Jihad Vs. Mcworld

To truly understand Barber's inquiry, one must define the two opposing players. He aptly dubs the first entity as Ð''Jihad,' "a threatened balkanization of nation-states in which culture is pitted against culture, people against people, and tribe against tribe," (Barber, 21). Jihad, fueled by the bloodlust of tribalism and ethnic identity, manifests itself as violent and often zealous bloodshed. It is simultaneously more visible and geographically concentrated than its counterpart. Jihad is perhaps most evident in, yet not limited to, modern Ð''terrorist' activity: the ongoing Balkan struggle or the Al-Qaeda attacks against western powers. However, as Jihad sporadically and colorfully strikes, its nemesis spreads more subtly across the globe. Barber names the other force Ð''McWorld,' which he describes as "a busy portrait of onrushing economic, technological, and ecological forces that demand integration and uniformity that [mesmerizes] people everywhere," (Barber, 21). Most of western society basks in the artificial warmth of McWorld daily. However, whether from constant bombardment by mass media advertising to deviously meretricious appeal of internet commercialism, McWorld oversteps all national and cultural boundaries.

Barber describes the present state of human affairs in his Jihad vs. McWorld as an enduring dialectic between the two paradoxically interconnected rival ideologies. This permeates both individuals' and societies' consciousness on a global scale.

Essentially, Barber unfurls an illustrative portrait that shows how both forces counteract, cooperate with each other, and how they affect both present and future society.