Response plan
1. An example of a religious conflict from the history of Russia
2. An example of an intrapersonal conflict in the history of Russia
3. An example of a compromise resolution of the conflict in the history of Russia
4. An example of a professional conflict in the history of Russia
5. An example of caste conflict in history
6. An example of cultural conflict in the history of Russia
7. An example of social conflict in the history of Russia
8. An example of an interethnic conflict, an ethnic conflict (that is, a conflict between peoples) from the history of Russia
9. An example of a local conflict in the history of Russia 9.
10. An example of economic conflict in the history of Russia
11. An example of non-constructive conflict resolution in history
12. An example of an international conflict from history
13. An example of a military conflict in the history of Russia
14. An example of a regional conflict from the history of Russia, as well as an ethno-political conflict
15. An example of a political conflict in the history of Russia
16. An example of interpersonal conflict in the history of Russia
17. An example of a constructive conflict resolution in the history of Russia
An example of religious conflict in the history of Russia can be considered a conflict between the followers of Leo Tolstoy (the so-called "Tolstoy") and the Orthodox Church. Leo Tolstoy and his followers were critical of the dominance of Orthodoxy in Rus', the dominance of rituals in it, the mechanical, "soulless", as he believed, attitude of the clergy to faith.
Leo Tolstoy created his own teaching, in which a person did not bear the imprint of sin from birth, but had to be free and holy already by birthright.
His teaching was the result of his intrapersonal conflict(here is a historical example of this): the teaching of the church became contrary to the personal experience and ideals of Leo Tolstoy, his spiritual quest. For example, Tolstoy did not agree that every person should be in the bosom of the church and attend it, observing church rites, so that his soul would be saved for the Lord.
Tolstoy's sharp criticism of the church led to the banning of some of his publications and books by the authorities, and then public condemnation and excommunication (anathema) in 1901. Anathema in the popular understanding was often equated with a curse, and therefore a stream of letters with threats and abuse from the zealots of religion rained down on Tolstoy.
The protracted conflict between the Tolstoyans and the Orthodox is smoothed out today with a compromise solution both sides. Both sides in this case of conflict resolution make certain concessions to each other. For example, the Orthodox Church diplomatically announced later that it did not intend to curse Lev Nikolaevich, but simply stated that he was not a member of it.
Example professional conflict in the history of Russia- a conflict between leading biologists in the USSR in the 30s. Academic biologist Trofim Lysenko (later all his proposals were deemed useless and pseudoscientific) spoke out sharply against the breeder Nikolai Vavilov, playing a fatal role in his fate. Nikolai Vavilov, not without the participation of Lysenko, was arrested and shot as an enemy of the people.
Vavilov's observations of plants ran counter to Lysenko's ideas, and later Vavilov's genius was unequivocally confirmed, while Lysenko's fantasies (his idiotic proposals on agronomy and agriculture became one of the causes of the famine in the early 30s, nevertheless, Lysenko, following this received several top awards from the government of the USSR) became a disgrace in the history of science.
An example of caste conflict from history may serve as a caste riot in India in March 2016. Mass riots and fights with the police were staged by the Jat caste of the state of Haryana. The caste demanded ... transfer to the category of the lower castes, which have government benefits. With benefits, the Indian government is trying to solve the problem of discrimination against the lower castes, including the untouchables.
These people are often beaten, humiliated, kicked out of various places of public use and denied assistance and communication. People often believe that touching and interacting with lower castes is defiling. Caste conflicts are frequent in modern India, while official division into castes is prohibited in the country. As you can see, the next caste conflict is of a slightly different kind: now it is officially profitable to be a lower caste in India.
An example of a cultural conflict in the history of Russia and at the same time a social conflict, that is, a conflict of public interests, social groups. An example of this is the conflict between the "dudes" of the 1960s and 1970s and the authorities of the USSR, as well as a conservative society. It was based on a cultural conflict - the conservatives condemned the bright unusual outfits, the relaxed and cheeky behavior of the "dandies", the freedom of morals among the youth. Also, the interests of social groups of authorities and conservatives were different: the former prevented the penetration of Western culture into the USSR, the latter, on the contrary, were interested in it, loved it and spread it in every possible way.
The persecution of "dandies" - lovers of Western rock and pop music began with the "jamming" of the broadcasting of Western stations. They continued with police dispersal of their gathering places, newspaper harassment, "sanding" and reprimands at the places of work and study of "dudes" and even exclusion from educational institutions of "unreliable". The reason for the persecution was the policy of the Cold War, in which the USSR and Western countries were drawn into, finding themselves on opposite sides of the barricades.
An example of a local conflict in history and at the same time an inter-ethnic, ethnic, and at the same time economic conflict can serve as a recent event in Moscow. This is a mass brawl in May 2016 near the Khovansky cemetery in Moscow, in which several people died. About two hundred people participated in the fight, according to media reports, natives of the Caucasus, representatives of racket structures attacked natives of Central Asia, who served the funeral business of the Khovansky cemetery.
Local conflict can be called for the reason that it did not affect other cities and regions. Interethnic and international- because it was attended by pronounced two camps of representatives of different nationalities, ethnic groups, different in culture and traditions. Economic conflict is because it has a monetary background: according to the media, the cause of the fight was the desire of the racketeers to "collect tribute" from the Central Asians, who fought back.
The same sad and tragic story can be considered a vivid example of an unconstructive conflict resolution. It was based on economic interests: each side was interested in high income. However, the Chechen side did not find a way to achieve this income without violence, and the Central Asian side did not find a way to prevent an armed attack on itself. The result was casualties and injuries.
An example of an international conflict in the history of Russia can be considered the Second World War and the attack of the Nazi troops on the Soviet Union in 1941. The international nature of the conflict here is indicated by the violation of the borders of another state by the army of one and the participation of several states - in this case, Germany, the USSR, the USA, France and Great Britain on the side of the USSR and others. This same war can serve an example of the military conflict of our history.
An example of a regional conflict in the history of Russia (as well as an ethno-political conflict) can be considered the conflict in Chechnya, which engulfed the entire region of the Chechen Republic, as well as almost the entire region of the Caucasus. Although the conflict directly or indirectly affected the lives of almost every Russian (by army mobilization, news reports, taxation), direct hostilities were concentrated in only one region of one country. The scale of the conflict is clearly not enough to call it all-Russian.
An example of a political conflict in Russian history is the confrontation between the Communist Party and the movement "Our Home is Russia" in the presidential elections in Russia in 1996. At the same time, the conflict has all the signs and interpersonal conflict. In the election battle, two personalities came together, two candidates with completely different ideas, programs for building society and the economy of Russia: communist Gennady Zyuganov and centrist Boris Yeltsin. In the same way, the opinions of the inhabitants of the country were divided about the future of Russia.
This conflict has example of constructive conflict resolution. The elections ended with Yeltsin's victory, which was officially recognized internationally, and Yeltsin entered his second presidential term, taking up his duties. The Communist Party, however, continued its political activities as part of the State Duma and other authorities of the Russian Federation.
MINISTRY OF EDUCATION AND SCIENCE OF THE RUSSIAN FEDERATION
federal state budgetary educational institution of higher professional education
"St. Petersburg State University of Technology and Design"
INSTITUTE OF BUSINESS COMMUNICATIONS
DEPARTMENT OF TOURISM BUSINESS
Test
in the discipline "Fundamentals of Ethnopsychology"
TOPIC: The nature of ethnic conflict
student group 4СЗ-50с
Krutova Anna Andreevna
Saint Petersburg
Introduction
Chapter 1. Basic concepts and causes of ethnic conflict
1.1 The concept of "interethnic tension"
1.2 Causes of ethnic conflicts
Chapter 2. Typology and classification of ethnic conflicts
2.1 Classification of ethnic conflicts
2.2 Typology of ethnic conflicts
2.3 Stages of ethnic conflict
2.4 Examples of ethnic conflicts
Conclusion
Bibliography
Introduction
Ethnopsychology - (from the Greek ethnos - tribe, people) - an interdisciplinary branch of knowledge that studies the ethnic characteristics of the psyche of people, national character, patterns of formation and functions of national self-consciousness, ethnic stereotypes, etc.
This is a section of social psychology that studies the characteristics of the psychology of individual ethnic groups. Ethnopsychology is manifested in the character and temperament of the ethnos, its ethnos (the system of mental and moral norms, aesthetic ideas, etc.)
In the textbook Stefanenko T. G., the author reveals ethnopsychology as an interdisciplinary field of knowledge that studies the psychological characteristics of a person in the unity of the universal and culturally specific, and tries to convey to readers that ethnopsychological knowledge helps people from different social and cultural systems to understand each other, and therefore , contribute to the solution of the most important task facing humanity - the task of its survival.
This work is devoted to ethnic conflicts, which is very relevant in the modern world, because modern humanity is a rather complex ethnic system that includes several thousand different kinds of ethnic communities (nations, nationalities, tribes, ethnic groups, etc.). At the same time, they all differ from each other, both in their numbers and in the level of development. The unevenness of socio-economic, ethnic and demographic processes in the development of the peoples of the world was reflected in its own way in the political map of the world. All ethnic communities inhabiting the planet are part of a little more than 200 states. Therefore, most modern states are polyethnic. Polyethnicity is especially characteristic of developing countries. So, for example, several hundred ethnic communities of various types live in India alone, there are more than 150 of them in Indonesia, 200 peoples officially live in Nigeria, more than 70 in Kenya, etc.
All this diversity of the ethnic structure gives rise to various problems, contradictions, tensions, conflicts in relations between peoples. Some of them are protracted and have been going on for several decades (the Irish and the British in Ulster, the Flemings and Walloons in Belgium, the Anglo- and French Canadians in Canada), others have sharply worsened in the last 10-15 years (the former republics of the USSR and Yugoslavia, a number of countries Africa). Almost all of them are interethnic. According to the Stockholm International Peace Research Institute, more than 70% of all military conflicts in the mid-1990s around the planet were inter-ethnic. Therefore, the problem of ethnic conflicts is one of the most important.
An ethnic conflict is understood as a social situation caused by a mismatch of interests and goals of individual ethnic groups within a single ethnic space or ethnic group (groups), on the one hand, and the state, on the other, at the intersection of ethnic and political space, expressed in the aspiration of an ethnic group ( groups) to change the existing ethnic inequalities or the political space in its territorial dimension.
The purpose of this work is to study the nature of ethnic conflicts.
characterize the concept of ethnic conflict;
classify ethnic conflicts;
consider the typology of ethnic conflicts;
identify the main causes of ethical conflicts;
determine the nature of ethnic conflicts.
Chapter 1. Basic concepts and causes of ethnic conflict
1 The concept of "interethnic tension".
The nature of any social conflict, including ethnic conflict, is always complex and contradictory, since it has a whole range of causes and conflict factors, obvious and latent (hidden) interests of the parties, certain stages of development and forms of confrontation. However, every ethnic conflict begins with ethnic tension, a special mental state of an ethnic community, which is formed in the process of reflection by the group ethnic consciousness of a set of unfavorable external conditions that infringe on the interests of the ethnos, destabilize its state and impede its development.
Like any living organism - and an ethnos is a biosocio-cultural entity - an ethnic community either opposes destructive actions or seeks forms of adaptation to weaken them. Therefore, the state of interethnic tension is not only the psychological background of the conflict, but also a way to mobilize the internal psychological resources of an ethnic group to protect its interests.
The degree of ethnic tension depends on the structure and content of interethnic communications, the characteristics of the ethnic culture of interacting communities, and the historical nature of relations between them. These components find their existence in the form of ideas, opinions, beliefs, expressing attitudes towards the existing practice of interethnic relations in the state; in the form of ethno-cultural attitudes, behavioral models, as well as in the form of individual fragments of the historical memory of an ethnic group, including evaluative knowledge of historical events in the field of interethnic relations.
The history of interethnic relations is very important for the formation of interethnic tension. Historical memory captures national grievances and gratitude especially well. And rallies on historical topics contribute to the transfer of social tensions into inter-ethnic ones. It is always more convenient to point out a historical enemy than to figure out who is to blame for the current situation of the people and, most importantly, what needs to be done to get out of it. The past in this case begins to be perceived through the prism of the present.
Ethnic tension, as a mass mental state, is based on emotional infection, mental suggestion and imitation.
Rumors rapidly circulating in the system of informal communications significantly stimulate the process of whipping up interethnic tension. A rumor is an inaccurate description of a real or fictional event that reflects the general mood in society, ethnic attitudes and stereotypes. It is very dangerous not to pay attention to rumors, because an information vacuum or distorted information in the media causes a new circle of rumors.
It should also be said that inter-ethnic, as well as social, tension is characterized by such a borderline mental state as mass neuroticism, and on this basis, a fear of cultural assimilation and a sense of the need for ethnic consolidation develop. These states are characterized by increased emotional arousal, which causes various negative experiences: anxiety, massive national tension, anxiety, irritability, confusion, despair.
Such states cause wide negative emotions, the circle of irritants provoking negative reactions increases. So, the most ordinary, neutral words are perceived as aggressive, people seem less likeable, and so on. Relations between “us” and “them” are polarized even more sharply. One's own ethnic group is evaluated more positively, and others - more negatively. So, all successes are our internal merits, all failures are caused by external circumstances, and most importantly, by the intrigues of external enemies, which are automatically understood as other ethnic groups.
The tension of the conflict situation, the difficulty of information communication and the conviction of partners in mutual incompatibility create conditions for the formation of a state of aggressiveness in them. It is well known that such a mental state makes a person immune to rational behavior. Any action in such conditions causes a sharp response from the other side and eventually ends with a general confrontation of its participants. Therefore, an ethnic conflict is understood as a social situation caused by a mismatch of interests and goals of individual ethnic groups within a single ethnic space or ethnic group, on the one hand, and the state, on the other, expressed in the desire of an ethnic group to change its position in relations with other ethnic groups and state.
Interethnic tension and conflicts are generated not by the very fact of the existence of ethnic groups, but by the political, socio-economic and historical conditions and circumstances in which they live and develop. It is in these conditions that the main causes of interethnic conflicts are found. Accordingly, depending on the causes and goals, ethnic conflicts can be typological and systematized.
1.2 Causes of ethnic conflicts
At the heart of any ethnic conflict, as a rule, lies a whole group of reasons, among which one can single out the main and secondary ones. Most often, the main causes of ethnic conflicts are territorial disputes, migration and displacement, historical memory, the desire for self-determination, the struggle for material resources or their redistribution, claims to the power of national elites, competition between ethnic groups in the field of labor division, etc.
Territorial disputes. As noted earlier, in the modern world there are several thousand ethnic groups that live within the borders of more than 200 states. This means that most modern states are multi-ethnic. Their creation was most often accompanied by protracted conflicts and struggle for territories of residence. In our time, the process of gaining statehood by individual ethnic groups is actively developing, which inevitably entails claims on the territories of other ethnic groups or the rejection of part of the territories of other states. And since all large ethnic groups have long been territorially organized communities of people, any encroachment on the territory of another ethnic group is perceived as an attempt on its very existence. And a historical study of the issue of the causes of ethnic conflicts allows us to conclude that territorial disputes and claims are the most important among them.
Ethno-territorial conflicts imply a significant "reshaping" of the existing ethno-political space. As a rule, historical facts are used to substantiate this redrawing. As arguments and evidence, the belonging of a particular territory to a certain ethnic group in the past is substantiated. At the same time, each of the parties has, in their opinion, irrefutable historical evidence that secures precisely their right to own the disputed territory. The essence of the problem usually lies in the fact that as a result of numerous migrations of the population, conquests and other geopolitical processes, the territory of the settlement of an ethnic group in the past has repeatedly changed, just as the borders of states have changed. The era from which the ethnicity of the disputed territory is counted is chosen by the parties quite arbitrarily, depending on the goals of the disputing parties. Mutual deepening into history not only does not lead to the resolution of disputes, but, on the contrary, makes them more confusing and subjective. Due to their complexity, territorial disputes are practically insoluble, and the posing of these problems in the programs of political movements and individual leaders is most often the main sign of a brewing ethnic conflict.
The second group of ethno-territorial problems is related to the issue of creating independent territorial-state formations. The main part of the ethnic groups on the globe do not have their own independent national-state formations. As society democratizes and, as a result, the actual status of these ethnic groups, which do not have their own sovereign states, as well as the development of their economy and culture, movements often arise among them, with the goal of creating an independent national state. Such a movement can be especially influential if the ethnos already had statehood at a certain stage in its history and subsequently lost it. Such aspirations to change their state status are one of the most frequent causes of ethnic conflicts. Such conflicts include the Georgian-Abkhazian and Armenian-Azerbaijani conflicts.
The problem of territorial claims today dominates almost all the former republics of the USSR, among many of them there are disagreements about their borders. However, any claims of ethnic groups containing demands for a revision of existing borders are very painfully perceived by the titular ethnic groups and lead to a sharp escalation of interethnic tension. The modern history of Russia is a vivid and convincing example in this respect. The territorial claims of some peoples and states to others, the demands for the redivision of borders cover most of the recently unified country, and many of these conflicts have a long history. Thus, over the past decade, five "ethnic" wars have been recorded in the territory of the former USSR - long-term ethnic armed conflicts and about 20 short-term armed clashes, accompanied by casualties among the civilian population. The approximate number of those killed in these conflicts is about 100 thousand people.
Fight for resources and property. The ecological situation and the availability of natural resources are also capable of influencing the state of interethnic relations, provoking their aggravation. Most often, this is expressed in the struggle of ethnic groups for the possession of material resources and property, among which the most valuable are land and subsoil. When such a dispute arises, each of the conflicting parties seeks to justify its “natural” right to use land and natural resources. In this case, such "resource" conflicts have a dead end, since the redistribution of property and resources leads to a conflict between the interests of local ethnic elites and the federal center. The desire for sovereignty is the form of such confrontation. An example of such a conflict is the Chechen war.
During the Soviet era, the ecological situation worsened significantly in many regions. Then, for the sake of economic expediency, the traditional system of nature management, and in particular land use, was destroyed, which directly changed the way of life of ethnic groups in many republics and regions. For example, the construction of the Karakum Canal first led to the shallowing of the largest rivers in this region - the Amudarya and Syrdarya, and then to the virtual disappearance of the Aral Sea. The development of oil and gas fields in Siberia not only destroyed the natural habitat of the peoples of the Far North and Siberia, but also led to a significant reduction in the number of deer, turned reindeer breeding into a loss-making branch of the economy. All this naturally stimulated ethnocentrifugal tendencies, national and regional separatism, and ethnic hostility towards Russians.
The desire to change the status of local elites. Status conflicts are aimed at changing the political status and scope of power of a particular ethnoterritorial autonomy and the ruling elite in it. Most often, ethnic conflicts of this kind arise in transitional societies, in which they represent an effective way to divert a social explosion into the mainstream of interethnic struggle. Historical practice convinces us that in the conditions of a crisis state of society, prerequisites are always formed for various kinds of economic, socio-political confrontations and conflicts, which entail a redistribution of power and resources. Ethnic conflicts of this type are based on the processes of modernization and intellectualization of peoples. The creation of an intellectual elite in ethnic communities leads to competition between the titular and main ethnic groups in prestigious activities. As a result of ideas about self-sufficiency and independence, representatives of the titular ethnic groups begin to claim prestigious and privileged places, including those in power.
Changing the division of labor system. As historical practice shows, in most multi-ethnic states, a system of division of labor between ethnic groups naturally develops. And since different spheres of the application of labor give different incomes, tacit competition naturally develops between them, a biased comparison of the labor contribution and remuneration for it. When there is a certain dependence between the spheres of work and ethnic communities, this competition is transferred to the ethnic groups themselves, resulting in tension in interethnic relations - the first sign of a brewing conflict.
In addition, some post-Soviet states have remained essentially traditional societies, characterized by a weak division of labor, low levels of urbanization, labor-intensive industries with a high proportion of manual labor, strong family ties, relationships of personal dependency, low per capita income, and traditional norms and values. in culture. For these reasons, representatives of other ethnic groups, occupying an elite position in society and employed in management, economics and politics, arouse in the first a sense of ethnic hostility and involuntarily (by the very facts of their qualifications, level of education and income) become stimulants for inciting interethnic hatred. For the same reason, conflicts can also arise within one ethnic group, associated with the struggle of clans and sub-ethnic groups.
historical memory. An important determining factor in ethnic conflicts can be the historical memory of peoples, which retains traces of violent actions in the field of national politics, such as an arbitrary change in national borders, an artificial dismemberment of ethnic communities, an unjust national structure, forced resettlement of "labor", deportation of peoples, etc. .
The modern variety of ethnic conflicts is caused not only by the reasons noted above. This list could easily be extended and deepened by selecting for analysis certain aspects of the formation and development of each specific conflict. In order to understand the causes of interethnic conflicts, it is necessary to take into account the specifics of each particular conflict, as well as take into account that the conflict situation may change during its escalation.
Chapter 2. Typology and classification of ethnic conflicts
1 Classification of ethnic conflicts.
There are several types of classifications of ethnic conflicts. The main types of conflicts:
political conflicts, when the struggle is for power, dominance, influence, authority;
socio-economic (or social in the narrow sense of the word) - “between labor and capital”, for example, between trade unions and employers;
ethnic - about the rights and interests of ethnic communities
One of the most significant are conflicts between ethnic communities. However, one can agree with V.A. Tishkov that ethnic conflicts in their “pure” form do not actually exist. In reality, we meet with interpenetrating conflicts, each of which provides a breeding ground for the other. It is no coincidence that even conflict experts often cannot come to a consensus on what kind of conflict they are dealing with - with ethnic in political camouflage or vice versa.
Researchers offer a variety of classifications of ethnic conflicts. When classified according to the goals set by the parties involved in the conflict in the struggle for limited resources, they can be divided into:
socio-economic, in which demands for civil equality are put forward (from citizenship rights to equal economic status):
cultural and linguistic, in which the requirements put forward The studies touch upon the problems of preserving or reviving the functions of the language and culture of an ethnic community;
political, if the ethnic minorities participating in them the majority achieve political rights (from the autonomy of localities governmental authorities to full-scale confederalism);
territorial - based on the requirements of changing borders, joining another - "related" to the culture tour-historical point of view - to the state or created new independent state
Sociologists, political scientists and ethnologists, seeking to distinguish conflict from other close phenomena, often consider it exclusively as a real struggle between groups, as a clash of incompatible actions. So, V.A. Tishkov defines “... an ethnic conflict as any form of civil, political or armed confrontation in which the parties, or one of the parties, mobilize, act suffer or suffer on the basis of ethnic differences”. With this understanding of the conflict, it turns out to be a stage of extreme aggravation of contradictions, manifested in conflict behavior, and has an exact start date - as the beginning of confrontation.
But from the point of view of a psychologist who takes into account the dynamics of the conflict, the very contradiction between groups that have incompatible goals in the struggle for limited resources (territory, power, prestige) turns out to be only one of the stages of the conflict - the stage that is usually called an objective conflict situation. As a matter of fact, almost everywhere on Earth there are contradictions between ethnic communities - inter-ethnic tension in the broadest sense of the word. Unfortunately, not a single multi-ethnic society can do without it. Most often, tension exists between the dominant ethnic community and the ethnic minority, but it can be either open, manifested in the form of conflict actions, or hidden, smoldering.
In Russian literature, ethnic conflicts are analyzed in detail by V.A. Tishkov.
So, according to the form of manifestation, it is customary to distinguish between latent (hidden) and actualized (open) conflicts. Latent conflicts can exist for decades and develop into open conflicts only in certain social conditions. As a rule, latent conflicts do not directly threaten people's livelihoods, and it is in this form that conflicts are best resolved.
Interethnic conflicts can also be classified according to the nature of the actions of the conflicting parties (violent or non-violent). In turn, violent conflicts manifest themselves in the form of: regional wars, i.e. armed clashes involving regular troops and the use of heavy weapons; short-term armed clashes lasting several days and accompanied by casualties. Such clashes are also commonly called conflicts-riots, conflicts-pogroms.
Other conflicts in the form of their manifestation can be attributed to the unarmed. Among them, institutional forms of conflict stand out, when the norms of constitutions and legislation that realize the interests of the conflicting parties come into conflict. Another form of unarmed conflicts are rallies, demonstrations, hunger strikes, civil disobedience.
Each of these forms is distinguished by its actors, or the main subjects of the conflict. In the institutional form, the main actors are power structures, political parties and associations, social movements that implement their demands through the institutions of power.
With the manifesting form of conflict, the subject is already a significant mass of people, therefore this form of conflict is also called the conflict of "mass actions". In itself, the concept of "mass actions" is relative, but in conflict zones one can always clearly distinguish between the actions of individual groups and mass demonstrations.
If all forms of non-violent conflicts result in psychological tension, frustration (feeling of hopelessness) in ethnic groups, their displacement, then violent conflicts are accompanied by victims, flows of refugees, forced deportations, forced resettlements.
Another type of classification of conflicts is according to the main goals put forward by the conflicting parties. In this case, status ethnic conflicts are singled out, which arise as a result of the desire of an ethnic community to increase its position (status) in the federal system. In essence, conflicts of this type come down to the struggle of ethnic groups for a confederate form of state structure. Ethnic movements for the creation of their national formations can also be attributed to the same type of conflicts. In the first case, an example of this kind of ethnic conflict was the desire of Tatarstan to rise to the level of the union republics, and in the second case, the movement of the Ingush for the creation of their own national-state formation, their own republic.
Such conflicts can be brought to a compromise by changing the system of government by redistributing power from the central government to the governing bodies of ethnoterritorial autonomies, while maintaining the original multi-ethnic society in a transformed form.
Ethnoterritorial type of ethnic conflict involves the claims and disputes of an ethnic group for the right to live in a particular territory, own or manage it. At the same time, the right of another ethnic group to live in the disputed territory is contested. Modern ethno-territorial conflicts, as a rule, are the result of ethnic repression and arise in the course of the rehabilitation process. Other conflicts of the ethno-territorial type arise in the course of the restoration of territorial autonomy (Volga Germans, Crimean Tatars) or the legal, social, cultural rehabilitation of an ethnic group (Greeks, Koreans, etc.).
This group of conflicts also includes conflicts caused by the desire of some ethnic groups to reunite with the neighboring "mother" or "related" state (Kosovo Albanians). Typically, such conflicts are the most difficult to resolve, since a compromise is usually impossible here, the conflict can either be suppressed by force or resolved by emigration (deportation) of the conflict-prone minority.
This group also includes socio-economic conflicts that arise on the basis of the requirement to equalize the standard of living among representatives of different ethnic groups, join the elite, or terminate benefits, subsidies and economic assistance to other peoples.
These conflicts can be brought to a compromise by redistributing power and economic resources while maintaining the original structure of society.
Cultural-linguistic conflicts arise on the basis of demands to assist efforts to preserve or revive the language and culture of an ethnic minority in private or public life. A compromise is also possible here by changing the cultural and language policy while maintaining the original society or by recognizing the territorial autonomy of ethnic minorities.
2 Typology of ethnic conflicts
The 90s of the XX century became a new stage in the ethnic development of mankind. Ethno-nationalism, previously held back by the force of totalitarian regimes, gained freedom during the period of perestroika and glasnost and took shape in the form of the phenomenon of an “ethnic explosion”, which marked the beginning of a new stage in the development of a number of states. Totalitarian regimes could not solve ethnic problems because the very basis of such a regime does not tolerate diversity; therefore, unification is achieved by the deportation of peoples or by the policy of genocide and ethnocide.
For this reason, the transition from a totalitarian regime to a democratic system is most often accompanied by an aggravation of interethnic relations, and in some countries leads to conflicts. Despite the fact that the nature of interethnic relations in each individual society has its own specifics and is determined by the peculiarities of the development and interaction of specific ethnic groups of a given society, in almost all ethnic conflicts one can distinguish common phases of their maturation and development. Typology based on the content of conflicts, the target aspirations of the conflicting parties is currently the most relevant and widespread. Within the framework of this typology, there are conflicts with the widest range of goals: from ethnopolitical to ethnoterritorial.
An analysis of various types of ethnic conflicts and forms of their manifestation within the boundaries of the post-Soviet space served as some scientific basis for creating another typology of interethnic conflicts. E.A. Pain and A.A. Popov proposed to divide ethnic conflicts into three categories:
) conflicts of stereotypes;
) conflicts of ideas;
) action conflicts.
The first type of this classification implies such a nature of the conflict, when the conflicting ethnic groups are not yet clearly aware of the reasons for the contradictions, but in relation to the opponent they create a negative image of an “unfriendly neighbor”, an “undesirable group”. This was the beginning of the Armenian-Azerbaijani conflict.
A characteristic feature of the second type of this classification is the advancement of certain claims. In this case, in the mass media, in literature and other means of communication, the “historical right” of any ethnic group to independent statehood or to the territory of another ethnic group begins to be substantiated.
The third type of conflict according to this classification - the conflict of actions - means holding rallies, demonstrations, pickets, open clashes with their opponents and authorities.
This typology, like all others, is rather arbitrary, since any ethnic conflict simultaneously combines several causes, goals and forms. Therefore, for its accurate assessment, it is necessary not only to establish its main causes, but also to determine the whole variety of its constituent factors.
It is also possible to classify ethnic conflicts according to the characteristics of the opposing sides. In this case, conflicts between an ethnic group and the state (Abkhazia and Nagorno-Karabakh before the creation of self-proclaimed states) and conflicts between ethnic groups (pogroms of Meskhetian Turks in Ferghana, a conflict between Kyrgyz and Uzbeks in the Osh region) are highlighted.
The well-known ethnologist D. Horowitz proposed his classification. It is based on the specifics of the ratio of the relative levels of economic development and social modernization of the separatist regions and ethnic groups compared to the average for the state as a whole and for the dominant majority of its population in particular. From this point of view, four variants of conflicts are possible:
) separatism of a backward ethnic group in a backward region of the country;
) separatism of a backward ethnic group in a developed region of the country;
) separatism of a developed ethnic group in a backward region;
) separatism of a developed ethnic group in a developed region of the country.
3 Stages of ethnic conflict
Any ethnic conflict has a stage dynamics of development (a gradual increase in the degree of tension), which looks like this.
In the period of the emergence of a conflict situation, demands are put forward to increase the role of the language of the indigenous population of the region, national movements turn to traditions, customs, folk culture, ethno-national symbols, which in their totality are opposed to similar phenomena of an "alien" culture. This stage can be called value-symbolic.
Further, the maturation of a conflict situation is characterized by a desire to redistribute power in favor of one ethnic group at the expense of other groups, change the ethnic hierarchy, raise the ethnic status of indigenous people, etc. At this status stage of the conflict, ethnicity finds its expression in the form of ethno-national interests and becomes for the local elite an instrument of pressure on the central government in order to reorganize the existing ethno-political space in their favor.
And finally, the next stage can bring the development of the conflict to the nomination of either territorial claims within the framework of a given ethnological state, or claims to create a new ethno-national statehood, to change the territorial boundaries of the existing political space. At this stage, an ethnic group may resort to forceful actions in order to back up its claims by force of arms.
Each of the noted stages of the development of the conflict is characterized, in turn, by the corresponding state, types and forms of practical relations between ethnic groups. So, for the first stage, the state of interethnic alienation becomes the main one. This is manifested in the desire for ethnically homogeneous marriages, for mono-ethnic communication, for minimizing contacts with a foreign ethnic environment, with the exception of the inevitable - professional or domestic. In other words, we are talking about increasing the socio-cultural distance. At the same time, alienation is intensified by the cultural differences of ethnic groups, their dissimilar stereotypes of behavior.
As the conflict situation develops, the state of alienation develops into a state of ethnic hostility, in which shortcomings, miscalculations, mistakes in the spheres of culture, economics, and politics are extrapolated to the corresponding ethnic community. The state of hostility, under appropriate conditions and circumstances, can quickly lead to violent actions, which in ordinary consciousness are most often regarded as a conflict proper. In this case, ethnic conflict becomes a form of political action and a means to achieve political goals. At the same time, any ethnic conflict is one of the varieties of social conflicts along with religious, racial, interstate ones. In general, an ethnic conflict is understood as a dynamically changing situation, generated by the rejection of the previously established state of affairs by a significant part of the representatives of one (several) of the local ethnic groups, and therefore one can speak of an ethnic conflict as a real phenomenon when a national movement or a party whose goal is to ensure the national interests of a certain people and, in order to achieve this goal, seek to change the existing and previously tolerable or habitual situation in the cultural, linguistic, socio-economic or political sphere of life. Ethnic conflict is always a political phenomenon, because even if the initiators of change seek to change the situation only in the cultural-linguistic or socio-economic area, they can achieve their goals only by acquiring certain powers.
4 Examples of ethnic conflicts
In the modern world, unfortunately, ethnic confrontations take place. They are characterized by a certain degree of political influence, the creation of social movements, the confrontation of the parties with the help of mass chaos and disorder, separatist actions and even wars. Many researchers of the issue of ethnic and national strife note the main characteristic feature of the phenomenon - intractability. The lion's share of national problems is of a religious-territorial nature.
Aggravation of situations is observed during periods of economic downturns and political instability, both between countries and within certain states. An illustrative example of ethnic conflicts can be the CIS countries after the collapse of the USSR: Moldova and Transnistria, Armenia and Azerbaijan, Abkhazia, Georgia and Karabakh, Tajikistan (Uzbekistan) and Afghanistan. Some Eastern European countries, after the fall of the world socialist system, found themselves in the center of ethnic confrontations. ethnic conflict tension
The Balkans is one of the most unstable regions of the planet, where the fire of interethnic hostility periodically flares up with renewed vigor. It is worth recalling the Yugoslav crisis, the problems of the Czech Republic, Slovakia, Bosnia and Herzegovina. The interest of most major powers is concentrated here, even including the geographically distant United States and China. Most of these conflicts are related to status and territorial claims, and, as the outcome of many showed, fixing part of the territory to an ethnic minority can lead to its isolation.
World history is rich in examples of hundreds of ethnic conflicts: between Great Britain and Northern Ireland, France and Corsica. In recent years, the problem of the Basques in Spain, the Kurds in Turkey, has been acute, and the recent conflict in Greece is also indicative. In African countries, destabilization often occurs due to the mismatch of interests of ethnic communities.
Termination of national confrontations is a very problematic task, since it is impossible to carry out a complete neutralization of political and economic factors in practice. However, the state and global policy of tolerance and the ability to conduct dialogues in many cases will help prevent the emergence of acute conflicts or smooth out their course.
Conclusion
Ethnos is a historically established type of stable association of people. Confrontation of interests and interethnic conflicts have existed since time immemorial, and this was due to the presence of harsh cultural and social integration processes. In the ancient community, everything that was outside the boundaries of the community was perceived as something alien, carrying a potential danger to members of a certain ethnic group, which means it was subject to destruction.
Under the ethnic conflict in the broad sense of the word Stefanenko T.G. understands any competition between groups - from the real th confrontation for the possession of limited resources to social competition - in all those cases when, in the perception if at least one of the parties, the opposing side is determined from the point of view of the ethnicity of its members.
The problem of ethnic conflicts over the past decades has been one of the most pressing topics for researchers representing various fields of science. The main reason for attention to this issue lies in the difficulty of resolving such conflicts, which, moreover, have become one of the most common sources of social contradictions and political instability. Most of the current conflicts can be identified as ethno-religious-territorial. These are the Kosovo, Basque, Ulster, Karabakh, Georgian-Abkhaz crises and so on. A huge number of ethnic conflicts continue to destabilize the situation in Africa and Latin America.
For the Russian Federation, this problem is also serious. One can already say that one of the conflicts that unfolded on the territory of Russia - the Chechen war, which is based, among other things, on the ethnic component - is one of the largest political events of the late 20th century. The extreme severity of the conflict, the increased interest of the world community in the events unfolding on the territory of Chechnya, the wave of religious and national uprisings in the entire North Caucasus region, which was spurred on by the war in the Chechen Republic, can serve as arguments in favor of the fairness of the latter provision.
The events of recent years have shown that ethnic conflicts in various parts of the world go beyond the boundaries of intrastate and even regional ones. This is of particular importance due to the fact that the regions of ethnic instability are increasingly associated in both periodical and scientific literature with potential subjects of international terrorism.
The main reasons for the emergence of ethnic conflict can be called:
Territorial disputes
Fight for resources and property
The desire to change the status of local elites.
Changing the division of labor system
historical memory
The main classification of ethnic conflicts:
territorial;
political;
ethnic (cultural and linguistic);
socio-economic.
In general, the emergence of any ethnic conflict is due to the existence of one form or another of inequality among ethnic groups. Therefore, the settlement of ethnic conflicts requires finding a new, compromise and acceptable balance for all conflicting parties, mutually satisfying their interests. To achieve this balance, three essential conditions must be met.
First, each of the parties to the conflict must recognize the existence of a conflict situation. Thus, the right to exist is recognized for each party to the conflict, but this does not at all mean recognition of the justice of their demands and claims. The settlement of the conflict is impossible and useless if one of the parties declares that its opponent has no right to exist, and his position is devoid of any grounds.
Secondly, a prerequisite in resolving the conflict is the degree of organization of the parties: the better they are organized, the easier it is to reach an agreement and enforce the terms of the contract. And on the contrary, the diffuse nature of interests, their vagueness significantly complicates the resolution of the conflict situation.
And thirdly, the conflicting parties must accept firmly established rules of the game, under which only the negotiation process is possible. These rules should provide equal opportunities for each of the parties to provide some balance in their relationship.
Bibliography
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) Drobizheva L.M. Ethnopolitical conflicts: Causes and typology // Russia today: the difficult search for freedom. - M., 1998.-182 p.
) Zerkin D.P. Fundamentals of conflictology. Lecture course. (Series "Textbooks and teaching aids"). Rostov-n / D: "Phoenix", 2010. - 480 p.
) Lebedeva M.M. Political settlement of conflicts. M.: Aspect Press, 1999. - 271 p.
) Lebon G. Psychology of peoples and masses. - M.: AST, 2000. - 124 p. (electronic version)
) Mukomel V. I. Armed interethnic and regional conflicts: human losses, economic damage and social consequences // Identity and conflict in post-Soviet states. - M., 1997
) A new dictionary of methodological terms and concepts (theory and practice of teaching languages). - M.: Publishing house IKAR. E. G. Azimov, A. N. Schukin. 2009.
) Sadokhin A.P., Grushevitskaya T.G. Ethnology: Textbook for students. higher textbook establishments. - M.: Publishing Center "Academy"; Higher school, 2012. - 304 p.
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ETHNIC CONFLICTS IN THE MODERN WORLD
Conflicts associated with the aggravation of interethnic relations have become an indispensable attribute of the modern world. They flare up on all continents of our planet: in both developed and developing countries, in the areas of distribution of any religious teachings, in areas with different levels of income and education.
Numerous hotbeds of ethnic conflicts - from global (Kurdish, Palestinian, Kosovo, Chechen) to local and point (domestic contradictions between people of different nationalities within the city, town, village) - give rise to instability, which is increasingly difficult to contain within state borders. Neighboring ethnic groups are almost always involved to one degree or another in confrontations between ethnic groups, and often distant centers of power, including such large-scale geopolitical players as the USA, Russia, Great Britain, India, and China.
concept conflict in Latin means "collision". Signs of conflict are manifested in the clash of forces, parties, interests. The object of the conflict can be either a fragment of material, socio-political or spiritual reality, or the territory, its subsoil, social status, distribution of power, language and cultural values. In the first case, the formation social conflict, in the second - territorial. An ethnic conflict taking place between ethnic groups - groups of people who have a common historical and cultural foundation and occupy a certain spatial area - is a territorial conflict.
The whole complex of related problems is studied geographic conflictology - a scientific direction that studies the nature, essence, causes of conflicts, the patterns of their course and development based on interaction with spatial (geographical) factors. Geographical conflictology uses the knowledge of philosophy, history, sociology, jurisprudence, political science, psychology, ethnology, biology, economics, political geography and geopolitics, physical and social geography.
Any conflict is characterized by uneven development in time. Periods latent its (hidden) development is replaced by segments of open confrontation between the participants in the conflict; at this time it happens actualization, when the activity of the opposing sides sharply increases, the number of political actions increases many times over, and there is also a transition to armed actions.
According to a Russian researcher of conflicts V.Avksentieva, the transition of the latent period to the actualized period usually begins with the statement of one of the parties about dissatisfaction with their position and intention to change it. The announcement of dissatisfaction is the first phase of the actualized conflict. It is followed by the phase of refusal, that is, the denial of at least one of the parties to the conflict of the very existence of the problem, the phase of forcing the conflict, the phase of the meeting (recognition of its existence by both parties, the beginning of consultations and negotiations) and the phase of conflict resolution. The last phases can be recorded only in conflicts that are fading away, having reduced their destructive potential.
Like any other socio-political phenomenon, ethnic conflict develops according to certain laws and is initiated by specific factors among which are objective And subjective. The group of objective factors includes those factors that exist relatively independently of public consciousness. The clearest example of this kind is natural factor.
Everything that contributes to the development of the conflict is connected in a single complex. The active manifestation of one or two factors without the support of the others is not capable of creating any serious ethnic conflict.
An important and often decisive role in the processes of conflicts is played by ethno-confessional factor. The main component of any ethnic conflict is the crisis of ethnic identity (political scientists and conflictologists call it an identity crisis). It manifests itself in a change in the ethnic, confessional (religious) and political self-identification of people, in the strengthening of the influence of nationalist groups and associations, and the growth of their political activity.
Many states of the world are interested in creating a single supranational nationwide identity, which, on the basis of a single language, common symbols and traditions, could consolidate all ethnic, confessional and social groups of the country. In single-ethnic (mono-ethnic) states, such as Japan, Norway or Portugal, this problem has already been practically solved. These countries already from the end of the XIX century. are at such a level of ethnic consolidation, which in the West has received the name "nation-state" (nation-state), that is, they have an almost complete coincidence of ethnic and state (civil) self-identification.
The term "nation state" was first used at the end of the 18th century. in relation to France. The essence of this concept is that the entire population of the country is defined as a single nation that does not have ethnic differences within the framework of a single state. The slogan under which this process proceeds is: “For every nation, a state. To each state - a national essence. It should be noted, however, that this idea is far from universal implementation. As many researchers rightly point out, an ethnically homogeneous nation-state is an ideal representation, since in reality almost every state has more or less pronounced minorities, and in the modern ethnically mixed world, the task of building a textbook model of a nation-state can be called utopian.
The life situation shows that today ethnic groups are artificially divided into two groups. A smaller part of them is an elite club identified with the international community and all its institutions. Representatives of another, larger group of ethnic groups exist as ethnic minorities in multinational states and are limited in their ability to directly participate in the activities of the international community. The existence of several international organizations of ethnic minorities, like the Association of the Peoples of the North or the Organization of Unrepresented Nations and Peoples (it includes 52 members, including Abkhazia, Bashkortostan, Buryatia, Gagauzia, Kosovo, Iraqi Kurdistan, Taiwan) is perceived as weak consolation for the peoples not represented in the foreign policy arena.
Interethnic relations have the greatest complexity in multinational (polyethnic) states. In some - centralized some ethnic groups are so large that they are constantly at the center of socio-political life, dictate their own interests, put forward a standardized culture built on their own national-cultural foundation, and try to assimilate minorities. It is in such states that the greatest potential for conflicts develops, since the dominant group puts forward claims to the exclusive control of state institutions, which causes a response from national minorities.
This model of interethnic relations dominates in Iran, Indonesia, Myanmar and a number of other countries. In some of them, the desire to consolidate the entire population of the country into a single nation on the foundation of a dominant ethnic group casts doubt on the very existence of other ethnic groups (For example, in Turkey, the Kurds are officially called "mountain Turks").
At dispersed In a type of multinational state, the population consists of a small number of ethnic groups, each of which is too weak or small in number to dominate. As a result, the only option acceptable to all is the achievement of inter-ethnic harmony (albeit at times quite fragile and often violated). Such a system has been formed, for example, in many African countries where an extremely heterogeneous ethnic composition is a legacy of colonial borders (Nigeria, Tanzania, Guinea, the Democratic Republic of the Congo, etc.).
Discrimination against national minorities can take various forms: restriction or even prohibition of the national language and culture, economic oppression, resettlement from ethnic territory, reduction of quotas for representation in state management structures, etc. In almost all countries of the East, the proportion of representatives of different ethnic groups in the power system is far from corresponds to the proportion of this ethnic group among the entire population. As a rule, the numerically predominant ethnic groups (Persians in Iran, Punjabis in Pakistan, Sinhalese in Sri Lanka, Malays in Malaysia, Burmese in Myanmar, etc.) at all levels of power have a disproportionately high representation, and most other ethnic groups have a disproportionately low .
The main demands of most of the national movements involved in ethnic conflicts come down to three areas:
1) cultural revival (creation of broad cultural autonomy with the use of the native language in local governments and education);
2) economic independence (the right to dispose of natural resources and economic potential, localized within the ethnic territory);
3) political self-government (establishment of national self-government within the boundaries of an ethnic territory or part of it).
The range of requirements of these movements is determined by the degree of development and complexity of the structure of the ethnos, its internal social differentiation. Leaders of more “simple” ethnic communities that retain remnants of tribal relations usually come up with unequivocal demands for independence and/or the expulsion of all “strangers” (for example, the leaders of the national movement in Assam). For larger and more developed ethnic groups, the range of demands put forward is much wider: they are dominated by demands for cultural and national-territorial autonomy, economic independence and political self-government, which is confirmed, for example, by the situation in Catalonia.
A number of ethnic groups demand the expansion of rights up to the formation of their own statehood. However, if in fact we are guided by the principle of complete self-determination (up to secession) for each ethnic group, then this implies a slightly optimistic prospect of the gradual disintegration of all multinational states of the world until each ethnic group on the planet (and there are 3-4 thousand of them) has of his state. According to the American scientist S. Cohen, already in 25 - 30 years the number of states may increase one and a half times. As a result, there will be more than 300 sovereign states on the world map.
The difference between the confessional form of conflict formation and the ethnic one is that it is not ethnic self-consciousness that comes to the fore, but religious. It is not uncommon for opponents in a conflict to even belong to the same ethnic group. For example, adherents of Sikhism are ethnically Punjabis. They are in conflict with Hindu Punjabis (in India) and Muslim Punjabis (in Pakistan).
Religion has a significant impact on the entire culture of the ethnic group. Sometimes confessional differences play a decisive role in ethnogenesis. For example, Bosnians, Serbs and Croats living in Bosnia and Herzegovina speak the same language even before the ethnic cleansing of the first half of the 1990s. lived in stripes within a single area. It is possible that the Punjabi ethnic group, which still retains unity, will soon split along religious lines. At least now, Sikh Punjabis speak Punjabi, Hindu Punjabis speak Hindi, and Muslim Punjabis speak Urdu.
Palestine, Punjab, Kashmir, Southern Philippines (Moro Muslim regions) are the classic centers of ethnic conflicts with a pronounced dominant role of the religious factor. The religious component of the conflict is mixed with the ethnic one in Cyprus (Turkish Cypriot Muslims against Greek Cypriot Christians), Sri Lanka (Tamil Hindus against Sinhalese Buddhists), Northern Ireland (Irish Catholics against Protestants from England and Scotland) , in the Indian state of Nagaland (Naga Christians against the main population of India - Hindus), etc. True, there are many hotbeds of conflicts where the warring parties are co-religionists: Catalonia, Transnistria, Balochistan, etc.
Closely interacts with ethno-confessional socio-economic factor. In its pure form, it is not capable of leading to a serious ethnic conflict, otherwise any area that differs economically would be a hotbed of interethnic confrontation.
The dependence of the intensity of the conflict on the level of economic development cannot be unambiguously determined. There are centers of ethnic conflicts in the world, both relatively economically developed (Catalonia, Quebec, Transnistria) and economically depressed (Chechnya, Kosovo, Kurdistan, Chiapas, Corsica).
The motivation for the dissatisfaction expressed by an ethnic group with its economic situation can be different. Ethnic groups living in relative prosperity and well-being often show dissatisfaction with the established practice of unjustifiably high deductions from their region to the national budget. According to the leaders of these national movements, under the guise of declarations on the harmonious and balanced economic development of the country, the region is being robbed. At the same time, the more noticeable the economic disproportions between the most and least developed regions of the country, the greater the sums withdrawn from economically prosperous regions, which causes a sharp rejection of the “freeloader regions” by them.
The ethnic groups inhabiting economically lagging areas express claims that the governing structures or international organizations do not take into account the deplorable state of their economy, do not provide loans for its development, and do not see the needs of the ordinary population. Raising the bar for economic demands, which at times develops into direct economic blackmail, according to the calculations of the leaders of the conflicting ethnic group, can lead to a more profitable redistribution of budget funds, international assistance, and a fairer tax policy. Sometimes the parties to the conflict rely on non-traditional economic sources, such as income from smuggling various types of goods, including weapons and drugs, hostage-taking for ransom, extortion from fellow tribesmen who have achieved success in business.
The socio-economic factor plays an important role in the formation and development of the Basque conflict knot, which is clearly expressed in the Indian Assam and the Indonesian Irian Jaya.
In the processes of origin and evolution of ethnic conflicts, natural factor. Basically, its action is manifested in the form of natural boundaries, which often serve as barriers between neighboring ethnic groups, boundaries of interethnic clashes and wars. Mountain ranges, large rivers, sea straits, difficult land areas (deserts, swamps, forests) can serve as such natural boundaries.
On the one hand, natural boundaries minimize contacts between warring ethnic groups, which reduces the conflict nature of relationships, on the other hand, they contribute to the psychological alienation of ethnic groups living on opposite sides of the barrier. Natural boundaries were previously one of the main factors that laid down the direction of ethnic boundaries, thereby determining the ethnic map of the region. The natural accessibility of the territory determines the level of economic development. If the state does not have the level of well-being in Switzerland, within which, by the way, there are a lot of various natural borders, then natural borders will lead to certain difficulties in contacts with some territories, which will negatively affect their economic development.
In comparison with other conflict-generating factors, natural boundaries are the least plastic and practically unchanged. "In reality, it is only possible to slightly improve the ties between opposite sides of the natural boundary (the construction of mountain and sea tunnels, the construction of bridges, the creation of sea and air routes, the transformation of deserts and tropical jungles, etc.). ), but it is hardly possible to completely eliminate differences in economic and geopolitical positions.
In the formation of large centers of ethnic conflicts, the role of geopolitical factor. The main form of its manifestation is geopolitical faults between extended civilizational-historical and military-political arrays. The concepts of geopolitical faults of various directions and configurations have recently become popular in the scientific community. The most famous model was the American S. Huntington. Fault zones are characterized by political instability, confrontation of the strategic interests of the largest geopolitical forces, conflicts often arise here.
A good example of this factor is the Balkan mega-conflict and its components - ethnic conflicts in Kosovo, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Croatia, Western Macedonia, and Montenegro. The uniqueness of the Balkan knot lies in the fact that three geopolitical faults pass through it at once: between the Orthodox-Slavic and Islamic civilizations (currently the most conflict-prone), between the Orthodox-Slavic and European-Catholic civilizations, and between the European-Catholic and Islamic civilizations. Each of the three sides of the conflict node experiences a strong intervention of external forces. The US, UK, Germany and other NATO countries support Croats and Muslim peoples (Kosovo Albanians and Bosniaks). Orthodox Serbs, on the other hand, found themselves in fact isolated, since their traditional foreign policy patrons (including Russia) less persistently and consistently defend their interests in the international arena.
In every major ethnic conflict, the opposing sides respect collective interests, the development of which is possible only if there is organizing and managing entity. Such a subject can be a national elite, a more or less large public organization, armed formations, a political party, etc.
Such political organizations closely involved in the conflict exist in many countries of the world. This, for example. PKK in Turkish Kurdistan, Tamil Eelam Liberation Tigers in the Tamil north of Sri Lanka, Kosovo Liberation Army, Palestine Liberation Organization, etc.
In developed parliamentary democracies, national movements act openly, freely participating in elections at various levels. However, some of the most odious and extremist organizations, in respect of which their involvement in bloody crimes has been proven, are prohibited. Nevertheless, even in these cases, national groups have the opportunity to express their interests openly.
Nationalist public organizations reflect the interests and moods of peripheral elites seeking to expand their influence. Such ethnocratic elites are formed mainly in three ways. Firstly, the state-administrative nomenclature that existed under the previous regime can be transformed into a new national elite (examples:
most of the CIS countries, countries of the former Yugoslavia). Secondly, such an elite can be represented by a new nationalist intelligentsia (teachers, writers, journalists, etc.), who previously did not have power, but at a certain moment felt the possibility of acquiring it (the Baltic countries, Georgia). Thirdly, the ethnocratic elite can be formed from a conglomerate of warlords and mafia leaders fighting for national independence, as happened in Chechnya, Somalia, Afghanistan, Tajikistan, Eritrea, and Myanmar.
Sooner or later, a charismatic leader of the national movement appears among the ethnocratic elite - such as, for example, Y. Arafat for Palestine or A. Ocalan for Kurdistan, concentrating in his hands all the forces involved in fulfilling the intended goals. The leader represents the interests of his movement at various levels, leads negotiations with the opposing side, achieves international recognition.
The leader of the national movement is the potential head of the newly formed state. The role of such a person in the conflict is sometimes very great. In some countries, separatist movements are more likely to take place not under the flags of certain ethnic or religious groups, but under the battle standards of one or another big name.
It is wrong, however, to absolutize the role of the leader in the process of the territory's struggle for sovereignty. Without a wide circle of like-minded people, a clear hierarchical party structure, and the support of the national elite, the leader remains a lone rebel.
Among the factors contributing to the development of separatism, it is impossible not to mention historical factor. If an ethnic group putting forward demands for self-determination or autonomy previously had its own statehood or self-governing institutions, then it has much more moral grounds to revive them. Largely for this reason, the Baltic republics of the former USSR throughout their existence were the area of the most clearly defined nationalist processes. Similar problems may now arise before the Russian Federation, a number of subjects of which, for example, Tatarstan, Tyva, Dagestan (the latter in the form of fragmented feudal estates), previously had their own statehood.
None of the factors of separatism is of such decisive importance for the transition of the conflict from a latent to an actualized form, as social mobilization factor. Without the active participation of the population, any area of manifestation of disintegration tendencies is unlikely to have reason to become a hotbed of separatism. Under the mobilization of the population is understood the ability of certain political groups to take active steps to achieve their economic, political and national interests. The higher the political self-consciousness in a society, the higher its mobilization. The growth of mobilization also entails an increase in the political activity of the population, the indicators of which are an increase in the number of demonstrations, rallies, strikes, picketing and other political actions. As a result, high mobilization of the population can lead to destabilization of political life and even outbreaks of violence.
The level of mobilization in different social groups is usually not the same. Particularly irreconcilable positions regarding ways to resolve the conflict - extremism - dominate the marginalized strata of the population. It is in them that the lack of culture and education is felt; First of all, these social groups are most prone to partial or complete unemployment.
As the conflict develops, the field of action of public mobilization expands. At the moment of its emergence, the national intelligentsia becomes the most mobilized group, which, by influencing the general population through the mass media, increases the mobilization of the entire ethnocultural community. Interestingly, in such situations, a particularly strong destabilizing role is played by the humanitarian intelligentsia oriented toward ethnic revival, while the technical intelligentsia most often acts as a stabilizing factor.
Of great importance in the study of centers of instability is the concept of "threshold critical level of mobilization", the excess of which is followed by an open phase of the conflict. In general, this threshold is higher in the more developed regions of the planet (Europe, America) and decreases in the less developed ones (Africa, Asia). Thus, the national and cultural discrimination against the Tamils in Sri Lanka led to a major armed conflict, and similar actions taken by the Estonian government against the Russian-speaking population did not give rise to a reaction even close in intensity.
The mobilization of a certain group of the population usually depends on the amount of resources under social control (mainly labor) and on political organization. The forms of group organization are diverse and include both political parties and other public structures: national-cultural movements, liberation fronts, etc. In any case, for each public group capable of increasing its mobilization, the following conditions must be met:
1) common group identification;
2) a common self-name, well known to both members and non-members of the group;
3) certain symbols of the group: emblems, slogans, songs, uniforms, national clothes, etc.;
4) the presence in the group of a certain circle of persons whose authority is recognized by all members of the group;
5) assigned to the group own controlled space;
6) the presence of common property (money, weapons and other means of struggle);
7) implementation by the top of the group of control over the activities of all members of the group.
All the hotbeds of ethnic conflicts existing in the world were formed as a result of the combination of the above factors.
Introduction
Conflicts
ethnic conflicts
Ways to resolve ethnic conflicts
Conclusion
Bibliography
Introduction
Ethnos is a historically emerged type of stable social grouping of people represented by a tribe, nationality, nation. The term ethnos is close to the concept of "people". Sometimes they designate several peoples (Russians, Ukrainians, Poles, etc. - Slavs), as well as separate parts within the people.
An ethnic conflict is understood as a conflict characterized by a certain level of organized political action, the participation of social movements, the presence of riots, separatist uprisings and even a civil war, in which the confrontation takes place along the lines of an ethnic community.
Modern ethnic conflicts have different historical origins. Therefore, the ways of their resolution can also be varied.
The ethnos is characterized by the existence of rigid cultural and social mechanisms of integration, which determine the desire of the individual to see the justification of his existence, the main value in his dissolution in the community. The relationship of ancient communities is based on the idea that all communities outside of “we” are something alien, carrying absolute, real and potential hostility to people, i.e. members of this ethnic group. At the first stages of human development, the determining relationship between ethnic groups was genocide, i.e. potential and real threat of mutual extermination.
Clashes between ethnic groups in ancient times were considered by the parties as natural and inevitable, requiring the mobilization of all military forces of the ethnic group. The ideal model of "war against all", if by "all" we mean isolated communities, has this situation as its historical prototype.
Although an infinite number of ethnic groups, tribes disappeared in mutual struggle, nevertheless, humanity managed to survive, since the opposite pole has always existed, i.e. the possibility of coexistence of ethnic groups, their merger, always in one form or another and on a scale there was a mechanism of cultural interpenetration.
Conflicts
A conflict is a clash of opposing interests, views, positions, aspirations. Each person throughout his life repeatedly encounters various kinds of conflicts. You want to achieve something, but the goal is elusive. You experience failure and are ready to blame others for not being able to achieve the desired goal. And others believe that you yourself are to blame for your own failure: either the goal was incorrectly defined by you, or the means to achieve it were not chosen, or you incorrectly assessed the situation and the circumstances prevented you. This is how mutual misunderstanding arises, which can gradually develop into discontent, give rise to a feeling of discomfort, an atmosphere of dissatisfaction and socio-psychological tension, conflict. Something similar is happening in the sphere of political relations between various parties expressing the interests of certain social groups, between individual social and ethno-social communities and state power. How to find a way out of such situations? There are no universal recipes, because each conflict situation is unique in its own way. However, a certain minimum of knowledge about the nature of conflicts, their features, some patterns of development and methods of resolution must be had. This is the meaning of acquaintance with the basics of conflictology, which is an integral part of political science. First of all, we will focus on the analysis of conflicts as a general phenomenon in the life of society. This is necessary in order to better understand the causes of many processes in the political life of society, the "simple person" to get rid of his "simplicity" and more consciously take part in them. This requires, first of all, an acquaintance with the essence of social conflicts. In general terms, a social conflict means a confrontation between opposing interests and goals of social development, a clash of their real carriers - individuals, social groups, classes, and states over ensuring their interests. It is worth recalling that even Aristotle considered the most important source of conflicts (“strife”) in society to be the property inequality of people.
Humanity has been familiar with conflict since its inception. Disputes and wars broke out throughout the historical development of society between tribes, cities, countries, blocs of states. Wars were fought over territories and resources. They were generated by religious, cultural, ideological, ethnic and other contradictions. As the German military theorist and historian K. von Clausewitz noted, the history of the world is the history of wars. Armed conflicts claimed many lives, led to devastation and famine.
Conflicts are an integral part of social life. Contradictions permeate all spheres of life: socio-economic, political, spiritual.
Depending on the subjects of the conflict, they are divided into internal and external (or international). The principles of conflict resolution depend on its status and form (internal or external, peaceful or armed conflict). According to established international practice, an internal conflict requires the application of the principle of non-intervention, an interstate conflict - refraining from the use and threat of force, a national liberation movement - requires the application of the principle of equality and self-determination of the people.
Depending on the scope, conflicts are divided into socio-economic (over the means of subsistence, access to the benefits of society, etc.), political (over the distribution of power), national-ethnic, religious, etc.
The danger of conflicts at the turn of the XX-XXI centuries. encourages researchers and practitioners to actively seek and use peaceful means to resolve them. The technology of peaceful conflict resolution is of particular importance in modern conditions, becoming the main factor in the preservation and further development of human civilization.
One of the themes of ethnic conflicts is fascism. The misanthropic idea of eradicating "inferior" races and peoples resulted in a policy of genocide - the extermination of entire population groups on a national basis. In general, fascism (in different countries it was called differently: fascism, national socialism, national syndicalism, etc.) is a historical phenomenon that arose in the 20th century as a reaction to problems not solved by the era and other ideological systems. The psychological basis for fascist sentiments was the so-called flight from freedom. Having lost neighborly, family, communal unity, people often found a replacement for it in a sense of ownership of the nation, authoritarian and paramilitary organization, totalitarian ideology, a powerful state and its leaders. No less important role in the development of the new movement was played by economic and political instability in European countries after the end of the First World War. The movement was also supported by a significant part of the demobilized front-line soldiers. Fascism was most developed in Italy and Germany. The ideas of fascism: social Darwinism, the destruction of the individual and nationalism, inequality, the unity of the nation and the corporate state, total mobilization, populism, the Fuhrer principle, the Nazi party, estates, the economy, the army, the repressive system.
The basis of the fascist worldview was the understanding of the life of an individual, a nation and humanity as a whole as active aggression, a struggle for existence. But if at the center of liberal social Darwinism was the individual competing with others, then at the center of the fascist doctrine was the collective.
The nation is the “highest personality”, the state is “the unchanging consciousness and spirit of the nation”, and the fascist state is “the highest and most powerful form of personality” - this is how Mussolini expressed the key idea of fascism.
Mussolini declared that "inequality is inevitable, beneficial and beneficial for people." Hitler in one of the conversations explained: “Not to eliminate inequality between people, but to aggravate it by putting up impenetrable barriers. What form the future social system will take, I will tell you... There will be a class of masters and a crowd of different members of the party, placed strictly hierarchically. Beneath them is an anonymous mass, inferior forever. Even lower is the class of conquered foreigners, the modern slaves. Above all this there will be a new aristocracy…”
Each social group with common economic tasks (primarily entrepreneurs and workers in the same industry) was to form a "corporation" or "estate". The social partnership of labor and capital was declared the basis of production in the interests of the nation.
An analysis of the causes of interethnic conflicts (in general terms, an analysis of the causes of any phenomenon) is the most important prerequisite for drawing up a program of action to prevent this phenomenon. Without knowing the diagnosis, the disease is not treated or treated inappropriate ways, often leading to death. As a rule, the causes of such phenomena can be divided into historical, political, economic, religious, spiritual and moral, cultural, etc. domination through repression with the help of public authorities and military force.”
ethnic conflicts
A prominent place in modern life is occupied by national-ethnic conflicts - conflicts based on the struggle for the rights and interests of ethnic and national groups. Most often they are associated with status or territorial claims. The experience of the USSR, Yugoslavia, and Czechoslovakia testifies that fixing a certain territory to a minority ethnic group, as a rule, is fraught with the separation of this territory.
There are hundreds of such conflicts in the world in various countries: England - Northern Ireland, France - Corsica, Spain - Basques, Turkey - Kurds, Greece / Turkey - Cyprus. Also in the post-Soviet space there are such conflicts: Georgia-Abkhazia, Moldova-Transnistria, Armenia/Azerbaijan-Nagorno-Karabakh, Tajikistan/Uzbekistan-Afghanistan, etc. A great example is the Yugoslav crisis.
Over the past two centuries, the Balkans have firmly held the title of one of the most unstable regions on the planet. On the territory of this peninsula, the fire of national enmity is constantly glowing.
The Balkans is an unusual hot spot on the planet, where there are constant inter-ethnic conflicts, but a region where the interests of almost all the major powers and ethnic formations of the Earth have converged, including such distant ones as China and India, and, of course, the United States.
But to understand the essence of this conflict, we must turn to the history of its origin.
After the defeat of Austria-Hungary in the First World War, Italy, which fought on the side of the Entente, demanded the return of its historical region of Dalmatia, where a significant part of the population were Croats. Not wanting to cede this territory, the Croats united with the Serbs related in language into a single state, later called Yugoslavia.
Great attention has always been paid to federal relations in socialist Yugoslavia. The leadership of the country was especially sensitive to 25 ethnic groups, national minorities. After the Second World War, Kosovo received the status of a national region within Serbia. But already in 1963. Kosovo becomes an autonomous province. Constitution of 1974 endowed the region with such broad powers that it actually became an independent subject of the federation. Representatives of Kosovo were members of the country's collective governing body - the presidium SFRY 1 . The autonomous region had equal rights with other republics, except for one thing - it could not secede from Serbia. Kosovo has been trying for many years to achieve the status of a republic, dreaming of creating a unified Albanian state. According to some reports, Albanians make up 77% of the total population, and Serbs - 13%.
In the SFRY, nationalist activity in the province of Kosovo began immediately after the war and did not stop for a day. Underground organizations inside the country were supported by Albanian organizations around the world, such as the "Union Kosovars 2" (Rome, Turkey), "Prizren League" (USA, Turkey, Australia, Canada, France, Belgium, Germany). In 1981 an uprising broke out in Kosovo for a whole decade, intensifying tensions within Serbia, exacerbating inter-republican relations in the country. Rallies and demonstrations were held under the slogans “Kosovo is a republic”, “Kosovo is for Kosovars”, “We are Albanians, not Yugoslavs”. The intensification of the street struggle was accompanied by the intensification of activities to turn Kosovo into an "ethnic clean" region. The nationalists used different methods, up to the threat of physical extermination of the Serbs, Montenegrins and peace-loving Albanians. According to the newspapers, the Serbian population had decreased by 1991. from 13% to 10%.
The authorities used different methods of struggle: martial law and a curfew were introduced; new economic programs were developed to solve the “problems of Kosovo”, which included overcoming the isolation of the region, changing its economic structure, strengthening the material basis of self-government; political attempts were made to form unity on a class, not a national basis. However, it was not possible to achieve a positive result. In Serbia, a campaign was launched for the legal, territorial and administrative unity of the republic, for the reduction of the rights of autonomous regions. The threat to say goodbye to the dreams of a republic brought to the streets of Pristina, the capital of the region, in January 1990. 40 thousand Albanians. Angry, protesting, ready to fight for their rights, they were a threat to the stability of Serbia and even Yugoslavia. This came at a time when inconclusive disputes over the future of the federation allowed Slovenia and Croatia to talk openly about independence. Everything happened against the backdrop of a crisis that engulfed all spheres of life and power structures. The military units and police forces brought into the province tried to keep order in Kosovo by force. This resulted in clashes and casualties. Hurrying events, the Albanian deputies of the Assembly 3 proclaimed Kosovo a republic. In response, the Assembly of Serbia dissolved the Assembly of Kosovo, justifying this by lawlessness and violation of order prevailing in the province. But these measures only exacerbated the situation.
Adopted in 1990 The Serbian constitution reduced the legal status of the region to territorial and cultural autonomy, depriving it of all elements of statehood. As a sign of protest, the Albanians started a campaign of civil disobedience: parallel power structures were created, Albanian teachers refused to follow the new school curriculum and began to teach under the Albanian school curriculum in the underground. As a result, the whole region was divided into two parallel societies - Albanian and Serbian. Each had its own power, its own economy, its own enlightenment and culture. The official economy was undoubtedly dominated by the Albanians, using private firms and private capital. In the political structure, only Serbs were represented, because. Albanians boycotted the elections. In September 1991 the Albanians held a referendum on the independence of Kosovo and the creation of an independent republic, and all voted "FOR".
May 24, 1992 presidential and parliamentary elections were held, the Serbs did not participate, and the Albanians elected Ibrahim Rugova as president.
Summer 1991 Yugoslavia began to fall apart. Slovenia, Croatia, Bosnia and Herzegovina, and Macedonia came out of it and proclaimed their independence. Serbia and Montenegro remained part of Yugoslavia. At the time of the secession of Croatia, Bosnia and Herzegovina, the Serbs living there declared their desire to stand out from them and join Serbia. The conflict took on an armed character. During the conflict, "ethnic cleansing" was carried out, eviction from the occupied territories of other peoples. By the beginning of 1993 More than 160,000 people died in this conflict. Human. In Europe, it was the first bloodiest conflict since World War II.
A large number of people accumulated in the cities, replenishing the army of the unemployed. If some went to work abroad, others stayed at home and waited for handouts. The army of unemployed grew. In 1988, it numbered over 1 million people (in Belgrade - about 200 thousand). The authorities decided to send the unemployed to Kosovo, where, despite the high population growth, there were enough jobs. Kosovo Albanians were not going to open their society to Serbs to please Western scientists, and unemployed Serbs were not very eager to get a job, especially in an explosive region. Ethnic clashes broke out again in Kosovo. Or rather, the unrest has increased significantly, because. inter-ethnic tension in the region has not subsided since the death of Tito 4 in 1981. All this time, the Albanians were pushing the Serbs out of Kosovo using physical violence or psychological pressure. The Serbs were constantly made to understand that they were not needed here. From 1981 to 1988 about 30,000 Serbs left Kosovo. And in 1990, this figure rose to 50,000. In total, 140,000 people of non-Albanian nationality left Kosovo during the post-war period. Along with the displacement of the Serbs, the ethnic expansion of the Albanians began in other republics. Their enclaves appeared in neighboring Macedonia, in Belgrade and a number of regions in Serbia. Feeling their own strength, the Albanians and Bosnian Muslims more and more insistently imposed their own rules on new territories and demanded independence more and more loudly. In turn, the Serbs, gaining more and more significant weight in the punitive organs, periodically carried out repressions against Albanians and Bosnians. The situation was complicated by the fact that the Serbs in conflicts often changed their anger to mercy and vice versa, which caused additional irritation among the Albanians. Albanians, like other Muslims, are initially reluctant to go to conflict, but if it breaks out, they are much more difficult to stop than the Serbs.
So the forcible retention of Bosnians and Albanians with less passionate ethnic groups in a single state caused a redistribution of forces and led to the formation of new centers of separatism in Yugoslavia.
Against the backdrop of the Muslim problem, relations between Serbs and Croats continued to deteriorate. Under the influence of the growing national strife, the Serbian communists took a very tough stance towards the non-Serbian peoples. The leader of the Serb movement was Slobodan Milosevic, who later became president.
Based on the fact that Kosovo is the cradle of Serbian culture, Slobodan Milosevic proclaims the region in 1987 as exclusively Serbian, not Albanian territory. And this happened despite the fact that the population of Kosovo were ethnic Albanians. In 1989, the Serbian parliament abolished Kosovo's autonomy.
In 1990, the country was sliding closer and closer to war. In 1991, Croatia and Slovenia declared independence from Yugoslavia, and the formation of Albanian military units began in Kosovo. Despite the fact that the world community did not recognize the self-proclaimed republics and achieved the establishment of a 3-month moratorium on the declaration of independence, the situation developed like an avalanche. Fighting began. The Serbian fleet fired on the Croatian port of Zadar, and the ground forces blocked another port, Dubrovnik. At the next stage in the development of the conflict, a war broke out between Serbia and Croatia for Eastern Slavonia, a part of Croatia inhabited by ethnic Serbs. The Yugoslav army, which consisted mainly of Serbs, won a landslide victory, but could not maintain the unity of the country, Yugoslavia fell apart.
Unfortunately, not only the leaders of the newly formed states, but also the world community did not draw the necessary conclusions from this tragedy. The main responsibility for the collapse was again placed on the general crisis of the international socialist system, which began to disintegrate due to interethnic conflicts and the economic crisis.
Since the Serbs sought to create a Greater Serbia, the Croats a Greater Croatia, and the Muslims an Islamic State, the war promised to be stubborn and bloody.
The fighting began in 1992 with Serbian troops besieging Muslim enclaves in Sarajevo and other cities in Bosnia. In response, the UN, under pressure from the United States on anti-Serb positions, announced sanctions against Yugoslavia.
But the US and NATO were not going to take into account all of the above and decided to resolve the conflict at their own discretion. The Serbs were subjected to massive bombardments. Taking advantage of this, the Croatian army went on the offensive and occupied Eastern Slavonia. Serbia capitulated. By the number of people who left the country, Yugoslavia took 1st place in the world - over 2 million refugees.
The economy of the region suffered greatly, the GNP of Croatia decreased in 1993 compared to the previous year by 3.7%, in Yugoslavia - by 27.7%, in Macedonia - by 15%. In Bosnia and Herzegovina, the ratio of GNP per capita by the end of the war was US$500, while in 1990 it was this figure was 1900 US dollars. High inflation rates were observed in all republics except Slovenia.
The catastrophe that broke out in the 20th century in the Balkans is not an accident, although it was not programmed by the processes of the ethnogenesis of the Balkan peoples. The wrong approaches to solving the Balkan problem, used both by the Balkan peoples themselves and by the parties concerned, led to a sad result.
Not a small part of the responsibility for the situation in the Balkans rests not only with the great powers, but also with international organizations, including the UN, which actually gave the initiative to resolve the conflict into the hands of NATO. In addition, none of the international organizations takes into account the fact that almost all the Balkan peoples, with the exception of Albanians and Bosnians, are ethnic fragments that are no longer able to regulate relations with each other in such a world full of contacts.
The situation in the Balkans is further complicated by the fact that the problem is in a neglected state. The moments when it could have been solved relatively painlessly turned out to be missed. Earlier it was reported that if, after the First World War, the Slavic peoples had not agreed to the formation of Yugoslavia, and Serbia would not have given all of Kosovo, then the formation of a chimera could have been avoided. During the division of Yugoslavia, again different superethnoi 5 found themselves in one state formation. Now the UN is in a dilemma. If we start redistribution, then whether it will cause an outbreak of separatism in other parts of the planet. If everything is left as is, i.e. to drive the warring parties back into a single enclave, even with the widest autonomy, then where is the guarantee that after a while a new conflict will not arise.
The events that took place after the surrender of Serbia, when the Albanians, embittered by the repressions, began to massacre the Serbs and drive them from the lands under the cover of NATO troops, confirmed such fears. In addition, there is a danger of a conflict between NATO troops and Albanians if the former try to protect the Serbs or begin to instill their own ideas about life in Kosovars.
The Serbs have driven themselves into a very difficult situation. Kosovo is likely to be taken away from them. But even the remaining remnant of the former Yugoslavia is not ethnically homogeneous. Montenegrins have distanced themselves from the Serbs and are ready to secede. There is no unity in the Serbian ethnos itself. It is not known how the inhabitants of multinational Vojvodina will behave. That's when the mistakes of Serbian politicians, who were going to create Great Serbia at any cost, were clearly revealed.
And the Chechen crisis also had a conflict of this nature.
In 1991 The USSR broke up into many separate states, first the youngest members left the union - the Baltic countries, then the countries of Central Asia. Nowadays, there is a real threat of Russia's disintegration into separate independent states, as which not only some national-territorial, but also administrative-territorial entities are not averse to proclaiming themselves.
It should also be taken into account that each of the historically established territorial communities has a special regional self-consciousness. This is sometimes reflected in the practice of opposing oneself to other regions and peoples with local patriotism and preferences.
Under the influence of constant dissatisfaction with their own national status, a significant part of society has formed an attitude to active actions in a conflict situation on the side of their national group.
This was clearly manifested in the North Caucasus, especially in the Ossetian-Ingush conflict, when, as a result of the actions of national extremist elements, blood was shed, there were casualties and destruction on both sides, refugees and hostages appeared. In a difficult situation, the Russian authorities were forced to use force to create the necessary conditions in order to localize the conflict and overcome it. But this forced step increased the negative attitude towards the Center, the growth of anti-Russian sentiments.
Among the reasons leading to ethnic strife are spatial claims and the unfolding struggle for the redistribution of territory, inspired by national movements, sometimes becoming clearly nationalist as they become radicalized. Even if most of them do not enjoy broad support, it is possible that with further deterioration of socio-economic conditions and the deepening of the crisis, it will increase sharply.
This war is an integral link in the chain of armed conflicts and wars taking place in Azerbaijan, Armenia, Georgia, Moldova, Tajikistan and generated by the purposeful incitement of aggressive nationalism, the coming to power of social groups, parties and politicians who relied on violence to solve urgent problems.
The military-police operation to eliminate the criminal regime of Dudayev, disarm and detain the bandits unexpectedly turned into a war. The presence of a well-trained army in Chechnya came as a surprise to the military-political leadership of Russia.
The Chechen armed forces, including the army, the troops of the Ministry of Internal Affairs and the department of state security, the militia, self-defense units and personal protection of high-ranking officials, by the beginning of the events had 13 thousand people. There were another 2,500 volunteers and mercenaries in the republic, mainly from neighboring regions of Russia and the CIS countries. A lot of weapons and ammunition were also accumulated here. In general, the armed formations were well armed and prepared.
Apparently, our politicians and generals were surprised by the protest of the population of Chechnya against the introduction of Russian troops. Most of the population (up to 80-90% of the population) perceived the introduction of Russian troops as an invasion by a hostile army, seeking to subdue the people, take away their freedom and natural wealth, and force them to live by alien rules. One can reproach the Chechens for disobedience, speaking out against their own interests. But international law recognizes the legitimacy of such actions, when people take up arms, defending their freedom and interests.
The protest and resentment of the Chechens, their desire to protect sacred values was multiplied by feelings of indignation, anger, revenge for the thousands of innocently killed, tens of thousands of wounded and the devastated lives of hundreds of thousands of civilians, as well as for the destruction of Grozny and other settlements. Both the "deportation syndrome of 1944" and the historical and psychological characteristics of the Chechen people worked in Chechnya. Hence the stubbornness of the military and non-military resistance of Chechnya.
The Kremlin authorities initially expected spectacular, victorious actions of the Russian troops. After all, significant forces in terms of numbers and equipment were drawn to Chechnya - armored, artillery-rocket, motorized rifle, airborne, as well as units and subunits of the Ministry of Internal Affairs, special forces, OMON, etc. In addition, Russian generals could use aviation, heavy assault equipment. According to the foreign press, the grouping of Russian troops involved in operations in Chechnya reached 35-40 thousand people by the beginning of the operation, i.e. three times superior to the armed forces of Chechnya. As difficulties and setbacks grew, the Russian leadership continuously increased the grouping of troops in Chechnya at the expense of units and subunits not only from the nearest military districts, but also from the Ural, Siberian, Far Eastern, as well as from the Pacific, Northern and Baltic fleets. The war required the participation of practically all branches of the Russian Armed Forces, except for the strategic missile forces. According to unspecified data, up to 100-120 thousand people participated in the war on both sides. The fighting took on an exceptionally fierce character.
The course of the armed struggle in December 1994. in the first half of January 1995 was accompanied by a series of failures for the Russian troops, and the night assault on Grozny on New Year's Eve became a military disaster. According to foreign data, most of the 250 armored vehicles were destroyed, hundreds of Russian servicemen died, many were captured.
The failures of the combat operations of the Russian troops are largely due to the fact that they were faced with such tasks, the solution of which is not characteristic of the army. The state was unable to organize the logistical, political, moral, information and other support for the troops. The generals were unable to convince the country's leadership that a military-police operation takes time to prepare troops for combat operations in special conditions, select the most trained military personnel for this, work out and coordinate the actions of the command and control units and formations participating in this operation.
In the escalation of 6 hostilities, three stages were revealed.
First- the concentration of the efforts of the parties in the struggle for Grozny with episodic outbursts of skirmishes on communications, as well as at other large settlements.
Second- the continuation of the struggle for Grozny, the spread of actions throughout the entire territory of the republic, the preparation by the troops of conditions for the continuation of operations and battles after the capture of Grozny by Russian troops.
Third- shifting the center of gravity of hostilities to the space of mountains, river valleys, gorges, large and small villages, to the lines of strategic energy and energy transmission systems, communications, life support infrastructures for troops, etc.
Of course, Russia, possessing incomparably greater human, material, financial and military capabilities, can, while maintaining political stability and non-intervention of other countries, achieve its goals and assert its dominant position by force.
Currently, the fighting in Chechnya has subsided. Life is returning to normal, but Russia is facing even more brutal resistance from the Chechen people - terrorism, which claims a large number of lives not only in Russia, but throughout the world. In 2003, more than 5 terrorist acts were recorded in Russia, and the most famous of them was Nord Ost, which claimed more than 100 lives.
Ways to resolve ethnic conflicts
Throughout its history, humanity has accumulated considerable experience in non-violent conflict resolution. However, only from the second half of the 20th century, when it became obvious that conflicts are a real threat to the survival of mankind, an independent field of scientific research began to take shape in the world, one of the main subjects of which is the prevention of open, armed forms of manifestation of conflicts, their settlement or settlement, as well as resolution of conflicts by peaceful means.
There are modern political situations that require consideration of inter-ethnic or inter-religious conflicts that arise within a particular country in unity with international conflicts. There are several reasons why this perspective is necessary.
Firstly, the conflict, having arisen as an internal one, sometimes develops into an international one due to the involvement of a wider range of participants and going beyond the borders of the state. Many regional and local conflicts of the second half of the 20th century (suffice it to recall Vietnam and Afghanistan) can serve as examples of the expansion of the conflict through new participants, when the intervention of such major powers as the USA and the USSR turned them into a serious international problem. However, new participants may be involved in the conflict involuntarily, for example, due to the influx of a huge number of refugees to them. This problem was faced, in particular, by European countries during the Yugoslav conflict. Another option for involving other countries in an internal conflict is possible if the conflict remains internal, but, for example, citizens of other states turn out to be in it as hostages or victims. Then the conflict takes on an international dimension.
Secondly, a conflict from an internal one can become an international one as a result of the country's disintegration. The development of the conflict in Nagorno-Karabakh shows how this is happening. At the time of its emergence in the Soviet Union, this conflict was internal. Its essence was to determine the status of Nagorno-Karabakh, which was part of the territory of Azerbaijan, but the majority of the population of which were Armenians. After the collapse of the USSR and the formation of independent states in its place - Armenia and Azerbaijan - the conflict in Nagorno-Karabakh turned into a conflict between two states, i.e. international.
Third, involvement in the process of resolving internal conflicts of mediators from third countries, as well as mediators acting on behalf of an international organization or in their personal capacity (i.e., not representing any particular country or organization), is becoming the norm in the modern world. An example is the conflict in Chechnya, in which representatives of the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe (OSCE) acted as a mediator. The involvement of international mediators can also lead to the fact that the distinctions between internal and international conflicts become less and less clear, and the boundaries between these two types of conflicts are blurred, i.e. conflicts are internationalized.
Conclusion
The reason for the emergence of an ethnic conflict may be an encroachment on the territory of residence of an ethnic group, the desire of ethnic groups to get out from under the “imperial hoop” and create independent territorial-state formations.
The struggle for natural resources, priorities in labor activity, social guarantees - all this causes ethnic clashes, which later develop into a large-scale conflict.
Forecasting, preventing and resolving ethnic conflicts is an important task of modern science. The regulation of conflicts on an ethnic basis, the search for mutual understanding of the parties is hampered by a number of factors, which include the following:
Conflicting ethnic groups differ significantly in cultural characteristics (language, religion, way of life);
The conflicting ethnic groups differ significantly in socio-political status;
In the territory of residence of one of the ethnic groups, the situation changes significantly in a historically short period of time.
The presence of external forces in relation to the conflicting parties, interested in the continuation of the conflict;
The conflicting parties have formed stable negative stereotypes towards each other.
But, despite this, science and the public are finding ways to regulate ethnic conflicts, and in today's time, when the majority of Russians are still afraid of the collapse of the Russian state as a result of ethnic conflicts, this is very significant.
Conflicts are not similar to each other and, therefore, an unambiguous way to resolve different conflicts in different parts of the world cannot be resolved using only one and the same method. The conflict depends on two components: the circumstances and the conflicting parties. Therefore, the resolution of this conflict must be sought precisely in these two factors.
If we summarize the main ways to eliminate the contradictions underlying the conflict, then they can be the following:
elimination of the object of the conflict;
division of the object of the conflict between the parties;
establishing a priority or other rules for the mutual use of an object;
compensation of one of the parties for the transfer of the object to the other party;
separation of the parties to the conflict;
transferring the relations of the parties to another plane, which implies the identification of their common interest, etc.
Conflict is never static. It is constantly evolving in virtually all respects. The very fact of development, change of the conflict opens up opportunities for its settlement. It is precisely because of the emergence of new aspects in the relations between the parties to the conflict that they can come to an agreement that seemed impossible just yesterday. Thus, if the conflict is not resolved at this particular moment, this does not mean that it cannot be resolved at all. The essence of the settlement lies precisely in changing the situation and making it possible to find a peaceful and mutually acceptable solution.
Long-term ethnic conflicts with deep historical roots rather require technologies developed within the framework of “peacebuilding” 7 .
The twentieth century did not provide a universal recipe for resolving such conflicts. The only thing that has become obvious is that these conflicts have no solution unless an agreement is reached between the direct parties to the conflict. The third party can act either as an intermediary or as a guarantor. And the condition for the peaceful transformation of the conflict can only be the renunciation of the use of force, precisely because, in the end, a readiness to eliminate hatred between the conflicting parties is needed.
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Zdravomyslov A.G. "The Sociology of Conflict". Moscow: Aspect Press, 1996
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Kreder A.A. "Recent history of the 20th century." Part 2 - M .: TsGO, 1995.
Avksentiev A.V., Avksentiev V.A. "Ethnic problems of modernity and the culture of interethnic communication". (Tutorial under the editorship of Prof. V.A. Shapovalov). Stavropol, 1993.
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1 SFRY- Socialist Federal Republic of Yugoslavia.
2 Kosovars- Kosovo Albanians.
3 Assembly- elected representative bodies of state power in Yugoslavia.
4 Tito Josip is a leader of the Yugoslav and international communist movement, since 1953 he has been the president of Yugoslavia.
AND ethnic conflicts(ethnocentrism as a reason ethnic conflicts; ethnocentrism as a catalyzing factor; ethnocentrism as a product ethnic conflicts ...
Conflicts in Russian society (2)
Abstract >> Ethics...) a certain reorientation of the ways and methods of regulation ethnic conflicts. Not the ethnopolitical situation in Russia itself ... acute internal conflict in understanding oneself as a certain national ethnic community, revealing...
Kochergina V.I., history.
The problem of interethnic conflicts in the history of mankind.
The concept of interethnic conflict
Science has accumulated many definitions of this phenomenon, considered as part of the conflict in general. Ethnic conflict accompanies humanity throughout a long historical period full of violent actions, destruction, wars and global catastrophes. Interethnic conflict - a conflict between representatives of ethnic communities, usually living in close proximity in any state. Since "nationality" in Russian usually means the same as "ethnicity", it is sometimes called an interethnic conflict.
In conflict situations, the contradictions that exist between communities of people consolidated on an ethnic basis are exposed. Not every conflict involves the entire ethnic group, it can be part of it, a group that feels or even realizes the contradictions leading to the conflict. In essence, conflict is a way to resolve contradictions, problems, and they can be very different.
A. Yamskov defines an ethnic conflict through a description of collective actions: “An ethnic conflict is a dynamically changing socio-political situation generated by the rejection of the previously established status quo by a significant part of the representatives of one (several) of the local ethnic groups and manifested in the form of at least one of the following actions of members of this group:
a) the beginning of ethno-selective emigration from the region;
b) the creation of political organizations declaring the need to change the existing situation in the interests of the specified ethnic group...;
c) spontaneous protests against the infringement of their interests by representatives of another local ethnic group.
Ethnic conflict is the moment of culmination of inter-ethnic contradictions, taking on the character of an open confrontation. The psychological dictionary gives, for example, the following definition: "Ethnic conflict is a form of intergroup conflict when groups with conflicting interests are polarized along ethnic lines."
From the history of world conflicts
Turning to history, we see that during the existence of nations and nationalities, relations between them were often tense and even tragic. Thus, the discovery of America by Columbus was accompanied by a gigantic scale robbery and destruction of its indigenous inhabitants - the Indians. The Russian lands experienced the blows of the Mongol nomads, German knights, and Polish invaders. Already in the XX century. two world wars took place, during which individual nations and nationalities were mercilessly destroyed or subjected to the most severe oppression. Thus, the movements associated with the ideas of nationalism played an important role in the anti-colonial struggle of the peoples of Africa and Asia. However, as historical experience, especially of the 20th century, testifies, nationalism is increasingly turning from an ideology and policy of struggle against national oppression into a statement in word and deed of the superiority and even exclusivity of "one's own" nation. The policy of nationalism found its extreme expression in countries with a fascist regime. The misanthropic idea of eradicating "inferior" races and peoples resulted in the practice of genocide - the extermination of entire groups of the population along ethnic lines.
It is known from the course of history that Hitler, having come to power in Germany in 1933, made the extermination of the Jewish population part of the state policy. Since that time and during the Second World War, about 6 million people were shot, burned and destroyed in special death camps (Treblinka, Auschwitz, etc.) - almost half of the entire Jewish people. This greatest tragedy is now called the Greek word "holocaust", which means "all destruction through burning." The Nazis also included the Slavic peoples among the "inferior" ones, planning the colonization of the "eastern space" with a simultaneous reduction in the number of the population living there and turning the remaining ones into labor force for the "superior race".
According to experts, no nation is immune from manifestations of nationalism and chauvinism. Within each nation there are groups that are interested in asserting special privileges for their nation and in doing so grossly violate the principles of justice, equality of rights, and the sovereignty of others.
During the Second World War in the USSR, Crimean Tatars, Volga Germans, Kalmyks, and some peoples of the North Caucasus were evicted from the territories where they previously lived and resettled in remote places.
The collapse of the USSR, based on official agreements between the political elites of the national republics, intensified the spread of inter-ethnic conflicts. In the post-Soviet space, clashes between ethnic groups took place in Transnistria, Crimea, Abkhazia, South Ossetia, Nagorno-Karabakh, Tajikistan, and Chechnya.
Thinkers and progressive politicians are strenuously searching for ways out of numerous contemporary ethnic crises. The advanced part of the world community has realized and recognized the value of a humanistic approach to ethnic problems. Its essence is, firstly, in the voluntary search for consent (consensus), in the rejection of national violence in all its forms and forms, and secondly, in the consistent development of democracy, legal principles in the life of society. Ensuring the rights and freedoms of the individual, regardless of nationality, is a condition for the freedom of any people.
Causes of conflicts
In world conflictology there is no single conceptual approach to the causes of interethnic conflicts. There are many reasons for this, and they should be sought not only in the economic crisis, the decline in production, rising inflation, prices, unemployment, a sharp deterioration in the environmental situation, anti-democratic laws, etc. The suppression of the nation (infringement of the rights of people according to national grounds, persecution of national religion, culture, language) or belittling it, neglecting national feelings. Meanwhile, national feelings are very vulnerable. According to the observations of psychologists, manifestations of national violence cause in people a state of deep pessimism, despair, hopelessness. Consciously or unconsciously, they seek support in a nationally close environment, believing that it is in it that they will find peace of mind and protection. The nation, as it were, withdraws into itself, isolates itself, closes itself. History shows that in such cases, often there is a desire to find the culprit in all troubles. And since their true, underlying causes often remain hidden from the mass consciousness, the main culprit is most often called people of a different nationality living in a given or neighboring territory, or "ours", but "traitors", "reborn". The "image of the enemy" is gradually taking shape. "is a most dangerous social phenomenon. Nationalist ideology can also become a destructive force. Nationalism, as you know from the course of history, manifests its socio-political orientation in different ways.
Researchers based on collective action focus on the responsibility of elites fighting with the help of mobilization around the ideas put forward by them for power and resources. In more modernized societies, intellectuals with professional training became members of the elite, in traditional societies, birth, belonging to an ulus, etc., mattered. Obviously, the elites are primarily responsible for creating the "image of the enemy", ideas about the compatibility or incompatibility of the values of ethnic groups, the ideology of peace or enmity. In situations of tension, ideas are created about the features of the peoples that impede communication of the "messiahism" of the Russians, the "inherited militancy" of the Chechens, as well as the hierarchy of peoples with whom one can or cannot "deal".
The concept of "clash of civilizations" by S. Huntington enjoys great influence in the West. It explains modern conflicts, in particular recent acts of international terrorism, by confessional differences. In Islamic, Confucian, Buddhist and Orthodox cultures, the ideas of Western civilization - liberalism, equality, legality, human rights, the market, democracy, separation of church and state, etc. - do not seem to find a response.
Also known is the theory of the ethnic border, understood as a subjectively perceived and experienced distance in the context of interethnic relations. (P.P. Kushner, M.M. Bakhtin). The ethnic boundary is defined by markers - cultural characteristics that are of paramount importance for a given ethnic group. Their meaning and set may change. Ethnosociological studies of the 80s-90s. showed that markers can be not only values formed on a cultural basis, but also political ideas that focus on ethnic solidarity. Consequently, the ethno-cultural delimiter (such as the language of the titular nationality, the knowledge or ignorance of which affects the mobility and even the career of people) is replaced by access to power. From here, a struggle for a majority in representative bodies of power and all the further aggravations of the situation that follow from this can begin.
Typology of conflicts
One of the most complete options for the typology of interethnic conflicts was proposed by J. Etinger:
1. Territorial conflicts, often closely related to the reunification of ethnic groups fragmented in the past. Their source is an internal, political, and often armed clash between the government in power and some national liberation movement or one or another irredentist and separatist group that enjoys the political and military support of a neighboring state. A classic example is the situation in Nagorno-Karabakh and partly in South Ossetia;
2. Conflicts generated by the desire of an ethnic minority to realize the right to self-determination in the form of creating an independent state entity. Such is the situation in Abkhazia, partly in Transnistria;
3. Conflicts related to the restoration of the territorial rights of the deported peoples. The dispute between the Ossetians and the Ingush over the ownership of the Prigorodny District is a clear evidence of this;
4. Conflicts based on the claims of one state or another to part of the territory of a neighboring state. For example, the desire of Estonia and Latvia to annex a number of regions of the Pskov region, which, as you know, were included in these two states when they declared their independence, and in the 40s passed to the RSFSR;
5. Conflicts, the sources of which are the consequences of arbitrary territorial changes carried out during the Soviet period. First of all, this is the problem of the Crimea and, potentially, a territorial settlement in Central Asia;
6. Conflicts as a result of clashes of economic interests, when the interests of the ruling political elites, who are dissatisfied with their share in the nationwide federal "pie", are behind the national contradictions that come to the surface. It seems that it is these circumstances that determine the relationship between Grozny and Moscow, Kazan and Moscow;
7. Conflicts based on factors of a historical nature, due to the traditions of many years of national liberation struggle against the mother country. For example, the confrontation between the Confederation of the Peoples of the Caucasus and the Russian authorities:
8. Conflicts generated by the long-term stay of deported peoples in the territories of other republics. These are the problems of Meskhetian Turks in Uzbekistan, Chechens in Kazakhstan;
9. Conflicts in which linguistic disputes (what language should be the state language and what should be the status of other languages) often hide deep disagreements between different national communities, as happens, for example, in Moldova, Kazakhstan.
Interethnic conflicts in the Western world
Ignoring the ethnic factor would be a big mistake in prosperous states, even in North America and Western Europe. Thus, as a result of the 1995 referendum among French Canadians, Canada almost split into two states, and consequently into two nations. Great Britain can serve as an example, where the process of institutionalization of the Scottish, Ulster and Welsh autonomies and their transformation into subnations is taking place. In Belgium, the actual emergence of two sub-nations based on the Walloon and Flemish ethnic groups is also observed. Even in prosperous France, everything is not as calm in ethno-national terms as it seems at first glance. It is not only about the relationship between the French, on the one hand, and the Corsicans, Bretons, Alsatians and Basques, on the other, but also about not so unsuccessful attempts to revive the Provencal language and identity, despite the centuries-old tradition of assimilation of the latter.
And in the United States, cultural anthropologists record how, literally before our very eyes, the once united American nation begins to divide into a number of regional ethno-cultural blocks - embryonic ethnic groups. This appears not only in a language that exhibits a division into several dialects, but also in a self-consciousness that acquires different features in different groups of Americans. Even the rewriting of history is recorded - in different ways in different regions of the United States, which is an indicator of the process of creating regional national myths. Scientists predict that the United States will eventually face the problem of resolving ethno-national division, as happened in Russia.
A peculiar situation is developing in Switzerland, where four ethnic groups coexist on an equal footing: German Swiss, Italian Swiss, French Swiss and Romansh. The last ethnos, being the weakest one, in modern conditions lends itself to assimilation by others, and it is difficult to predict what the reaction to this will be of its ethnically conscious part, especially the intelligentsia.
Examples are: Ulster conflict, Cyprus conflict, conflicts in the Balkans.
Conflicts in the Balkans
There are several cultural regions and types of civilization on the Balkan Peninsula. The following are highlighted: Byzantine-Orthodox in the east, Latin Catholic in the west, and Asian-Islamic in the central and southern regions. Interethnic relations here are so confused that it is difficult to expect a complete settlement of conflicts in the coming decades.
When creating the Socialist Federal Republic of Yugoslavia, which consisted of six republics, the main criterion for their formation was the ethnic composition of the population. This most important factor was subsequently used by the ideologists of national movements and contributed to the collapse of the federation. In Bosnia and Herzegovina, Muslim Bosniaks made up 43.7% of the population, Serbs 31.4%, Croats 17.3%. 61.5% of Montenegrins lived in Montenegro, 77.9% were Croats in Croatia, 65.8% were Serbs in Serbia, these are with autonomous regions: Vojvodina, Kosovo and Metohija. Without them, in Serbia, Serbs accounted for 87.3%. In Slovenia, Slovenes make up 87.6%. Thus, representatives of ethnic groups of other titular nationalities, as well as a significant number of Hungarians, Turks, Italians, Bulgarians, Greeks, Gypsies and Romanians, also lived in each of the republics.
Another important factor is confessional, and the religiosity of the population is determined here by ethnic origin. Serbs, Montenegrins, Macedonians are Orthodox groups. However, there are also Catholics among the Serbs. Catholics are Croats and Slovenes. An interesting confessional section is in Bosnia and Herzegovina, where Catholic Croats live, Orthodox Serbs and Muslim Slavs. There are also Protestants - these are national groups of Czechs, Germans, Hungarians, Slovaks. There are also Jewish communities in the country. A significant number of inhabitants (Albanians, Muslim Slavs) profess Islam.
The linguistic factor also played an important role. About 70% of the population of the former Yugoslavia spoke Serbo-Croatian or, as they say, Croatian-Serbian. These are primarily Serbs, Croats, Montenegrins, Muslims. However, it was not a single state language; there was no single state language in the country at all. The exception was the army, where office work was conducted in Serbo-Croatian
(based on Latin graphics), commands were also given in this language.
The country's constitution emphasized the equality of languages, and even during elections
bulletins were printed in 2-3-4-5 languages. There were Albanian schools, as well as Hungarian, Turkish, Romanian, Bulgarian, Slovak, Czech and even Ukrainian ones. Books and magazines were published. However, in recent decades the language has become the subject of political speculation.
The economic factor must also be taken into account. Bosnia and Herzegovina, Macedonia, Montenegro and the autonomous province of Kosovo lagged behind Serbia in economic development. This led to differences in the income of various national groups and increased the contradictions between them. The economic crisis, years of unemployment, severe inflation, devaluation of the dinar intensified the centrifugal tendencies in the country, especially in the early 80s.
There are several dozen more reasons for the collapse of the Yugoslav state, but after the parliamentary elections in 1990-1991. hostilities began in Slovenia and Croatia in June 1991, and in April 1992 a civil war broke out in Bosnia and Herzegovina. It was accompanied by ethnic cleansing, the creation of concentration camps, and robberies. To date, the "peacekeepers" have achieved an end to open fighting, but the situation in the Balkans today remains complex and explosive.
Another hotbed of tension arose in the province of Kosovo and Metohija - on the original Serbian lands, the cradle of Serbian history and culture, where, due to historical conditions, demographic, migration processes, the dominant population is Albanians (90 - 95%), who claim to separate from Serbia and create independent state. The situation for the Serbs is aggravated by the fact that the region borders on Albania and Albanian-populated regions of Macedonia. In the same Macedonia, there is a problem of relations with Greece, which protests against the name of the republic, considering it illegal to assign a name to the state that coincides with the name of one of the regions of Greece. Bulgaria has claims to Macedonia because of the status of the Macedonian language, considering it as a dialect of Bulgarian.
Serb-Croatian relations are aggravated. This is due to the position of the Serbs in
Croatia. The Serbs, forced to stay in Croatia, change their nationality, surnames, accept Catholicism. Dismissal from work based on ethnicity is becoming commonplace, and there is increasing talk of "Great Serbian nationalism" in the Balkans. According to various sources, from 250 to 350 thousand people were forced to leave Kosovo. In 2000 alone, about a thousand people were killed there, hundreds were wounded and missing.
Interethnic conflicts in the countries of the "third world"
With a population of 120 million, Nigeria is home to over 200 ethnic groups, each with its own language. English remains the official language in the country. After the civil war 1967-1970. national strife remained one of the most dangerous diseases in Nigeria, as, indeed, in all of Africa. It blew up many states of the continent from within. In Nigeria, even today there are ethnic clashes between the Yoruba people from the southern part of the country, Christians, Hauss, Muslims from the north. Given the economic and political backwardness of the state (the entire history of Nigeria after gaining political independence in 1960 is an alternation of military coups and civilian rule), the consequences of constantly flaring conflicts can be unpredictable. So, in just 3 days (October 15-18, 2000) in the economic capital of Nigeria, Lagos, more than a hundred people died during interethnic clashes. About 20 thousand residents of the city left their homes in search of shelter.
Unfortunately, racial conflicts between representatives of "white" (Arab) and "black" Africa are also a harsh reality. In the same 2000, a wave of pogroms broke out in Libya, resulting in hundreds of victims. About 15 thousand black Africans left their country, which is quite prosperous by African standards. Another fact is that the initiative of the Cairo government to create a colony of Egyptian peasants in Somalia was met with hostility by the Somalis and was accompanied by anti-Egyptian speeches, although such settlements would greatly boost the Somali economy.
Conflicts in the Near and Middle East
The most striking example of a conflict is the situation in Lebanon. Lebanon is a unique country in terms of confessional composition, with more than twenty religious groups living in it. More than half of the population are Muslims (Sunnis, Shiites, Druze), about 25% of Lebanese Arabs are Maronite Christians. Lebanese are inhabited by Armenians and Greeks who profess Christianity, Kurds and Palestinian refugees, for the most part related to Muslims, but among them there are also followers of Christianity. For centuries, each ethno-religious community has sought to preserve its separate character, while loyalty to the clan has always been placed above loyalty to the state. Thus, religious communities coexisted as separate sociocultural groups. In 1943, when Lebanon became an independent republic, an unspoken National Pact was concluded, which provided for a system of distribution of top posts depending on belonging to a religious community (the president of the republic is a Christian, the prime minister is a Sunni Muslim, and the chairman of parliament is a Muslim). Shiite). Maronite Christians, who traditionally make up the wealthiest part of the Lebanese, thanks to this distribution of power, have significantly strengthened their positions in the country, which could not but cause discontent among the Muslim population. The creation of the UAR in 1958 intensified the activities of Muslims in Lebanon and led to armed clashes. In the 1960s Lebanon was drawn into intra-Arab conflicts, as a result of the six-day war in 1967 and the influx of Palestinian and Jordanian refugees, it became one of the main centers of activity of anti-Israeli political organizations. In 1975-1976 sporadic clashes between Muslims and Christians escalated into a bloody civil war. The Palestine Liberation Organization (PLO) joined the Muslim coalition, and Israel came to the aid of the Maronites. As a result of the Arab League's mediation activities, the situation in the country stabilized, and a buffer zone was created on the Lebanese-Israeli border to protect Israel from PLO combat detachments based in Lebanon. In 1982, Israeli troops invaded the territory of southern Lebanon in order to oust the PLO from there, which was done, and interethnic forces (USA, Great Britain, France and Italy) were introduced to stabilize the situation. The Muslim coalition (including the AMAL movement supported by Syria, the Islamic AMAL, Hezbollah supported by Iran) did not recognize the Lebanese-Israeli agreement and began to carry out sabotage operations against foreign troops, which led to their withdrawal in 1984. The final exhaustion of the forces of the Muslim and Maronite coalitions prompted the warring parties to conclude in 1989 the Charter of National Accord. Syrian troops remained in the country, and the sovereignty of Lebanon was significantly limited. A period of relative calm ended when former Lebanese Prime Minister Hariri was assassinated in 2005. In the wake of mass demonstrations provoked by this assassination, as well as under pressure from Western countries, Syrian troops finally left Lebanon. The new pro-Western government was unable to take control of the situation in the country, and inter-confessional conflicts escalated again. The pro-Iranian Shiite group Hezbollah (its leader is Sheikh Nasrallah) controlled the southern regions of Lebanon, bordering Israel; the power of the central government in these areas was nominal. In the summer of 2006, the actions of Hezbollah militants provoked another Israeli invasion of Lebanese territory. The Israeli army undertook massive bombardments, which led to civilian casualties. Hezbollah fighters resisted stubbornly, and for the first time in many years, an Israeli military action did not achieve its ultimate goals. Under pressure from the international community, Israeli troops left the territory of Lebanon, regular units of the Lebanese army and international peacekeeping forces were brought into the southern regions of the country, but the internal political situation in Lebanon, primarily in the confessional sphere, remained extremely tense.
Discrimination of certain religious groups of the population, manifested in socio-economic inequality, as well as in the predominance of representatives of a certain confession in the political elite of the country. Such a situation has developed, for example, in Iraq, where the Arab Sunni minority historically dominated, while the majority of the Arab population was represented by Shiites; in addition, Kurds live in the north of the country. This situation continued both under the king, until the revolution of 1958, and under subsequent regimes, including the rule of Saddam Hussein. The dominance of the Sunnis caused discontent among the Shiite majority, which led to the Shiite uprising of 1991. The conflict between Sunnis and Shiites also made itself felt during the events of 2003. by the fact that a significant part of the population of Iraq did not support the existing political system by the beginning of the invasion of the American-British troops. In recent years, the Shiites have been playing an increasingly important role in the political life of Iraq, they dominate the newly created authorities, state security and the army. This, in turn, again gives rise to a conflict situation within Iraq and provokes the terrorist activities of Sunni militants. The same factor also provoked an internal conflict in the Philippines, where a discriminated Muslim minority in 1969 raised an uprising under the slogans of overthrowing Philippine "colonialism".
Interethnic conflicts in the post-Soviet space
The former Soviet republics, which were taken by surprise by the rapid collapse of the USSR, were faced with the need to form new political and economic mechanisms to replace the destroyed Soviet model. Both external and internal factors play an active role in the complex process of transformation of these states. The most painful feature of the new political reality in the Caucasus and Central Asia is ethno-territorial conflicts that destroy the stability of new states and at the same time are dangerous for Russia's national security on its southern borders. Thus, a real threat to Russian positions in the North Caucasus is created by the conflict in Abkhazia; military presence of Russia in Armenia - the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict. Russia has repeatedly stated that it is in favor of the widest participation of the UN and the OSCE in the settlement of ethno-national conflicts in the CIS countries, but at the same time it recognizes a special role for itself in the CIS. Russian policy towards the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict provides for participation in the work of the OSCE Minsk Group, in the trilateral initiative (USA, Russia, Turkey), as well as independent missions. In settling the crises in Georgia, Moscow was the initiator of bilateral meetings, a mediator in the framework of the Geneva talks between the Georgian and Abkhaz sides under the auspices of the UN and with the participation of OSCE representatives. The Russian contingent stationed in Abkhazia is not officially part of the UN forces, but in fact its activities within the peacekeeping operation are carried out under the supervision of the UN and are connected with the tasks of international monitoring and the International Commission on the Return of Refugees. Azerbaijan preferred the use of multilateral peacekeeping forces. In all its resolutions on these conflicts, the UN Security Council recognizes the territorial integrity of Azerbaijan and Georgia, as well as the right to broad autonomy for Nagorno-Karabakh and Abkhazia. Nevertheless, all these conflicts are still very far from being resolved. In an effort to receive political and economic dividends from the West, the ruling circles of Azerbaijan and Georgia demand that the current settlement model be replaced with an international version under the auspices of the OSCE and NATO. However, these organizations remain very restrained in their actions, because at the current stage the region is of less interest to them than the Balkans.
Powerful and explosive conflict potential is concentrated in Central Asia, especially in Tajikistan. The UN, the OSCE, as well as a number of mediating states in the negotiation process under the auspices of international and regional UN organizations played an important role in achieving a truce. The Russian military presence made it possible to contain the escalation of the armed conflict. In the post-conflict period, the guarantor states, fulfilling their obligations under the General Agreement, contributed to strengthening peace and national harmony in Tajikistan. Nevertheless, the continuing unresolved border disputes over certain territories contain the potential for conflicts between the Central Asian states.
Socio-political tension in South Ossetia has been noted since the second half of 1989. The most acute phase occurred at the end of 1991 - spring 1992. The conflict affected not only Georgia, but also Russia in the most direct way. On the basis of interethnic relations in the region, cases of clashes between the Georgian and Ossetian populations have become more frequent. Armed groups of citizens of Georgian nationality, through threats and violence, forced Ossetians to leave their homes, and disobedient ones were subjected to beating and looting of their homes. In the period from November 25 to December 18, 1989, 74 people were wounded in these skirmishes, including 22 from firearms.
A further sharp aggravation of the situation in South Ossetia took place immediately after the completion of the elections to the Supreme Soviet of Georgia on October 28, 1990, when the nationalist bloc "Round Table - Free Georgia" won them. The Ossetian population of South Ossetia negatively perceived the fact that the most radical and militant political forces came to power.
September 1990, the session of the South Ossetian Regional Council of People's Deputies decided to transform the region into the South Ossetian Soviet Democratic Republic and asked the USSR to accept it as an independent republic.
On December 1990, the Supreme Council of the Republic of Georgia reversed this decision and adopted a law abolishing the autonomy of South Ossetia. All regional authorities were liquidated. In the city of Tskhinvali and the Dzhavsky region, the Supreme Council of the Republic of Georgia introduced a state of emergency and a curfew with the involvement of the military units of the Ministry of Internal Affairs and the KGB of the republic, as well as internal troops of the USSR Ministry of Internal Affairs. Despite this, armed clashes between the Ossetian and Georgian population flared up with renewed vigor. Living together for centuries, bound by blood ties, the Georgian and Ossetian peoples (as a result of the confrontation between political parties fighting for power) are involved in bloody clashes. Daily skirmishes between the warring parties increased the number of casualties. By the end of 1991, the confrontation between Georgia and South Ossetia reached a critical point. The incessant shelling of settlements, the economic blockade, the concentration of armed detachments of Georgian militants were the main reasons that served as a pretext for the formation of the Ossetian National Guard. In response, the Georgian government took tougher measures against South Ossetia, which in turn led to the uncontrolled use of weapons by both sides and new bloodshed. First of all, the innocent civilian population suffered. At the same time, the Georgian side repeatedly shelled the locations of Russian military units and their residential towns. The servicemen were subjected to humiliating searches, insults and even beatings by the Georgian paramilitaries.
After the collapse of the USSR, when Moldova, like other republics, withdrew from the Union, the Pridnestrovians in Tiraspol announced that they were separating from Moldova. They argued their intention by the fact that the majority of the inhabitants of the territory are Russians and Ukrainians, and in 1940 they were forcibly united with the Moldovans. The leadership of Moldova reacted extremely negatively to the territorial division and tried to restore the integrity of the republic by force. War broke out. Active hostilities were conducted from the spring of 1992. At the beginning of 1997, with the mediation of Russia, negotiations began between Chisinau and Tiraspol on the final settlement of the situation in Transnistria, which ended on May 8 with the signing in the Kremlin of a Memorandum on the basics of normalizing relations between the Republic of Moldova and the Transnistrian Republic. The conflicting parties were able to reach a compromise - they agreed to build their relations "within the framework of a common state, within the borders of the Moldavian SSR as of January 1990." However, no significant progress has been made. There was a permanent instability in relations between Chisinau and Tiraspol, not so much because of the recent bloody conflict, but because of serious disagreements on political and economic issues. Firstly, the inhabitants of the Pridnestrovian Moldavian Republic were afraid of a possible “Romanianization” of Moldova in the future. Secondly, they had diametrically opposed views on a number of key issues, such as the implementation of economic reforms, relations with international financial institutions, cooperation with NATO and the CIS countries. They also have a different attitude towards the presence of Russian military personnel in Transnistria, of whom there were only 2.5 thousand people by that time, as well as towards the peacekeeping forces.
As a result of armed conflicts, significant flows of refugees, forced migrants and displaced persons arose in the post-Soviet territory. At the end of 1996, the number of forced migrants from the zones of armed conflicts was about 2.4 million people, including 714 thousand people in Russia, 853 thousand in Azerbaijan, 396 thousand in Armenia, 287 thousand in Georgia . However, many migrants from conflict zones did not and do not have the appropriate status. The flight from war and pogroms followed three channels: movement to the interior regions of the state, departure to other countries of the post-Soviet space, and emigration to far abroad countries. At least 5 million people fled from the territory covered by ethno-political and regional conflicts. One of the main countries that received migrants from the zones of ethnic conflicts, both during the conflict and in the next previous and subsequent years, was and remains Russia.
Mass movements of people fleeing the hardships of war and ethnic cleansing radically changed the ethnic composition of a number of territories. As a result of the flight of Azerbaijanis from Armenia, the number of the Azerbaijani community was reduced to 8 thousand people. The situation is similar in Azerbaijan, where the Armenian community, numbering 391,000 in 1989, practically ceased to exist. The vast majority of the Georgian population living in Abkhazia, as a result of ethnic cleansing practiced by the Abkhaz authorities, fled to the interior regions of Georgia; several tens of thousands of Georgians arrived from South Ossetia. The Russian-speaking population left the states engulfed in conflicts, moving mainly to Russia.
The sense of insecurity in the near future experienced by the population in conflict zones contributes to the postponement of marriages, the refusal of births or the delay in having children, the severing or weakening of family ties, all this affects the decline in fertility and marriage rates. Refugees are in a particularly difficult situation. Many married couples are forced to live separately, often in different areas. One of the early surveys showed that 7% of the refugees left their spouse, and 6% of the children left their former place of residence. All this, of course, does not contribute to the appearance of children. The formation of new married couples among refugees is also hampered by the collapse of established family and social ties, and weak contacts with the local population. The mass movements characteristic of the conflict period significantly change the age and sex composition of the population. Places of permanent residence leave, first of all, women, children, the elderly. During the conflict in Transnistria, among those who arrived in the right-bank part of Moldova, women and children accounted for 91.4% of displaced persons, including children - 56.2%. An increased proportion of children (29%) was also recorded among forced migrants registered in Russia in 1992-1993, when immigrants from conflict zones predominated among them. On the other hand, it is these most vulnerable groups of the population that are the last to return to their places of permanent residence.
Prevention and settlement of interethnic conflicts
Throughout its history, humanity has accumulated considerable experience in non-violent conflict resolution. However, only from the second half of the 20th century, when it became obvious that conflicts are a real threat to the survival of mankind, an independent field of scientific research began to take shape in the world, one of the main subjects of which is the prevention of open, armed forms of manifestation of conflicts, their settlement or settlement, as well as resolution of conflicts by peaceful means.
There are modern political situations that require consideration of inter-ethnic or inter-religious conflicts that arise within a particular country in unity with international conflicts. There are several reasons why this perspective is necessary.
Firstly, the conflict, having arisen as an internal one, sometimes develops into an international one due to the involvement of a wider range of participants and going beyond the borders of the state.
Many regional and local conflicts of the second half of the 20th century (suffice it to recall Vietnam and Afghanistan) can serve as examples of the expansion of the conflict through new participants, when the intervention of such major powers as the USA and the USSR turned them into a serious international problem. However, new participants may be involved in the conflict involuntarily, for example, due to the influx of a huge number of refugees to them. This problem was faced, in particular, by European countries during the Yugoslav conflict. Another option for involving other countries in an internal conflict is possible if the conflict remains internal, but, for example, citizens of other states turn out to be in it as hostages or victims. Then the conflict takes on an international dimension.
Secondly, the conflict from the internal can become international as a result of the disintegration of the country. The development of the conflict in Nagorno-Karabakh shows how this is happening. At the time of its emergence in the Soviet Union, this conflict was internal. Its essence was to determine the status of Nagorno-Karabakh, which was part of the territory of Azerbaijan, but the majority of the population of which were Armenians. After the collapse of the USSR and the formation of independent states in its place - Armenia and Azerbaijan - the conflict in Nagorno-Karabakh turned into a conflict between two states, i.e. international.
Third Involvement in the process of settling internal conflicts of mediators from third countries, as well as mediators acting on behalf of an international organization or in their personal capacity (i.e., not representing any particular country or organization), is becoming the norm in the modern world. An example is the conflict in Chechnya, in which representatives of the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe (OSCE) acted as a mediator. The involvement of international mediators can also lead to the fact that the distinctions between internal and international conflicts become less and less clear, and the boundaries between these two types of conflicts are blurred, i.e. conflicts are internationalized.
The possibilities and ways of resolving conflicts depend on many factors:
How wide do they grow?
what (qualitatively) territory they occupy,
what type of population is involved in the conflict,
the intensity and timing of the development of the conflict,
what type of actors are involved in the conflict.
There are six prerequisites necessary for the settlement
ethnic conflicts:
each of the warring factions must have a single command and be controlled by it;
the parties must control territories that would provide them with relative security after the conclusion of a truce;
achieving a certain balance in the conflict, when the parties have either temporarily exhausted their military capabilities, or have already achieved many of their goals;
the presence of an influential mediator who can increase the interest of the parties in achieving a truce and achieve recognition of an ethnic minority as a party to the conflict;
agreement by the parties to "freeze" the crisis and to postpone a comprehensive political settlement indefinitely;
the deployment of a peacekeeping force along the line of separation that is authoritative or strong enough to deter the parties from resuming hostilities.
Actions to neutralize the confrontational aspirations of participants in interethnic conflicts fit into the framework of some general rules derived from the existing experience in resolving such conflicts. Among them:
1) legitimation of the conflict - the official recognition by the existing power structures and the conflicting parties of the existence of the problem itself (the subject of the conflict) that needs to be discussed and resolved;
2) institutionalization of the conflict - the development of rules, norms, regulations of civilized conflict behavior recognized by both parties;
3) the expediency of transferring the conflict to the legal plane;
4) the introduction of the institution of mediation in the organization of the negotiation process;
5) information support for the settlement of the conflict, that is, openness, "transparency" of negotiations, accessibility and objectivity of information on the development of the conflict for all interested citizens, etc.
As a rule, conflict resolution occurs in several stages:
Deconsolidation of the forces involved in the conflict. Cut off the most radical elements or groups and support the more compromising forces. It is important to exclude any factors capable of consolidating the conflicting side (the threat of the use of force, for example).
The use of a wide range of sanctions - from symbolic to military. It should be borne in mind that sanctions can work for extremist forces, intensification and exacerbation of the conflict. Armed intervention is permissible only in one case: if during the conflict, which has taken the form of armed clashes, massive violations of human rights take place.
Break the conflict. As a result, the emotional background of the conflict changes, the intensity of passions decreases, and the consolidation of forces in society weakens.
Pragmatization of the negotiation process. Dividing the global goal into a series of sequential tasks that are solved jointly from simple to complex.
In the sphere of ethno-political conflicts, as in all others, the old rule is still valid: conflicts are easier to prevent than subsequently resolved. This is what the national policy of the state should be directed to. Our current state does not yet have such a clear and distinct policy. And not only because the politicians "do not reach their hands", but to a large extent because the initial general concept of nation-building in multi-ethnic Russia is unclear.
Conclusion
The reason for the emergence of an ethnic conflict may be an encroachment on the territory of residence of an ethnic group, the desire of ethnic groups to get out from under the “imperial hoop” and create independent territorial-state formations.
The struggle for natural resources, priorities in labor activity, social guarantees - all this causes ethnic clashes, which later develop into a large-scale conflict.
Forecasting, preventing and resolving ethnic conflicts is an important task of modern science. The regulation of conflicts on an ethnic basis, the search for mutual understanding of the parties is hampered by a number of factors, which include the following:
Conflicting ethnic groups differ significantly in cultural characteristics (language, religion, way of life);
The conflicting ethnic groups differ significantly in socio-political status;
In the territory of residence of one of the ethnic groups, the situation changes significantly in a historically short period of time.
The presence of external forces in relation to the conflicting parties, interested in the continuation of the conflict;
The conflicting parties have formed stable negative stereotypes towards each other.
But, despite this, science and the public are finding ways to regulate ethnic conflicts, and in today's time, when the majority of Russians are still afraid of the collapse of the Russian state as a result of ethnic conflicts, this is very significant.
Conflicts are not similar to each other and, therefore, an unambiguous way to resolve different conflicts in different parts of the world cannot be resolved using only one and the same method. The conflict depends on two components: the circumstances and the conflicting parties. Therefore, the resolution of this conflict must be sought precisely in these two factors.
If we summarize the main ways to eliminate the contradictions underlying the conflict, then they can be the following:
elimination of the object of the conflict;
division of the object of the conflict between the parties;
establishing a priority or other rules for the mutual use of an object;
compensation of one of the parties for the transfer of the object to the other party;
separation of the parties to the conflict;
transferring the relations of the parties to another plane, which implies the identification of their common interest, etc.
Conflict is never static. It is constantly evolving in virtually all respects. The very fact of development, change of the conflict opens up opportunities for its settlement. It is precisely because of the emergence of new aspects in the relations between the parties to the conflict that they can come to an agreement that seemed impossible just yesterday. Thus, if the conflict is not resolved at this particular moment, this does not mean that it cannot be resolved at all. The essence of the settlement lies precisely in changing the situation and making it possible to find a peaceful and mutually acceptable solution.
Long-term ethnic conflicts, which have deep historical roots, rather require technologies developed within the framework of “peacebuilding”.
The twentieth century did not provide a universal recipe for resolving such conflicts. The only thing that has become obvious is that these conflicts have no solution unless an agreement is reached between the direct parties to the conflict. The third party can act either as an intermediary or as a guarantor. And the condition for the peaceful transformation of the conflict can only be the renunciation of the use of force, precisely because, in the end, a readiness to eliminate hatred between the conflicting parties is needed.
Conclusion
The problem of conflicts on ethnic or religious grounds is not new. Such conflicts have always existed, exist and will exist. People will always look for reasons to hate. This seems to be the nature of man. Ethnic differences are a social reality. We all speak a certain language, we belong to an ethnic community that has its own special history. The feeling of national unity is not an evil in itself. On the contrary, this feeling unites people. The question is in what direction this feeling is directed. Is a certain ethnic community open in relation to other peoples, or vice versa, is it focused on its internal problems. In the second case, it is much easier to find an enemy from the outside and blame him for all your misfortunes and failures. After all, it is easier to shift the blame onto someone else than to understand the internal causes of what is happening. And the attitude to the ethnic group has nothing to do with it. A person is not born hating nearby peoples, this feeling is imposed on him by society, the environment. And the main thing here is not hatred towards people who differ in ethnic or religious terms, but in the simple desire of people to improve their situation at the expense of another, and it does not matter whether it is a neighbor on the landing or a state bordering on yours. At the same time, it should be noted that often the cause of the conflict lies in claims to territory, economic stability, political status, independence, and not “ethnic hostility” as such. After all, in most cases we do not feel hostility towards peoples who are territorially far from us and do not, as it seems to us, pose a threat to our interests. This problem is practically insoluble, as we pass these stereotypes on to other generations, and sooner or later conflicts arise again.
The problem of diasporas deserves special attention. Often it all starts with a negative attitude towards visiting groups. Here the main problem is that visitors are regarded as something "alien", and therefore bad. Moreover, the economic component is mixed in with everything else, since visitors occupy a large number of jobs. It is also not uncommon for diasporas to form networks of “ethnic crime” in their host countries, create terrorist organizations, drug trafficking structures, etc., and in general, sometimes behave defiantly, without taking into account the cultural and ethnic characteristics of the country in which they are located. All this poses a serious problem for local residents and, ultimately, cannot but annoy them.
Thus, until a person learns to think sensibly, draw his own conclusions, and not adhere to ingrained stereotypes, the problem of interethnic and interfaith conflicts will not lose its relevance.
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