The idea of “conflict of civilizations” is conceptualized in the paper. It is demonstrated that S.Huntington’s theory of “clash of civilizations” adequately explained the specifics of the post Cold War world. “Clash of civilizations” which was used by S.Huntington to characterize relationships between civilizations in the contemporary world had initially antagonistic significance. In Russian and in English languages, as well as in correspondent mentalities it is typical to understand “clash” in sense of struggle, confrontation, antagonism. The situation is perceived as a catastrophe of global proportions. For this reason, the phrase “clash of civilizations” is not so successful, as well as “struggle of civilizations” and “war of civilizations”. The most preferred is the concept of “conflict of civilizations”. Verbalizing the global social and cultural contradictions of the modern world as “conflict of civilizations” is not burdened with distinct pessimistic and catastrophic connotations; it only captures a certain state of inter-civilizational relations prevailing at the moment, or in the future. The semantics, prevalent in the term “conflict”, are far from the negative connotations that are found in the concept of “clash”. Compared with other paradigmatic concepts, treating global contradictions of the modern world, it is “conflict of civilizations” that has the greatest regulating capacities and, therefore, this concept is the most adequate answer to the needs of the international community in designing interactive forms of dialog.