My World

According to Benjamin Barber, the future of International Relations is dominated by a

conflict between McWorld and Jihad. The world is being simultaneously pulled together by

McWorld and apart by Jihad. McWorld is working towards globalization and

commodification by using the forces of capitalism to create human needs. Jihad, on the other

side, is a sort of retribalization, where humanity is being divided and subdivided into

exclusive units. Through retribalizing, Jihad tries to create a tribal identity to which we bond

and identify. This tribalism is breaking out as a reaction to McWorld. McWorld and Jihad

derive their strength by reinforcing each other, and neither can survive without the other. In

The Clash of Civilizations, Samuel Huntington claims that the world is becoming smaller.

“The interactions between peoples of different civilizations are increasing. These

interactions intensify civilizations consciousness.i” Huntington believes that the growth of

civilization consciousness is enhanced by the fact that the West is at the peak of its power,

and a return to the root phenomenon is occurring among non-Western civilizations. Thus,

while the interactions between civilizations are increasing globally, those interactions

intensify the consciousness of one’s own civilization locally. In other words, the spread of

McWorld intensifies Jihad. This paper will discuss Benjamin Barber’s perspectives on

McWorld and Jihad, and how those two forces explain international relations. It will focus

on issues like commodification, the infotainment telesector, globalization, localism,

democracy, and capitalism.

“McWorld is a product of popular culture driven by expansionist commerce. Its

template is American, its form style. Its goods are as much images as materiel, an

aesthetic as well as a product line. It is about culture as commodity, apparel as

ideology.ii”

In