Another definition of "civilization" comes from
scholars such as
Max Weber,
Carroll Quigley,
Samuel Huntington, and
Philip Bagby, who use the term to describe
complexes of
religion,
language, shared
history,
custom, and
culture that unite a group of
nations.
The definition of "civilization," in this sense, is vague. Virtually all scholars agree that Islam and Hindu India constitute civilizations of their own, and most would call China a distinct civilization (sometimes lumped together with Japan). Other lines are hard to draw. Christendom, also known as the West, is sometimes said to incorporate Eastern Europe and Latin America: other times, these areas are treated as separate civilizations. Huntington argues in favor of a civilization for sub-Saharan Africa, which others argue does not exist. Whether or not Judaism counts as a distinct civilization is anyone's guess.
One thing that is clear about civilizations, however, is that they have finite lifespans. The distinct civilizations of Minoa, Mesopotamia, the Incas, and the Mayas have all fallen apart, while Alexandria, Rome, and Byzantium only live today in a superseded form.
Historically, civilizations developed in almost total isolation from one another. The dissemination of technology between civilizations took centuries, and the spread of religion between civilizations was almost unheard of. Imperialism and colonialism changed all that, bringing the several civilizations of the Earth together as subordinates of Western Europe. Some argue that imperialism brought an end to in-fighting within civilizations, and changed the face of war to intercivilizational conflict, which was superseded by ideological conflict in the wake of World War I: World War II and the Cold War.
Today, civilizations can be defined as the broadest level to which a constituent individual would define themselves. Most Europeans and white Americans define themselves as part of the same Western tradition stemming from Greece and Rome, and can thus be considered to be part of the same civilization. They do not, however, see themselves as similar to natives of Pakistan or Korea, and so it can be surmised that Pakistan and Korea are in different civilizations.
Korea opens up another can of worms, however: that of cultural overlap. Korea's culture is historically Chinese, but their modern society is largely the product of Japanese occupation, and more than half of Korea is Christian. So whose civilization do they belong to?
Another problem arises when dealing with diasporae. First and second-generation immigrants are usually strongly tied to their ancestral homeland, but what about black Americans, whose culture is largely based on the civilizations of Africa, but who have been living in the Americas for many generations, speaking their own dialects and practicing their own religions? Likewise, do Jews who have integrated into Western society constitute a unique civilization unto themselves?
The idea of civilization in the plural is a tenuous one indeed.