Intercultural Tensions

Theme 1) Insiders and Outsiders: Although strategies for reducing intergroup tensions do exist, it is unlikely that misunderstandings and hostility can ever be entirely eliminated: agree or disagree. Name: Student #: Seminar Section: Professor: Class: Course Code: Due: Submitted: It is through extensive research in international relationships with the ever-present theme of insiders and outsiders that this essay has been cultivated. While strategies to reduce intergroup tensions exist; religious, ethnic and racial reasons will continue to cause violence and disputes in the international community and will never come to an end. For centuries, discrimination between races has caused harm in society through slavery and segregation. Ethnic cleansing, ethnic pluralism, multiculturalism and any other attempts made to bring ethnicities together or to separate them are too often the causes of disputes and wars. Religion has produced an immeasurable amount of damage worldwide to society, and is one of the largest creators of separation between people. The above statements will be examined further in the following portion of the document. It will use; wars, disputes, bad political decisions and the past thousand years of history to express the point that intergroup tensions will always exist. Religious tensions Religion is one of the greatest proponents for violence between people of all time. Christianity has caused wars since it was erected roughly two thousand years ago, not to mention, the religious wars that were fought before that time. Some explain the violence as consequences of different religion’s dogmas, to their specific faith. For instance, if a person lives their life abiding by the Ten Commandments and following Jesus then hey can go to heaven. However, that means that they must sacrifice their ability to steal, kill, covet thy neighbour’s wife, et cetera. Now, if a person from another religion is also sacrificing certain actions so that they can reach their promised afterlife, then there is a direct conflict on a religious basis in that monotheistic world. If these made up people both bel ieve that there is only one god, and they are both under different expectations in order to be allowed into the holy afterlife, then of course there will be conflict. When considered on a much larger scale, the conflict becomes increasingly dangerous. The war between the United States and Iraq right now was started over religion. The Islamic terrorist organization Al-Qaeda attacked U. S. soil on September 11th 2001 in the name of Allah, which caused the U. S. to retaliate. Currently, the war is still prevailing, seven years later. There are many efforts to end the war in Iraq however after analysis of the situation, the answer is that the soldiers must stay there as a present force. Ethnic Tensions Persistent clashes among ethnicities are a major indicator of the never-ending hostility and misunderstanding of cultures. Ethnic pluralism has caused countries to revaluate their heterogeneousness, labour migration and expulsion, which has caused interethnic catastrophes that often result in civil war. When different ethnicities start migrating into an area the locals of that land become worried about preserving their culture. This worrying, usually evolves into negative impacts on the community due to hostility felt towards the forced change on the locals. The term â€Å"ethnicity† is defined as a way to identify characteristics, such as cuisine, traditions, common ancestors or nationality to a specific group. From that, the volatile actions and conflicts that are disputed among ethnicities are more understandable when considering the family involved. The sense to protect ones family may provoke a person to fight, â€Å"If group members are potential kinsmen, a threat to any member of the group may be seen in somewhat the same light as a threat to the family. † (Horowitz, 1991, p. 4). The hostility against other ethnicities comes from the inherent will to protect ones family members. One of the most famous ethnic disputes is that which is fought over the Gaza Strip, â€Å"Perhaps the longest-lasting, and still problematic ethnic clash is that of the Israelis and the Palestinians. † (McCannon, 2006, p. 411). Even after establishing peace for over half a decade in the 1990s the Israelis and Palestinians returned to war with each other. The strategy of a cease-fire between Palestine and Israel temporarily stopped the war between the two countries, however, the persistency of continuous ethnic conflict prevailed. Racial Tensions Tensions between races are still very common all over the world and discrimination will continue to separate races. A recent study proves that in the new millennium people of different colours feel the need to have more distance in between them. The traditional more abrupt style of racism is less commonly used, however, now it is a quieter type of discrimination. The term used for the racism today is called institutional racism. It is a way of tactically disadvantaging specific races through policies and barriers to employment. It keeps the black community in the poor houses with the low paying jobs and bad health. An example of institutional discrimination hurting the ethnicities and races is bank loans. The bank has set up a system of which they follow in order to see who is applicable for a loan. One of the features of the bank’s system is calculating who is in the highest financial percentile group. Seeing as white males have dominated the business world for hundreds of years the bank considers the white male to be in the top percentile group. This would then give the white male the advantage for a loan over a black male because their average incomes are not as much as the white male group. The way this bank system works in the first place is only benefiting white males, which is discriminatory towards all other races and ethnicities. The whole political and institutional system needs to be reviewed and reconstructed in order to create equality among all races. This is unlikely to happen soon because it is a functional system, and possible replacements could wreak havoc across the U. S. So the racial discriminated against populous is left to wait for a new system that is not racist. The intergroup conflict continues once again without resolve. Conclusion To compile everything covered so far, the following are strong proponents for why the intergroup tensions are forever existent. The religious wars that have been continuously destroying lives and whole countries for thousands of year will not ever reside in peace. The large scope of ethnicities around the globe have the opportunity to reframe from wars and complete turmoil, however, they choose to continue fighting regardless of peace treaties. The racially discriminated against population in North America, primarily the United States, are subjected to many more years of institutional racism. Finally, to conclude the point that has been reiterated over and over again. Even though strategies to reduce intergroup tensions do exist, the global system will be plagued with hostility and misunderstandings because of religious, ethnic and racial conflicts. Works Cited 1. McCannon, J. (Ed. ). (2006). Barron's how to prepare for the ap world history advanced placement exam. New York City, New York: Barron's Educational Series. 2. Frymer, P. (2005). 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