In the current system of conflicting values, when an ethnic minority is at or above a certain size -- a size that varies depending on the cultures and polities involved -- the kind of conflict you see all around the borders of the Slavic world, for instance, happen.
This is not entirely correct. It doesn't take an Ethnic minority to produce trouble. Bosnia is a good example, where there actually is NO ethnic majority. You have a third croats, a third Bosnians and a third Serbs... And they have ethnic tensions to spare. In my opinion, Ethnic Heterogenity inside one nation is a major factor, it doesn't really matter if there is a majority or not.
I disagree. I think tribalism is genetically programmed into upright apes.
Still, there is the fact that in Bosnia (it's the place I know best, so most of my examples are taken from there) you have no relevant genetic differences between ethnic groups. They define their ethnicity mostly by religion. I don't disagree with tribalism being a factor, however I strongly doubt that genetics effectively have to do with it.
If everyone has their needs met and their survival is not threatened, why should they care that the fellow over there is a different color/sounds funny/wears a different hat?
Several reasons: The "Others" have something you don't, even if you don't need it. The "others" have a different understanding of morale, being a depriving influence in your culture. The "others" are of different religion, thereby enemies of God. Finaly, the "others" are a constant threat to your well-being. It's a complicated mix of feeling superior, inferior and afraid, and it can show up even if everything is "perfect".
Nice example, but I'd have to agree with Jarvitä that it is hardly universal.
In Switzerland a combination of several factors that are not neccesarily common enabled a peacefull coexistence, even cooperation.
First, you could divide Switzerland in three major ethnic groups, if you wanted to. Every swiss however will STRONGLY opose dividing swiss population into ethnicities, allthough it technicaly might be correct.
So, there are the "German"-speaking swiss, the French-speaking swiss and the Italian-speaking swiss. As you see, their major difference is language. This and some differences in mentality are the only difference a swiss will admit.
The composition of Switzerland today is voluntary. These regions joyned up. They where not annected. They are all of the same religion (allthough two denominations, which is actually the reason for the only civil war in switzerland so far. Yes, we had one too!)
Next, Siwtzerland has a very decentralised gouvernement. It is so decentralised that we don't even need a rule that there has to be a representative of each in the major executive organ (I can't remember our last italian-speaking representative... sure there was one once, but it's a rare occurance). This is because every canton, and even every town can wing their laws themselfes to a certain extent. Not a small extent, e.g. we have different educational systems in allmost every canton (they're now trying to unify this though, I think it's majorly because they want to get their grades EU-compatible).
And not least important, Swiss define themselfes majorly by nationality. You're Swiss, that's that. Plus, we got so used to each other.
Now, with the huge increasement in muslim population, interesting patterns start to show. We're not used to them. Allthough many of them are good swiss citizen by now, they don't really get accepted as such. The german swiss can handle the french swiss allthough they might barely understand each other. A German Swiss talking with a bosniak who speaks a good swiss german with some accent in it is not really accepted as a Swiss. They don't "belong" here. The french and the italian speakers do.
It is interesting to read newspapers: A Swiss youth from Neuchatel (french speaking) might commit a crime, the general sentiment is "the youth of today is getting worse...". Take an ex-yougoslavian, third generation, Swiss pasport since birth, everything there, the sentiments will be "These damn foreigners!"
Switzerland is currently undergoing a change, a distinctian into "swiss swiss" and "foreign swiss", with the later not really accepted as Swiss allthough they they might have been born here and living here all their lives. This shows how much Swiss, despite of different languages, consider themselfes "Swiss"... and not much to it. You can hardly speak of "different ethnicities" in a situation like that. Ethnicity gets a matter where people that do not usually belong to switzerland (i.e. their place of origin is not within swiss borders as defined in the last 400 years) enter the stage, and we're having the same trouble as everyone else: we fear for our morale, our religion (big point that, way bigger than one might suspect from the outside), our economy, our jobs, our way of live, we fear for switzerland "as we know it". Which is, in my opinion, exactly the major contributing factor to ethnic tensions.
Ask anyone who has witnessed an exercise between troops from Tessin and "zucchini" (german-speaking Swiss) and you'll know what I mean. :lol:
Ironicly, we call you "the russians"
