CULTURAL INFLUENCES ON CONFLICTS

Sharp distinctions between religions, esp. Islam and

Christianity and Judaism are stressed by proponents of
the clash of civilizations theory.

Common assumptions about world conflict.

1. Fueled by ancient hatreds and irreconcilable cultural
differences.
2. Ethnic identities motivate people to persecute and kill.
3. Ethnic diversity enhanced by globalization, inevitably
leads to ethnic conflicts.
Culture and nationalism have generally been
closely intertwined. Nations have traditionally
been defined in terms of their common identity,
values, customs, languages, and geographic
boundaries.
How nations and nonstate actors, such ethnic
groups, interact and resolve disagreements is
determined largely by the cultural reservoirs
created among them, or the lack of them.
Cultural reservoir – an accumulation of goodwill and
understanding that emanates from a common set of
values, beliefs, attitudes, historical experiences, and
racial and ethnic links.

Similarities are augmented by international exchanges,

military alliances, interpersonal connections, and
economic interdependence.

Leaders usually draw upon cultural similarities to

diminish tensions and, conversely, on cultural differences
and hatreds to promote conflict.
Culture – a set of shared learned values, beliefs,
perceptions, attitudes, modes of living, customs, and
symbols.
Subculture – the way of defining and honoring the
particular specification and demarcation of different
interests of a group of people within a larger collectivity.
Questions we tend to ask;
Where are you from? Do you belong to this society? Are
you foreign?
Ethnocentrism – practice of societies promoting their
values as positive and desirable while simultaneously
devaluing those of other societies.
Ken Booth contends that each society views itself as the
center of the world, perceives and interprets other
societies within its peculiar frame of reference, and
invariably judges them to be inferior. The more culturally
distinct the other society is perceived to be, the more
inferior it is often deemed to be, and thus suitable to be
treated negatively.

Leaders often tap into their cultures to find ways to

dehumanize and demonize those designated as enemies.
The greater the distance between cultures in conflict, the
easier it is for leaders to mobilize public support for war
and to dehumanize others.
Dehumanization of others – designed not only to destroy
their humanity, but also to reassure those who
dehumanize of their own presumed goodness.
Dehumanization facilitates justification of the inhumane
treatment of those regarded as enemies by diminishing
empathetic faculties.

Empathy – viewed as the emotional cornerstone of moral

judgment, enables us to feel with other human beings, to
cognitively and effectively put ourselves in their place,
and to become more aware of others’ needs and
concerns.
Personalizing the injurious effects experienced by
others makes their suffering much more noticeable
and troubling. It is therefore difficult to kill people
we not not dehumanize without risking personal
distress and self-censure.

Dehumanization is closely related to moral

exclusion.
Moral exclusion – those who are morally excluded are
perceived as being outside the boundary within which
moral values, rules, and considerations of fairness apply.
Because those who are morally excluded are regarded as
expendable, subhuman, threatening, and undeserving,
harming them often appears acceptable, appropriate,
and just.

RELIGION – a foundation of civilizations, is regarded as

essentially pure and unaffected by other religions.
 CLASHING CIVILIZATIONS

- According to the clash-of-civilizations perspective, global

conflicts occur due to cultural differences.
Although nation-states will continue to be the most
powerful actors in global affairs, civilizations will be the
dividing lines.
A civilization is defined as a cultural entity that, despite
variations within it, is distinct from another civilization.
Ex. despite differences between Spain and Britain, they
belong to the same western civilization and are
distinguished fro Arab or Chinese civilization.
From Huntington’s perspective, there are 8 major
civilizations:
1. Western
2. Confucian
3. Japanese
4. Islamic
5.Hindu
6.Slavic-Orthodox
7. Latin American
8.African

The clash of civilizations theory stresses conflict instead of

cooperation among civilizations.
Criticism of the clash- of- civilization theory
1. He failed to take into account sufficiently conflicts
within each so-called civilization.
2. He overestimated the importance of religion of non-
western elites.
3. He could not clearly define the link between a
civilization and the foreign policies of its member
states.
4. Civilization bonds have not restrained countries from
competing with each other for power.
5. Civilizations are products of cultural cross-fertilization.
Their members are complex and the lines separating
civilizations are often blurred and messy.
Religious communities have become vigorous
creators of an emergent transnational civil society.
The forces of globalization are contributing to the
spread of religions across national and civilizational
boundaries.
Around any major metropolitan area, you will see
Protestant and Catholic churches, Muslim
mosques, Hindu temples, Sikh gurdwaras, Jewish
synagogues, and Buddhist temples. More than 60
percent of Christians are found in Africa, Asia and
Latin America. While Christianity is growing rapidly
in china, it is shrinking in Europe.
The West and the Muslim World
-The assumption that the two civilizations are inherently
incompatible and hostile.
-Despite the Muslim conquest of part of Spain in the 8th
century, Muslims were largely tolerant of Jews and
Christians, regarding them as Dhimmis [people of the
Book who also believed in one God, the God of
Abraham].
-The advent of the Crusades in 1096 aided the
foundation for the clashes between the West and Islam.
-The Crusaders’ brutality symbolized Western hatred not
only of Muslims but also of Islam.
 In 1009 the Egyptian
caliph [religious ruler]
Hakim ordered the
destruction of the Holy
Sepulcher in Jerusalem
[where Christians
believed that Jesus was
buried].

The Mad Caliph

Pope Urban II [in 1095] –
called on European
Christians to proclaim their
faith by taking military
action to force the infidels
[primarily Muslims] out of
Jerusalem.
There were nine Crusades.
Contemporary Muslim
grievances are often linked
to the Crusaders.
 The Palestinian- Israeli Conflict
The establishment of the state of Israel in 1948 and the
Palestinian- Israeli Conflict combine to reignite clashes
between the West and Islam.
The Balfour Declaration [British Foreign Secretary Lord
Balfour] called for a Jewish homeland in Palestine that
would not replace the Palestinian state.
US President Woodrow Wilson endorsed the Balfour
Declaration.
US President Franklin Delano Roosevelt for strategic
considerations during the WW II balance his sympathies
toward Zionist aspirations against Allied military strategy.
•By 1979, the US, led by President Jimmy Carter, had
managed to persuade Egypt and Israel to sign the Camp
David Peace Accords, which ended hostilities between
the two countries, returned territory, and promised
Palestinian autonomy.
•In 1991, Pres. George HW Bush initiated a peace
conference that culminated in the Oslo Accord. This
agreement called for Israel’s gradual withdrawal from
Palestinian territory in the West Bank and Gaza.
•Increased violence and the building of new settlements
by Israel on Palestinian land in 2008 made both peace
and a Palestinian state elusive.
The Churchill White Paper, issued by Britain’s Prime
Minister Winston Churchill, - stated that the Britiish were
committed to Palestinian and Jewish coexistence in
Palestine.

Biltmore Conference – Zionist lobbying effort to pressure

the United States to persuade Britain to act in favor of a
Jewish homeland in Palestine.

The US supported The UN vote on the creation of Israel

[May 14, 1948], Britain abstained on the UN vote and did
not recognized Israel until at year later.
Many of Israel’s policies directly conflicted with America’s
new global responsibilities, including its efforts to prevent
communist expansion into the oil-rich Middle East.
Alienating the Arab states was contrary to America’s
strategy of containment.

Containment – US policy of establishing strategic alliances

with other countries in order to contain Soviet ambitions
through-out the world.

In the Six-Day War in 1967, the US supported Israel. The

war resulted in the defeat of the Arab armies and Israel's
occupation of Palestinian, Syrian and Egyptian territories.
1973: when Egypt and Syria launched
a surprise attack against Israel, the
US responded by organizing a
massive airlift of military supplies to
Israel. The Arabs responded with an
oil embargo against US.
The UNITED STATES AND ISLAM
-Deeply shocked by the terrorist attacks by al-Qaeda in
the US on Sept 11, 2001,many Americans asked why
Muslims hated them.

-The first significant clash between US and the Barbary

States [or North Africa] – Tunisia, Algeria, Morocco, and
Libya. Barbary pirates enslaved European and Americans
and demanded payment. US Pres. Thomas Jefferson tried
to end this piracy by sending US Marines to the shores of
Tripoli.
- Muslims perceptions of American indifference to
Palestinian suffering.
Some Islamic militants believe that by attacking the US,
viewed as a strong supporter of Israel, they will eventually
reconquer Jerusalem from Israel or even destroy Israel
itself.

When iranian students discovered America’s role in the

1953 overthrow of Iran’s Prime Minister Mohammad
Mossadeq, they engaged in mass demonstration against
US and Shah Muhaamad Reza. They forced the Shah out
of Iran and facilitated Ayatollah Khomeni’s return to Iran.

Egypt’s President Anwar Sadat was killed because he

signed the Camp David Accords and Egypt’s links with US.
•When the soviets invaded Afghanistan in 1979, The US
provided military assistance to the mujahedeen [Holy
warriors who traveled to Afghanistan to fight the Soviet
occupation.
•Many Arab governments are authoritarian and have used
their considerable economic resources from petroleum to
preserve status quo.

•Barry Rubin argues that Muslim hatred of America is

“largely the product of self-interested manipulation by
groups that use anti-Americanism as a foil to distract
public attention from other far more serious problems
within those societies.” [deteriorating economic
conditions, economic inequality, population growth,
decline in social services, health care, and education.
• Increasing Westernization of these countries is perceived
by traditionalists as undermining Islam.
• America is viewed as corrupting these countries elites
and humiliating Muslims.
• America’s invasion of Iraq, widely perceived as an effort
to to consolidate its power in the Middle East, has
heightened Arab anti-Americanism.
• Photographs of Americans abusing Iraqi prisoners at the
Abu Gharaib prison in Iraq served to confirm Muslims
perceptions of the US. – acts of brutality, sadism and
dehumanization.
• US sanctions against the Hamas government and the US
refusal to pressure Israel to exercise restraint when it
invaded Lebanon in 2006.
ETHNIC CONFLICTS
-Horrific bloodshed in Rwanda, Bosnia, Sudan, Iraq, Chechnya is
widely published by the global media.

Ethnicity and Ethnic identity

Ethnic group – composed of individuals who generally have a
sense of common identity based on a common set of historical
experiences, national sentiments, religious beliefs, geographical
location, language and culture.
Ethnicity – a subjective perception of who belongs to a particular
ethnic group. Ethnicity serves as a rallying point for mobilizing
ethnic group members to compete for economic resources,
positions in government and social and economic organizations
and social and religious status.
Identity – a concept of one-self based on physical,
psychological, emotional, or social attributes of particular
individuals.
Identity is generally about drawing sharp distinctions
among groups and building boundaries that separate one
group from another.
It contributes to developing a feeling of us versus them,
insiders versus outsiders.

Discrimination on the basis of ethnic identity is a

common problem worldwide.
Ethnic pluralism [ethnic diversity] – the presence of many
different groups within a specific geographic boundary.
Factors contributing to ethnic pluralism: Migration,
conquest and the deliberate attempts by colonizers and
others to divide people in order to control them.

The Causes of ethnic conflict

1. Ethnic wars occur in poor countries that have weak
political institutions. Once a country achieves an
increasing per capita income, its risk of ethnic conflict is
negligible.
2. The deliberate manipulation of negative perceptions
by leaders to mobilize group support for their own
individual political, economic, and social objectives. Ex.
in Rwanda, Hutu political leaders [versus Tutsi] incited
fear and hatred among the Hutus in order to remain in
power.
3. Competition among groups for scarce economic
resources – growing economic disparities may increase
insecurities for disadvantaged groups.
4. Weak political institutions – inabilities of political
institutions to effectively regulate change and provide
mechanisms to manage differences.
5. Systematic and widespread frustration of human
needs. Tensions are heightened by perceptions of
favoritism toward other groups.
6. The proliferation of automatic weapons, esp. AK -47s.
Their availability increases the potential for deadly
clashes.
RESOLVING CULTURAL CONFLICTS
Four interrelated approaches to conflict:
1. Negotiation
2. Peacekeeping [humanitarian intervention]
3. Peacemaking
4. Peacebuilding

Negotiation – concerned with helping your opponent make a

particular decision. An important impetus for advancing proposals
and making concessions and compromises is that there are
common interests that can be secured through cooperation. It is
essential to reaching a compromise, a win-win situation [where
both sides gain] instead of taking a zero-sum approach [ where
one side wins and the other loses].
Carrot/Sticks – practice by which states rely on
inducements and punishments in their relations with
other states.

Active listening involves trying to hear and absorb the

other side’s views of the facts as distinct from one’s own,
to seek further clarification through questioning, and to
process the information received in terms of the larger
context of the situation and the issues of the movement.

Negotiators must develop formulas or trade-offs. Trade-

Offs – an exchange designed to address the interests of
both groups involved in mediation.
2. Peace-keeping and Humanitarian Intervention – the
UN and regional organizations intervene militarily to end
international and interethnic violence or to prevent it
from escalating.
Another issue raised in humanitarian intervention is the
concept of just war. Criteria of just war:
1. Support a just war
2. Be just in intent
3. Be of last resort
4. Have limited objectives
5. Be proportional
6. Be declared by legitimate authorities
7. Not involve noncombatants
3. Peacemaking – intervention intended to convince
combatants to reach a political settlement through
peaceful negotiations. The intermediaries rely on certain
methods, such as arbitration, mediation, and facilitation.
Arbitration – the binding, authoritative third-party
intervention in which conflict parties agree to hand the
determination of a final settlement to outsiders.
Mediation – a process of facilitating communication
between combatants to encourage them to brainstorm,
invent options for mutual gains, try to see the other
side’s perception of reality and legitimate concerns, as
well as to help them understand difficulties that might
prevent the other side from meeting their demands.
Facilitation – a cooperative, nonhierarchical, and noncoercive
approach to conflict resolution. Facilitation attempts to get those
involved in conflict to see the problem as a shared problem that
requires cooperation to be solved. The third party’s objective is to
get the adversaries to engage in joint decision making to reach a
settlement that is self-sustaining.

Peacebuilding – a long term process of implementing peaceful

social change through economic development and reforms,
political reforms and territorial compromises.

Economic reforms – more equitable distribution of economic

opportunities and economic development.
CAUSES OF ETHNIC CONFLICT
Power-sharing arrangements – division of political power
among different ethnic groups. However, unless periodic
adjustments are made to reflect changing demographics/
population, these arrangements tend to disintegrate and
ethnic conflicts erupt. Ex. Federalism helps to solve
ethnic conflicts. Ethnic groups can enjoy a degree of
autonomy.
Partition – forming of separate and independent
countries between ethnic groups is a last resort.
Ex. states are extremely reluctant to agree to partition as
in the American Civil War.