These are not absolutely exclusive of each other, and there are various degrees of similarity between them, what does differentiate them from each other are their languages and histories, traditions and cultures, but "most important, religion" (Huntington, 1993).
Apart from the demise of the political ideologies described earlier, Huntington gives six specific reasons for civilizational identity. First, the fundamental and basic levels of identity and differentiation noted above. Second, in a world made smaller by technology, there is more direct and indirect interaction with different civilizations, which helps to intensify the consciousness of ones' own corner of the world. Third, "economic modernization" (Huntington, 1993) weakens the local identify, and makes room for "fundamentalist" (Huntington, 1993) religions and movements to emerge.
Fourth, as the West, and America in particular, becomes more and more powerful, popular and elite, smaller nation-states without access to or a desire for Westernization react and try to nurture their local cultures and traditional identities, thus leading to non-Western habits becoming more popular there, such as the "re-Islamization of the Middle East" (Huntington, 1993). Fifth, cultural characteristics are "less easily compromised" (Huntington, 1993) than economic or political ideologies. Religion 'sharply' divides people in ways citizenship does not.
Finally, the rise of "economic regionalism" (Huntington, 1993) tends to enhance cultural identity, as in the "shared foundation of European culture and Western Christianity" (Huntington, 1993). Indeed, from the perspective of regional economic and civilization 'blocs', the theory is hard to refute, although Huntington does make rather sweeping generalizations about the civilizations to which he refers.
