"I am not an expert on Islam," Professor Huntington finally admitted during this final interview of his lifetime. When asked directly about the one single thing that most people around the world would be surprised to learn about him, he smiled and simply replied: "A lot of people tend to think I am a dogmatic ideologue; which I am not."

QUESTION: Huntington's self-perception contradicts his public reputation as a rigid 'clash of civilizations' thinker. Worth exploring how scholars see themselves versus how their work is received.

SEED: A possible essay angle: the gap between scholarly intent and public perception, and how thinkers labeled ideologues see themselves as empiricists.

Arsalan Iftikhar, Fear of a Muslim Planet_ Gl…, loc. 680