Modernisation did not mean Westernisation. In the absence of compelling political doctrines, people would turn to more basic sources of identity and difference ethnicity, culture and religion. Thus far, dozens of local conflicts have proved Huntington right. Globalisation has gone hand in hand with a new and aggressive tribalism. At the heart of the great faiths, and of Western civilisation generally, is a sustained protest against despair.
Mankind is a learning animal.
We are not destined endlessly to replay the tragedies of the past. What we can acknowledge we can rise above. But only if we have the courage to look unflinchingly at the road that begins in prejudice and ends in hell on earth. The message of Holocaust Memorial Day is simple. There are many faiths, cultures, languages and races, but we have only one world to share and it is getting smaller every year.