and economic growth.
• Two factors undermine this paradigm: globalization does not contribute to fairer competition, but often to an oligopolistic competition that squeeze many competitors out of their jobs, polarizing the middle class into affluent and poor consumers. Also, as energy consumption increases and population grows, they put great stress on the environment, eventually slowing down economic growth.
• Both inequality and pollution erode the idea of progress and throw people back to the pre-World War II situation where people and nations tend to identify themselvs with civilizations rather than progress.
• Solution: respect for the environment and other civilizations from the West.

3. Bowen: colonialism and politics as creators of ethnic conflict.

• Ethnicities always existed in history, but ethnic conflicts are a modern phenomenon created by colonial rulers and politicians for their own gain.
• The origins of the Tutsi/Hutu conflicts in Rwanda traceable to Belgian colonial rule in that region.
• Sinhalese and Tamil conflict in Sri Lanka traceable to the English rule in Cylon.
• The Balkans: World War II, the years of Tito's rule, Westernization after the Cold War, and attempts at continued Communist (and Serbian) control of Yugoslavia.
• Ways to avoid ethnic conflicts: avoiding favoring one dominant group in society or politics.