Ethnic groups are large groups of people distinguished on the basis of a common culture, language, and consciousness of the indissolubility of historical destiny.
Social communities distinguished by ethnicity are diverse. First of all, these are tribes, nationalities and nations.
Nations are the most developed ethnic formations that have arisen on the basis of a linguistic, territorial, cultural, economic, socio-psychological community. They are most characteristic of the modern world, in which there are at least two thousand different ethnic groups.
The nature of national relations is determined by two interrelated trends: towards differentiation and towards integration.
Each nation strives for self-development, for the preservation of national identity, language and culture. These aspirations are realized in the process of their differentiation, which can take the form of a struggle for national self-determination and the creation of an independent national state.
On the other hand, the self-development of nations in the conditions of the modern world is impossible without their close interaction, cooperation, exchange of cultural values, overcoming alienation, maintaining mutually beneficial contacts. The trend towards integration is intensifying due to the need to solve the global problems facing humanity, with the success of the scientific and technological revolution. It must be borne in mind that these trends are interrelated: the diversity of national cultures does not lead to their isolation, and the convergence of nations does not mean the disappearance of differences between them.
Interethnic relations are a particularly delicate matter. Violation or infringement of national interests, discrimination of individual nations give rise to extremely complex problems and conflicts.
In the modern world, including in Russia, there are interethnic conflicts caused by various reasons:
1) territorial disputes;
2) historical tensions in relations between peoples;
3) the policy of discrimination pursued by the ruling nation against small nations and peoples
4) attempts by national political elites to use national feelings for their own popularity;
5) the desire of peoples to leave the multinational state and to create their own statehood.
It should be borne in mind that the international community, when resolving ethnic conflicts, proceeds from the priority of state integrity, the inviolability of existing borders, the inadmissibility of separatism and the violence associated with it.
When solving interethnic conflicts, it is necessary to observe the humanistic principles of policy in the field of national relations:
1) renunciation of violence and coercion;
2) search for consent based on the consensus of all participants;
3) recognition of human rights and freedoms as the most important value;
4) readiness for a peaceful settlement of disputed problems.
National relations are relations between peoples (ethnic groups), which cover all aspects of public life.
National relations find their expression in public actions, which largely depend on the individual motivation and behavior of the subjects of society.
National relations can be friendly and mutually respectful, or vice versa - hostile and conflict.
Ethnic communities are associations of people based on a common historical past, which provokes identity in their worldview, in cultural and spiritual traditions.
The main feature of ethnic communities is their common historical region of residence.
To date, there are several thousand ethnic communities in the world, the modern geography of their settlement is the most diverse.
Interethnic conflicts are a kind of social conflicts that occur between members of different ethnic communities. In many scientific works, varieties of political, civil confrontation are indicated as the basis of interethnic conflicts.
Ethnic conflicts often exist in two forms: in the form of political competition and in the form of armed confrontations. Often the formation of the image of the enemy in the person of another nation occurs on a historical basis.
Interethnic cooperation is the interaction between representatives of different ethnic groups, which is reflected in economic, political and cultural social relations. The main principle of interethnic cooperation is mutual assistance, as well as respect for representatives of other peoples.
The culture of interethnic relations is the level of relations between people and ethnic groups of different nationalities, which is based on moral principles, legal norms, as well as norms of mutual trust and respect.
A low level of culture of interethnic relations provokes the emergence of interethnic conflicts, a high level contributes to the development of interethnic cooperation.
National policy is an integral part of the activity of any state, which regulates interethnic relations of citizens in various types of social interaction.
The essence of national policy directly depends on the general vectors of state policy. At the heart of the national policy of legal democratic states is the principle of respect for people belonging to any ethnic communities.
What is international relations? These are certain relations that arise between ethnic groups, which cover all spheres of public life without exception.
In the modern world, relations between peoples play an important role, since the process of globalization causes constant contacts and cultural exchange between ethnic groups. Interethnic integration is taking place. An example of such integration is the EU, where peoples come together culturally, economically and politically.
In addition to the political integration strategy (EU), there are other types of integration process. An example is the United States, the melting pot concept. This expression means that in America people belonging to different ethnic groups are mixed, the peoples that make up the United States are united into a common ethnic group "Americans". The USA is a country founded by immigrants from all over the world.
Another process is possible, called ethnic mixing (mixing). It occurs when, in the mixture of several ethnic groups, one new one is formed. For example, the tundra peasants in Yakutia are a people who have absorbed both Russian and Yakut national characteristics. The tundra peasants retained the Orthodox faith, but entered into marriages with the indigenous peoples of Siberia. There was a mutual exchange of way of life, which led to the formation of a new ethnic group.
There is a phenomenon of assimilation, when the culture of one people is "absorbed" by another. One of the nations is deprived of its own language, national identity, customs, traditions and culture. This process can take place both peacefully (assimilation by Russian settlers of the Finno-Ugric peoples of northeastern Russia: Chud, Merya, all), and violent (Arab conquerors assimilated the Christian population that had lived in the Middle East for a long time).
Scientists single out the process of acculturation, in which two cultures that are different from each other are likened to each other, mixed. Nations can both integrate and differentiate.
On the basis of nationality, states are usually divided into multinational and mononational. The Russian Federation is a vivid example of a multinational state, because almost 200 different peoples live in Russia. A mono-national state can be called, for example, Portugal, where the ethnic group of the Portuguese is the vast majority. National problems can arise in almost any country, so the authorities should be aware of the main types of national policies:
Interethnic conflict is a clash of interests of peoples. It can occur for various reasons which are listed below:
Types of interethnic conflicts:
Ethnic conflicts must be resolved so that peoples interact normally. There are the following strategies for conflict resolution:
Nations and interethnic relations are an important topic in modern society.
