Interethnic conflicts - types, causes and solutions

Basic Concepts

The term “interethnic conflict” is usually used to describe the complication of relations between peoples and nations or different social classes, which leads to both mutual hatred and direct military action. Solving such problems presents certain difficulties, especially if hostility has been simmering for centuries, and there is no civilized way out of the current situation. Difficulties in relationships arise both at the level of federal authorities, political movements and parties, and in family and household relations.

During interethnic clashes, complex underlying processes of relations between different ethnic groups and communities come to the fore. The development of such situations can be influenced by various factors, including the religious sphere, cultural, territorial, historical and political problems. The solution to an interethnic conflict will differ depending on its cause, as well as the characteristics of the nationality or group of people living in a certain territory.

Ways to resolve and prevent interethnic conflicts

The best way to resolve a conflict is to prevent its occurrence, therefore the main goal of the national policy of any state should be the preservation of stable interethnic relations. This goal is achieved through:

• ensuring equality of all nations, satisfying their national-cultural, religious and other needs;
• creating conditions for preserving the ethnic culture of small peoples: financing teaching and television and radio broadcasting in their native language;
• providing compactly living minorities with broad autonomy in resolving their own affairs and delegating power to the local level;
• promoting interethnic tolerance, mutual respect, and the unacceptability of violence.

In resolving national conflicts that arise at the interstate level, the creation of international structures: commissions, committees, councils is effective.

In cases where a conflict situation already exists and requires resolution, the following means :

• Neutralization of the conflict - transferring it into the framework of a legal political struggle between the relevant parties and movements with the guaranteed impossibility of violent actions by any of the parties.
• Avoidance - ignoring the enemy, not reacting to the actions of the opposite side.
• Postponement - avoiding confrontation, breaking the conflict, waiting for a change in circumstances and a decrease in emotional intensity.
• Negotiations are joint activities of the parties to find a mutually acceptable solution to a problem.
• Arbitration is a procedure for the peaceful resolution of a conflict with the participation of a third party who acts as a mediator or arbitrator.
• Dividing a problem into a number of separate tasks and solving them sequentially.
• Reconciliation is the bringing together of the positions and interests of the conflicting parties.

The desire of the parties to come to mutual understanding and find a compromise solution is the most important condition for resolving the conflict.

Development factors

In each case, the factors and causes of interethnic conflicts are different. Problems can appear out of nowhere or brew for decades when neighboring nationalities have cultural differences or territorial claims. Factors influencing the development of interethnic conflicts include:

• type of settlement;
• national composition in the region;
• age of the socially active group;
• social status;
• relationship history;
• Political Views;
• the level of education.

Regardless of the factors that lead to the development of interethnic conflicts, the result is a massive violation of the rights of citizens and existing laws. In the absence of proper control by the state, this can lead to ethnic cleansing and full-fledged war. A similar thing was noted in the former Yugoslavia, where the federal center tried with all its might to preserve a rapidly disintegrating multinational state. As a result, ethnic cleansing was observed in various regions of Serbia.

The same applies to African countries, where interethnic conflicts have become an everyday part of the life of the local population. On the dark continent, armed clashes constantly break out between different tribes, and their cause is not only the possible division of territory and natural resources, but also the hatred between clans that has accumulated over the years.

Types of peaceful existence

1. Ethnic mixing
   - interethnic marriages contribute to the mixing of different ethnic groups, which after some time and generations form a single nation.
2. Ethnic assimilation
   is the absorption of one people by another. They separate civilian and military uniforms.
3. The formation of a multinational state
   is a state in which nations are given complete freedom and rights. In some countries, several languages ​​are assigned at the state level.

Possible prerequisites

The success of resolving existing conflicts will largely depend on the correct determination of the cause of their occurrence . Most often, this is a serious deformation in national politics, as well as dissatisfaction with the situation of a nation or group of people that has accumulated over many decades. Sometimes even the slightest spark is enough for a bloody conflict to break out, which will be extremely difficult to resolve in the future.

Typically, interethnic conflicts manifest themselves against the backdrop of a deteriorating economic situation in the country; experts even provide graphs and tables of the direct relationship between the growth of tension and the state of households. This leads to social dissatisfaction when one group or nation receives certain privileges from the state, while another community is forced to endure the hardships and deprivations of poverty. A classic example of interethnic conflicts are wars in Africa, which arise against the background of a depressed economy and poverty of the population.

In post-Soviet countries, the causes of conflicts are the artificiality of creating separate states, the ossification of the governance structure, as well as the reluctance to see and solve problems that can lead to numerous national or ethnic clashes and general tension.

Another reason for the development of interethnic state conflicts is the historical factor. In the past, different ethnic groups could fight for territory and were dependent on each other, which led to restrictions on rights, infringement of national interests, traditions, culture and language. Today, when such nations find themselves in the conditions of one country and compact residence, historical relationships and past problems are not forgotten, they are gradually smoldering, and the slightest reason is enough for the development of a clash or even a full-scale war.

Trends in the development of ethnic groups

1. Interethnic integration is a period of time during which the unification of different ethnic groups and peoples takes place through all spheres of the state’s life. The forms of interethnic integration are represented by transnational enterprises, economic unions, and interethnic cultural organizations.
2. Interethnic differentiation is a process that manifests itself in the separation of ethnic groups. The forms are represented by the self-isolation of the individual, the emergence of nationalism in the political and cultural sphere, religious fanaticism and terrorism.

Forms of conflicts

There are several basic civilized and uncivilized forms of conflict. This can be either discrimination based on nationality or religion, or open clashes leading to mass unrest and local wars. It is customary to distinguish the following forms and types of interethnic conflicts:

• local separatist and civil wars;
• mass riots with gross violation of individual rights;
• religious fundamentalism.

The latter is the most dangerous, since differences in religion often lead to mass riots and ethnic cleansing. Subsequently, solving such problems and reconciling warring nations can be extremely difficult, and often even impossible.

XENOPHOBIA

Dislike for someone or something alien; perception of someone else's as unpleasant. Elevated to the rank of a worldview, it can become a cause of hostility based on the principle of national, religious or social division of people.

Global mass phobias based on xenophobia arise in the modern era. The “great xenophobias” were formed in Europe, but took on a global character and spread not only to the countries of the “European world.” By the beginning of the 20th century, the “great xenophobia” included the concepts of the “world Jewish conspiracy” and the “yellow peril.” Moreover, these two phobias could merge into one world conspiracy theory.

Thus, the far-right Russian politician Vladimir Purishkevich stated that Jews are deliberately sabotaging the fight against the looming “yellow danger” in order to undermine the power of Russia, and Mikhail Menshikov stated that Jews and Chinese are united by “economic parasitism” and “the ancient claim of Asia to own us.”

Ways to overcome the problem

The difficulty of resolving interethnic and racial problems is that universal approaches in such cases simply do not exist . World experience shows that such situations are easier and more effective to resolve through peaceful means. A forceful solution will only be effective as long as troops are brought into the region to ensure complete security in the city or in a separate region. But as soon as the forces of law and order leave the rebellious problem region, the conflict will flare up again with the same force.

One of the options for solving the problem is separation, that is, deconsolidation of forces. As part of this work, radical groups and elements are cut off, supporting parties that are prone to negotiations and compromises. Attempts are being made to interrupt the conflict by signing a temporary truce between the warring parties. This allows you to reduce the intensity of passions and reduce the emotional background of the confrontation.

To prevent interethnic and international conflicts, peace negotiations are held , in which both warring parties and third forces can participate, acting as a guarantor of the implementation of all agreements reached.

Initially, vital needs are discussed, and later the negotiation process addresses social, economic and everyday issues. This is the only way to overcome the aggravation and solve possible problems.

Only with an integrated approach to preventing interethnic conflicts, the solutions and plan of which are approved by all parties, will it be possible to avoid mass unrest, the development of religious fundamentalism and local wars. At the same time, the solution developed must take into account the interests of all parties involved. In the future, after reaching consensus and peace, a complete revision of regulations and legislation that regulates the lives of citizens involved in interethnic clashes in Russia and Europe is often required.

APARTHEID

Until the last decade of the 20th century. South Africa was dominated by apartheid, a system of forced racial segregation. Under apartheid, everyone in South Africa fell into one of four categories: white (descendants of European immigrants), “colored” (people whose ancestors were members of more than one “race”), Asian and black.

A minority of white South Africans, making up about 13% of the population, ruled over the non-white majority. Non-whites had no voting rights and were not represented in the central government. Segregation was required at all levels of society, from public spaces such as toilets and railroad cars to residential neighborhoods and schools.

Millions of black residents of the country were herded into so-called homelands - reservations away from the main cities - and worked as temporary workers in the gold and diamond mines, wandering from place to place.

Text of the book “Conflictology. Crib"

International conflict

It is generally accepted that international conflicts are the most difficult to regulate, since they are characterized by a high degree of tension and the widespread use of methods of violence.
This is due to the fact that such conflicts usually arise as a result of the aggravation of the most complex types of contradictions, such as racial, national, and territorial. Influential public and private organizations are directly involved in such conflicts. At the same time, the main reason for the emergence of international conflicts is economic interests, which can be masked by the defense of human rights in different parts of the globe that have valuable types of resources. In recent years, there has been an important change in the understanding of the essence and nature of international conflicts. The idea that many international conflicts can be resolved by means acceptable to both conflicting parties and that are exclusively peaceful in nature has become quite widespread. Despite the escalation of violence in resolving international conflicts (NATO military actions in Yugoslavia, Iraq), this idea is exclusively constructive and can become a serious incentive for the development of conflict theory and practice.

Peaceful methods of conflict resolution are based primarily on a clear identification of the existing system of contradictions, which must be transferred from hidden to open field, since only in this case they can be managed. The second important point is the requirement to perceive your opponent not as an enemy, but as a partner. In this case, the parties to the conflict are able to understand that their own security can only be ensured by guaranteeing the complete security of the opposite side.

New methods of resolving international conflicts are associated with the use of the following two approaches: traditional (aimed at resolving contradictions with the help of already used social theories) and peace-building (based on the comprehensive idea of ​​peacemaking and the complete exclusion of the very idea of ​​​​the possibility of using armed methods of regulation).

The latter involves the use of methods that limit the likelihood of armed clashes and include the search for ways to prevent international conflicts. It has great prospects for successfully regulating difficult situations in relations between different states and peoples in the future.

Prompt regulation of the emerging conflict situation in the international arena can neutralize the emergence of a serious crisis. At the same time, the methods currently used to build a world order based on the division of spheres of influence can only temporarily soften the aggravation of contradictions, but not eliminate them completely. The reduction of international conflicts can be facilitated by universal compliance with officially established norms of international law. In this regard, the development of effective decision-making procedures in the field of interstate relations and monitoring their precise implementation begins to become important, especially when implementing government intervention in the national interests of other countries. This task must be solved by the UN Council, which must create the opportunity for all countries of the world to protect their interests and their security and prevent violations of international law. At the same time, world powers will continue to strive for world domination, declaring different parts of the globe as zones of their strategic interests, violating the reached international agreements and disregarding the norms of international law.

Ethnic conflicts

Interethnic conflicts are rightfully considered one of the most complex, so their study requires, first of all, an accurate determination of the composition of the participants. To do this, it is necessary to give a concept to the term “ethnic group” itself, despite the fact that it continues to remain one of the most vague social categories. According to the most general approach, an ethnos is a specific result of the historical evolution of a certain people, which has passed the path from a small isolated group to a post-national modern community. In the social reality that has formed today, there are diverse trends in the organization, strengthening and development of groups of people, which can be called ethnic groups, nations, peoples, etc. The most commonly used interpretation of an ethnic group or nation fully shows the specifics of the interweaving of different historical trends in regions of the world and their serious inconsistency, which in most cases leads to the emergence of interethnic and interethnic conflicts in all parts of the globe. The concept of ethnos serves to define an established community of people, which appears in specific, concrete historical forms.

The theories of social and ethnic conflict are very close to each other, since both the first and second interpret the relations that have developed in modern society as a battle ground for groups competing with each other, using all possible means to maintain or strengthen their positions, seize (retain) territories and preserve the privileges they receive. This leads to the preservation or strengthening of differentiation and social inequality of some social and national groups, increases intra-group tension and leads to the emergence of various conflict situations. At the same time, the most influential and powerful groups (including ethnic ones) limit or eliminate the needs of weaker groups, since each group unit (and especially ethnic ones) strives to expand its sphere of influence and preserve its own individuality.

The main causes of interethnic conflicts include destabilization of the socio-economic system, territorial claims, globalization, inequality of different national groups, the last of which is the most important factor. Inequality can be expressed both in the difference in income and expenses of different national groups, as well as in an insufficient resource base and a small number of people. The size of an ethnic group is used as an important ethnic indicator, which determines the objective educational opportunity of a certain ethnic group (the creation of a national educational vertical: from preschool to higher education) and the subjective claims of national political elites to create their own state education.

The development of interethnic conflicts stimulates any manifestations of destabilization of the socio-economic system. In such conditions, the main features of interethnic clashes become multi-level, multi-subjective, and dynamic, which contributes to the inductive spread of such conflicts. In places where different peoples live together, territorial conflicts often arise when one or both warring parties demand a revision of established state and territorial boundaries and the formation of their own state. The danger of such conflicts is greater today than ever before, and the development of democracy only increases it. Similar conflicts may arise in more than two hundred countries, in which more than a thousand national and ethnic groups live.

Consequences of ethnic conflicts

All the main consequences of interethnic conflicts based on territorial localization are divided into internal and external. The most important negative consequence is human losses (for example, in the territory of the former USSR alone, approximately one million people are killed and missing during various interethnic clashes). Less obvious consequences are a decrease in the number of births in regions of ethnic conflicts, as well as a noticeable deterioration in the standard of living of the population in these territories.

The most widespread consequence of interethnic conflicts is the mass migration of the population from explosive regions, stimulating the manifestation of negative trends in interethnic relations, when a new ethnic configuration in areas where refugees are concentrated leads to serious competition between different peoples in the field of employment, residence and communication. All this leads to an increase in nationalist sentiment and the emergence of numerous nationalist parties and movements. At the same time, forced migrants lose their status characteristics and are faced with the impossibility of fully realizing their needs and interests, which forms in them a negative attitude towards the new social environment.

Moreover, any expansion of interethnic communication can have positive consequences; migration, for example, serves to bring different peoples closer together, reduces the distance between them and contributes to the formation of racial and national tolerance. However, this can only happen in conditions of voluntary migration, which is not accompanied by an aggravation of interethnic contradictions based on social competition between different ethnic groups. This is most likely in cases where an ethnic group is viewed as a static collection of completely unrelated or poorly connected families or individuals. Under such conditions, representatives of a new ethnic group quite easily adapt to a new social environment, learn a new language and patterns of behavior characteristic of their chosen country of residence. However, this threatens an almost complete loss of national identity.

If we consider an ethnos in the context of a complex self-organizing system, for which the need to preserve national identity remains of paramount importance, it is a collection of individuals united by close interpersonal ties. Therefore, in economically developed countries, the most attractive for migrants (including forced migrants), ethnically homogeneous groups of the population prefer to live together, without assimilating to the culture of their host country (for example, Chinatowns in London, New York, areas inhabited by people from Arab countries in Paris, etc.).

In this regard, any impact on such a system will be regarded as capable of violating its integrity and will encounter strong opposition from representatives of this ethnic group. This opposition can seriously escalate in conditions of competitive relations over vital values ​​between contacting national groups. All representatives of different ethnic groups are involved in the emerging conflict field, regardless of whether they experience the negative consequences of competition for access to certain types of resources or not.

Internal migration processes not related to interethnic contradictions can also have negative consequences. These include, for example, the destruction of the demographic and labor potential of the northern and eastern regions of the Russian Federation.

Problems of resolving ethnic conflicts

An analysis of the noticeably increasing frequency of ethnic conflicts indicates the need to develop some new approaches to their resolution. In particular, the idea is questioned that each population group, united by territory, common origin, language, culture, must necessarily have its own state entity. The dangers associated with the absolutization of the idea of ​​self-determination became obvious. It turned out that in many regions ethnic groups do not have places of compact residence, therefore, it is simply impossible to demarcate borders. And even in places where residence seemed realistic (for example, in the territory of the former Yugoslavia), new conflicts inevitably arose, sometimes more acute than the previous ones.

Proposed new approaches

basically boil down to the following provisions:

1) spread the ideas of Western democracy to all regions of the world, while providing assistance to supporters and introducing sanctions against obstinate countries. The official position of state leaders is as follows: ethnic conflicts are more characteristic of dictatorial and repressive regimes than democratic ones;

2) democracy itself does not provide any real guarantees to ethnic minorities, therefore it is not the desire for their separation that should be supported, but autonomy. In this case, the ethnic minority, having some self-government, may not be so afraid that the majority, using democratic norms, will oppress it;

3) to resolve armed ethnic conflicts, it is proposed to develop rules and a mechanism for international intervention. These rules and mechanism must be legitimate, i.e. accepted by major international organizations (for example, the UN);

4) the traditional principle for international relations, according to which the regulation of ethnic conflicts on the territory of a state is a purely internal matter of that state, must be revised. The possibility of intervention is justified by the threat of a flow of refugees from the conflict zone, which could seriously destabilize the economic and political life of neighboring states;

5) conditions should be developed under which newly emerged states can be recognized and accepted into the UN and other international organizations. In this regard, it is proposed to recognize states that were not created under external, most often armed, influence. In addition, a necessary condition for recognition is the obligation to respect existing borders, human rights, and the right of national minorities to self-determination.

For Russia, whose territory is home to a large number of different ethnic groups, relations between which have more than once led to bloody clashes, the problem of resolving interethnic conflicts is very relevant. Conflict events in Russia in the early 1990s. led to the official recognition of the legitimacy of raising the question of the political and legal status of any ethnic group, which somewhat eased the tension in relations between national movements (one side of the conflict) and the republican and federal authorities (the other side). Complex interethnic relations have necessitated the provision at the federal level of constitutional guarantees for the representation of ethnic groups in government at all levels, but primarily in the constituent entities of the Federation. The legal status of ethnic groups is ensured by the norms of representation of ethnic groups in the highest authorities (proportional and parity). Thus, certain steps are being taken to mitigate ethnic conflicts in various regions (especially in Transcaucasia), but the objective reasons for their occurrence still remain.

The human factor in conflict

Human factor

is a concept denoting a person’s function in society. By definition, a person is a social being with self-awareness, with the ability for productive work, creativity, which can change the world around him in accordance with prevailing ideas. Therefore, the analysis and description of various conflicts, the possibility of using specific methods for resolving them are directly related to the understanding of human nature, which determines the nature of society.

There is a point of view that all people are equal by birth and have an equal degree of freedom and the same rights. However, reality completely refutes this statement. Different individuals are fundamentally different from each other. These differences are determined by gender, age, external attractiveness, physical strength and health, mental abilities, psychological characteristics, hereditary predisposition to diseases, etc. In addition, each person strengthens his own uniqueness as he develops: he acquires different life experiences, qualifications and education, forms a system of values ​​and a model of behavior, accepts certain moral standards and completely rejects others. Therefore, each person, representing a social phenomenon (as a product of communication), has unique characteristics that distinguish him from other people. These include features of perception, thinking, and sensations that have an important impact on human behavior in conflict situations.

For example, a person’s perception can be influenced by his mood, which can improve or worsen under the influence of the impression provided by various color combinations that can excite or calm, create an environment of warmth or cold, and evoke positive or negative associations.

Music, which can be associated with a certain color (synesthesia), form psychological defense mechanisms, relieve strong internal tension, and promote concentration (sensitization), has an equally serious impact on human perception.

Human perception is a process through which elements of the external environment are generally reflected in his consciousness. The level of perception is also influenced by a person’s physical development: agility, flexibility, endurance, reaction speed. A high level of development of motor sensations allows for more accurate orientation in space and helps to resist fatigue. An important condition for productive human activity is the ability to perceive time (the so-called sense of time). Individuals who fully possess it demonstrate increased demands on themselves and others when solving work problems.

In addition, among the important behavioral factors, one should take into account the peculiarities of thinking and imagination, which have an important influence on the formation of a certain psychological climate in the organization and team, which is reflected in the consciousness of each person, is reflected in his thoughts, statements, judgments, behavior patterns, since thinking reflects a person’s ability to analyze a problem (solve a problem) in contrast to imagination, which is the ability to create new concepts and images. In this context, thinking is considered as a process, the result of which is the analysis and synthesis of perceived stimuli received and consolidated in consciousness on the basis of past perceptions and images. And imagination contributes to the formation of new processes and phenomena.

Types of conflicting personalities

A person often has to deal with various types of conflict throughout his life. There is an opinion that already in human nature there is a predisposition to conflicts, since they allow, to some extent, to throw out a clot of negative energy. Life experience convinces us that there are people who are not comfortable working in a team or living together. Among them, those who are constantly in conflict with someone stand out. These are conflict-prone people or conflicting personalities.

Conflict personality

- this is a person with inflated self-esteem, expressing constant anxiety, dissatisfaction, complaints and unfounded claims to another person or team.

As a rule, conflicting individuals have a difficult, inflexible character, they are prone to quarrels and intrigues, therefore they are the ones who most often create conflict situations. Another reason, determined by character, is the persistent desire to gain authority and recognition from others and no matter by what means to occupy a higher status position in the group.

It should be noted that conflicting individuals may also have directly opposite traits: excessive conformism, manifested in unprincipled behavior, in which one’s own opinion and actions strive at all costs to adapt to the opinions and actions of others, and negativism, in which people act senselessly, stubborn resistance to any line of behavior or value judgments, regardless of the actual situation.

Such people can be divided into two groups. To the first group

These include constant opponents of the existing state of affairs, management methods, methods of solving problems, etc. Their criticism is not always constructive, although to some extent such critical statements can force the manager to change his management style and methods. In social psychology, such people are called negative. Such a person is always against, for him the very fact of opposition causes satisfaction. Such opposition can sometimes reach the point of absurdity, when such a person, out of habit, resolutely opposes a decision that is beneficial to herself. It is difficult to work with such a person in one organization, but at the same time it is useful: if it is known that there is such a person in the team, then everyone, before expressing their point of view, will prepare the necessary arguments in advance, trying to find an answer to possible provocative questions. In this case, such a person stimulates the active thinking of the rest of the group members and forces them to think more thoroughly about various kinds of ideas and proposals.

To the second group

includes people who criticize not the situation, work results or mistakes made, but the quality of the individual. There is a technique that allows you to create a fairly complete picture of the communicative behavior of people with a hysterical orientation and excessively neurotic people. Such people are distinguished by boundless egocentrism, a thirst for increased appreciation, obsessiveness in communication, and the ability to ingratiate themselves into trust. At the same time, they are unable to maintain friendly relationships for a long time; they often work well below their abilities, engage in intrigue and resort to outright deception. Internal conflict, distrust, tension, lack of partner orientation and pronounced egocentrism make these people difficult not only for others, but also for themselves. In a normal state, these people may be non-conflict, but at the same time, most of them tend to show increased authoritarian aggressiveness, leading to periodic conflicts.

GENOCIDE

These are actions committed with the intent to destroy, in whole or in part, any national, ethnic, racial, religious or other historically established cultural and ethnic group as such by:

• killings of members of this group;
• causing serious harm to their health;
• measures designed to prevent childbearing in such a group;
• removal of children from the family;
• deliberate creation of living conditions calculated to bring about the complete or partial physical destruction of this group.

Since 1948, genocide has been recognized by the UN as an international crime.