Multiкculture- Ethnic Conflict as a social Phenomenonanatomy and Causes of Conflict

Abstract

It was hoped that the XXth and XXIst century will be celebrated for there alization of the long-awaited dream of a united Europe, but now it seems that those years will remain in the memory as the years of dramatic, often bitter disintegration and fragmentation. Today, around the world, there is a real outbreak of armed civil or international conflicts spurred by strong currents of aggressive ethnic nationalism - often thought to be "internal", but can quickly expand beyond the boundaries of the nation's state. The international community has begun to realize the potential seriousness of these various conflicts. A conflict is a constant content of the social existence at various levels. As a phenomenon which represents destructive behavior including violence, conflict is defined as "a dynamic phenomenon, a manifested conflicting process composed of stages of initiation, escalation, controlled maintenance, silencing and dismissal." Conflict theorists stress the importance of "chronic" or "deep-rooted conflict", which is transferred from one generation to another, because it penetrates into the psychological needs for personal identity and security, to belong to a group and for (self) respect. The world scientific society is preoccupied trying to explain the phenomenon of ethnic conflicts and the new forms of inter-ethnic relations, which are becoming a potential threat to democracy and world peace. United Nations (UNCHR, 2002) believe that "ethnic" conflicts are a dominant form of antagonisms, contradiction and riots in the twentieth century.