Fault lines

The deepening racial, ethnic and religious divides in the US has serious implications not only for the future of the country but also for all those where there exist sizeable ethnic, religious or racial groups of peoples, often referred to as minorities, coexisting with the majority. 

I believe that the divisions in America are a preview of what can be expected in other nations with considerable minority groups.

Countries in the Middle East are not immune to this pessimistic prognosis, especially in states where there are large numbers of minorities, like, for example, the Kurds in many parts of the region or millions of Arab Palestinians in Israel, who are coexisting, for the time being, with the Jewish majority in relative calm.

The future of multiculturalism is at stake as there are increasing signs in many parts of the world that, sooner or later, coexistence among different ethnic, racial or religious groups will give way to separatism.

More recently, the religious divide in Myanmar between the Buddhist majority and the Muslim minority, which has reached a high pitch, is another example of religious intolerance in the world.

If the US, after so many years of existence, has failed to bring together the various components of its population, not much better result can be expected from other countries.

Russia has a large Muslim community, whose faith is the second largest in the country.

According to latest census, there are about 14 millions Muslims in the Russian Federation, concentrated mostly in Chechnya.

India is another country that has large numbers of Muslims and so is Indonesia.

The number of Kurds in region is estimated at no less than 40 million, spread in Iran, Iraq, Syria and Turkey. For how long can such a large number of people be persuaded to stay without expressing their right to self-determination? 

That is a question that must trouble many regional states.

The Palestinian Arabs in the north of Israel are numbered in the millions.  For how long can such a large number of Arabs remain united with the Jewish majority in the state of Israel?

I believe that multi-ethnicity is doomed in the long run.

Sooner or later, groups of people belonging to different religions or ethnicities will want to enjoy their right to self-determination.

As long as this desire is ignored, there will remain axes of tension across the globe ready to explode. The sooner this fact is recognised, the better for world peace and stability.