Tolerance

Since the end of the cold war, there has been a steady increase in social, religious and cultural conflicts. Too many have quickly turned into full-scale armed conflicts; too many fundamental human rights have come under direct assault, too many lives have been lost.

What does the revival of historical grudges and armed conflict in the Balkans have in common with the alarming increase in the number of racial assaults in Western Europe? What formal relationship, if any, exists between extremist or supremacist groups around the world? What does genocide in Rwanda have to do with wars led by extremist religious groups in other parts of the world? Is there any link between the violence that targets writers, journalists and artists in one country and discrimination against indigenous people in another country?

The only immediately available answer is that intolerance is on the increase everywhere and that it is killing on a massive scale. Intolerance raises many moral questions. It always has. In the 1990s intolerance also raises political questions. Intolerance is increasingly seen as a major threat to democracy, peace and security. Understandably, the issue is alarming governments and the public. Yet, any talk of intolerance raises more questions than it answers. There is now a formal proposal to convene a world summit on reducing hate. How much time do we have before the next crisis?

http://www.unesco.org/tolerance/