ABSTRACT
As the world moves toward the twenty-first century, striking types of social antagonism and violence, often genocidal in proportion, persist. Despite significant worldwide economic and technological development, as well as the intervention of international bodies such as the United Nations, situations such as those in Bosnia, Burundi, Haiti, Rwanda, Iraq, Iran, the Congo, and the former Soviet Union display troubling levels of intergroup hatred, violence, and destruction challenging any optimistic notions of modern progress. Accordingly, intergroup relations are extremely insightful cues into a society’s past development, cultural values, the personal attitudes and identities of its members, predominant types of social organization as reflected in its institutional arrangements, most visible social problems, and political dynamics. Regardless of such pitfalls, trying to understand intergroup relations may provide crucial insight into major factors behind violence at all levels of society, including the international.
