What is conflict?
Politics is the art of solving problems and disagreements without using force. When politics breaks down or fails, force is often used to settle an argument. Conflict is a fight between opposing forces. It is usually caused by different ideas or interests.
There are many different types of conflict. Conflict can be found between a mother and a daughter in the home and between two large nations involving millions of people. Here, we will consider conflict on an international scale.
What separates people in the world?
Throughout history, the world has experienced thousands of wars. Wars happen for a large number of reasons. There are many differences that separate us from one another and we must learn to understand those differences in order to prevent disagreement and conflict.
The differences between people include:
There are many religions in the world. In Religious Education, you may have learnt about Buddhism, Judaism, Islam, Hinduism, Sikhism and Christianity to name but a few. Some of the major world religions disagree with each other on fundamental issues and this can be a serious cause of conflict.
Culture is usually about traditions, inherited ideas, beliefs and customs. In other words, a group’s culture is the range of activities and ideas of its people. Differences in people’s cultures have also caused wars and conflicts. Cultural differences are often connected to religious and ethnic differences.
Ethnicity is usually about racial characteristics but it can link to the cultural traditions of a group of people as well. A race is a group of people with a common ancestry, usually with similar physical characteristics (for example, having black or white skin). Race has been one of the causes of many conflicts.
Differences relating to politics, such as how a country should be run or who should lead a country, continue to be very important causes of conflict today.
Economic differences are also the cause of much conflict.
Religious differences