Cultural conflict. A stronger sense of cultural belonging
cannot but lead to tension and conflict. This is, first,
because different cultures and civilizations are incommensurate:
they establish quite different sets of values
and meanings; in effect, different understandings of the
world. However desirable cross-cultural understanding
may be, it is impossible to bring about. Second, there is
an irresistible tendency for people’s sense of who they are
to be sharpened by an awareness of the ‘other’: the
people they are not; those they are against. This divides
people into ‘us’ and ‘them’, or ‘our civilization’ versus
‘those barbarians’