Monday, May 26, 2008

Diplomacy is Losing Ground to ‘Cultural Arrogance’

By Carlos Luken

At times I wonder, often laugh, but I am always baffled by the consequences brought about by the only trait that is truly shared by all societies and nations – Cultural Arrogance!

Like most human idiosyncrasies, cultural arrogance may be voluntary or involuntary, it can have many appearances; it can take the shape of a simple misinterpretation, or escalate into dangerous xenophobia. But sadly it is universal and often brings unwanted consequences.

Allow me to explain.

Apparently as monkeys evolved into human beings (with or without God’s intervention, according to the reader’s preference) they not only lost their tail but also their ability to co-exist with different species. Primates were always capable of understanding chatter, shrieks and roars when they stumbled into alien territories; they would soon understand their mistake, and if involuntary they would either back away or, if voluntary, they would grow hostile.

Unlike humans, monkeys always understood their rivals, perhaps because they didn’t possess a person’s ability for thought or speech, and only relied on their trusted vital instincts, hence nothing got in their way. This is something we should learn from them.

The term “Arrogance” may seem harsh to some, and maybe it is. But to me, the only other applicable term is “Stupidity.” Ironically, humans have the uncanny ability to “over think” and “over talk” any issue presented to them; they do so without following any intuition and almost always presume that their ideas are satisfactorily transmitted and understood by others.

Cultural arrogance supposes that “everybody thinks like we do.” It presumes that one culture (ours) is foremost and universal, and that words, terms, ideas and traditions are common. “Cultural Arrogance” is also a two way street. Most nations, regardless of size or condition, fall prey to it.

There is sufficient historical data to support the notion that a great many wars have been started and continued by arrogant nations, leaders and their populations. Sometimes I wonder if many of today’s problems aren’t the result of it.

Conflicts among Latin American nations, the European community, the Middle East, Far East, the United States and others, all have one common denominator: different cultures. Could this be a coincidence?

The plain and simple fact is that nations and people just don’t reach understandings because they are too involved discarding other opinions that they don’t understand or even try to understand, while trying to ram their ideas over someone else’s.

Understanding each other used to be a skill called diplomacy. Being almost systematic it was handled by career civil servants who used history experts, linguists, and local citizens, as well as spies for intelligence gathering and testing before reaching conclusions. When a test didn’t work out, it usually detonated a crisis. Elder statesmen understood perception, deference and respected other opinions (until they got in the way of their interests). They practiced “Intelligent arrogance,” and at least they knew what was going on and where they wanted to go.

But today’s diplomats use computer models and language translators. They have discarded mediation for technology, and in doing so they have committed a grave mistake; people and nations don’t conform to mathematical or digital models, and words (even if correctly translated) seldom have the same meaning. They seem oblivious to cultural differences, and their aims seem to be more focused on complacency for expedient purposes.

Aside from “Cultural Arrogance” and “laboratory ambassadors,” modern day diplomacy is plagued by another cause that makes reaching understandings almost impossible – politicians.

As politicians involve themselves in diplomacy they almost unfailingly wind up focusing on what they consider to be “the problem.” They try to balance their own ignorance with unsubstantiated opinions, political correctness and pandering to their own particular interests – a recipe that can only yield bad results. The foremost error most politicians and world leaders make is their failure to comprehend that there are no “universal concepts.”

Democracy and freedom are not understood the same way in countries that have lived under autocrats or dictators. Religion does not have the same connotation in secular countries as it has to fundamentalist regimes. Countries that have lived under any foreign occupation or dominance have a natural and often exaggerated reluctance to being lectured to or bullied by stronger nations. Conservatism in Latin America is comparable to liberal ideologies in other parts of the world. Et cetera.

As I stated, the problem is far from being uncommon, nor does it belong to any one nation. Until all countries make real efforts to understand other cultures and respect them, the world will continue to have conflicts and, as arrogance increases, the club will be the only solution.

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Carlos Luken, a MexiData.info columnist, is a Mexico-based businessman and consultant.