The world is composed of countries that are all maintained by
different forms of governments that are led by individuals from different
cultural and ethnic backgrounds. Many
cultures share similar beliefs and values; however there are many differences
that create conflict between cultures and ethnic groups. In this paper I am
going to examine the similarities and differences between Al-Qaeda and America. As a part of the examination I will discuss
the concept of conformity and how it relates to Al-Qaeda and America. I also will explain the relationship between
social perception and social cognition and how these concepts apply to Al-Qaeda
and America and I will discuss the social perceptions that will need to be
addressed in order to resolve the conflict between Al-Qaeda and America.
Ethnic conflict is defined as “one of the major threats to
international peace and security” (Reuter, 2011p. 141) because it is an attempt
by one ethnic group to oppress or limit the freedom of another ethnic group
because of cultural views, economics or aspects of religion. Ethnic conflict has declined over the years,
however it still “remains one of the main sources of warfare and instability on
major regions of the world” (Reuter, 2011 p.141). The differences amongst
ethnic groups can create conflict when those differences “are used to promote
prejudice and discrimination against a group that has been marked or
stigmatized” ("Ethnic Conflict," 2008 p.1). There are two opposing
standpoints that give a standard explanation of how ethnic group conflict can
occur within a country or between countries, cultural and structural. The “cultural paradigm regards ethnic
conflict as a social identity issue prompted by real or perceived threat to
group boundaries and a familiar way of life” ("Ethnic Conflict," 2008
p.1). The “structural paradigm
postulates that ethnic conflict is not about ethnicity at all but rather
involves economic and political factors, including territory. Ethnicity may be manipulated to gain economic
and political power, and for stratifying societies or nation-states within the
world system” ("Ethnic Conflict," 2008 p.1).
The United States of America along with other countries have been
under attack in recent years by the forces of a group known as Al-Qaeda which
“is an international terrorist network founded by Usama bin Laden (the “Osama”
spelling is deprecated, because there is no letter “O” in Arabic)” (Global
Security, 2014). Usama bin Laden formed
Al-Qaeda around 1988 to help “finance, recruit, transport and train thousands
of fighters from dozens of countries to be part of an Afghan resistance to
defeat the Soviet Union. To continue the
holy war beyond Afghanistan, Al-Qaeda’s current goal is to establish a
pan-Islamic Caliphate throughout the world by working with allied Islamic
extremist groups to overthrow regimes it deemed non-Islamic and expelling
Westerners and non-Muslims from Muslim countries” (Global Security, 2014).
According to the encyclopedia of global religion “Islam is the
name for the faith and the community of Muslims around the world who are
adherents of the teachings of the Qur’an as revealed to Prophet Muhammad”
(Kamali, 2012 p.577). Islam is said to
be the “second largest religion in the world after Christianity” (Kamali, 2012
p.577). Muslims are taught that there is
“only One God, Judgment and individual accountability for actions”
("Understanding Islamic beliefs," 2003). Peace is supposed to be very important to the
Islamic faith as the Quran, which is the “holy book of Islam”, “instructs
Muslins to respect other faiths” ("Understanding Islamic beliefs,"
2003). The teachings of the Islamic faith are about “the worship of God,
respect and care for parents, good neighboring and giving to the needy, poor
and orphaned. Any act of goodness will
elevate a person closer to God” ("Understanding Islamic beliefs,"
2003). Al-Qaeda is a terrorist group
that goes against every principle of the Islamic faith, however the members of
Al-Qaeda do everything in the name of Islam which is considered to be “wrongly
using the name of Islam for political or financial gain” ("Understanding
Islamic beliefs," 2003).
Conformity is “a form of social influence in which individuals
changes their attitudes and/or behavior to adhere to a group or social norm”
(Shiraev & Levy, 2010 p. 283). Social psychology explains conformity in
terms of how an individual may conform not only to “escape sanctions, but to
live up to the expectations of others and therefore remain in their good
graces. This is especially true when the
“others” represent a majority” (Shiraev & Levy, 2010 p.283). For example, in America we have leaders and
governments officials that represent the majority and we are supposed to listen
to and the follow the rules that they have established whether or not we agree
or not because of their positions of authority and their representation of
America. In America individuals are
expected to conform to whatever they are told by authority figures, media, and
societal norms. Individuals conformed to
Al-Qaeda because of their strong belief in the Islamic faith and the teachings
of the Prophet Muhammad although the Islamic faith does not believe in terrorism;
Al-Qaeda used Islam to recruit members and those members conformed to the acts
and teachings of the Al-Qaeda, which was to eliminate all non-Muslims because
they believed that they were doing so in the name of Prophet Muhammad.
Social perception is “the process through which we seek to know
and understand other people and ourselves”, whereas social cognition is “the
process through which we interpret, remember, and then use information about
the social world” (Shiraev & Levy, 2010 p.276). The ongoing conflict
between Al-Qaeda and America has the United States government recalling the
previous attacks that Al-Qaeda launched against America in an effort to try and
prevent future attacks. Special intelligence
agencies were created to study Al-Qaeda in order to gain some sort of
understanding as to why they “issued a declaration calling on Muslims to kill
American-including civilians-as well as those who are allied with them from
among the helpers of Satan” (Global Security, 2014). The information that was
gathered and continues to be gathered is used to assist the American government
in protecting its citizens from “tactics including assassinations, bombings,
hijacking, kidnapping, suicide attacks, and
the use of biological, chemical and nuclear weapons” (Global Security,
2014).
In relation to the conflict between Al-Qaeda and America social
perception can be referred to “the broad tendency pf perceivers to note and
interpret the appearance, behavior, and intentions of others. Such perception is informed by multiple cues
that originate in body features and behaviors, and it affects the perceiver’s
attitudes about behaviors directed toward others” (Johnson, 2010 p. 895). During the first gulf war American soldiers
were positioned in Saudi Arabia, which is “the land of the two mosques (Mecca
and Medina) and is profaned sacred soil (Pocock, 2014)”to Muslims. Due to American soldiers being in Saudi
Arabia, they were perceived as intruders to Muslims and that is said to be the
reason for the forming of Al-Qaeda. One
would think that if American troops were withdrawn from Saudi Arabia, that will
eliminate the perception that Al-Qaeda has that Americans are intruders and
need to be destroyed, however because of the Islamic extremist views of
Al-Qaeda I believe that it is impossible to address any social perceptions in
an effort to resolve the conflict between Al-Qaeda and America. Al-Qaeda believes that they are fulfilling
the wishes of God by eliminating all non-Muslims and because America has sent
troops on to their lands to combat they believe that Americans oppose God,
therefore increasing the intensity of the conflict. It is impossible for America to negotiate
with Al-Qaeda because of their beliefs that they are fulfilling the wishes of
God, so that is why America had to implement a plan to eliminate all members of
Al-Qaeda.
The social perception between Al-Qaeda and America also carries
consequences because of the war on terrorism that was launched by the United
States Government to protect its citizens.
The war on terrorism created a perception that all individuals of the
Islamic faith could possibly have the same views as Al-Qaeda creating tension
between non-Muslims and Muslims here in America because of all the attacks that
were launched against America it created a fear for non-Muslims. The term “social category knowledge caries
interpersonal consequences because it evokes related knowledge structures, or
stereotypes” (Johnson, 2010). Those
stereotypes prompted Muslims here in America to become targets of scrutiny from
non-Muslims because of the perception that all Muslims are a part of the
terrorist group known as Al-Qaeda.
In conclusion, I chose to examine the conflict between Al-Qaeda
and America because of the impact this conflict has had on the citizens here in
the United States of America I wanted to see if it was possible to gain a
better understanding as to why Al-Qaeda launched an attack against America and
if there is a solution based on the applications of cross-cultural
psychology. My findings have suggested
that there is no amicable solution to the conflict between Al-Qaeda and America
because in order for the attacks against America to end Al-Qaeda has to be
eliminated. The conflict between
Al-Qaeda and America has created a social perception with opposing views from
both groups which has made it difficult for Muslims and non-Muslims living here
in America as well as in other countries.
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