1. Reasons for Tensions
Tensions & Conflict:

2. Territory & Resources
Sometimes territories have ge0-strategic importance (access to water, important trade routes) or natural resources (to feed population or for economic gain)

3. Territory & Resources...Examples
Suez Canal Crisis 1956 (Egypt vs Israel)
France and Canada

4. Issues of Identity
Societies are not homogeneous. Populations are composed of different cultures and sometimes this results in ethnic, religious, or linguistic tensions.

5. Issues of Identity...Examples
Rwanda Genocide (1994)

6. Desire for Political Autonomy
Self-Determination: principle that all people have the right to rule themselves and make decisions that concern them.
Sometimes colonized people or minorities demand greater political power because their views are not represented by their government.
Some wish to create their own state either democratically or by force.

7. Desire for Political Autonomy...Examples
Basque People of Spain and France

8. Desire for Political Autonomy...Examples
Europe post-WWI: Self-Determination

9. Ideological Conflicts
Beyond ethnic or religious differences, ideological tensions occur when people disagree on the type of government or economic system to be implemented
Ex: USSR and USA during the Cold War

10. Exercising Rights & Freedoms
When a state abuses certain rights of their citizens, tensions can arise.
Some Principle Human Rights:
The right to life, liberty, and security
Freedom of thought, expression, religion, and association
Equality before the law
The right to paid work and social security
The right to education
The right to privacy

11. Exercising Rights & Freedoms...Examples
Political Freedoms in the Soviet Union were limited as no one could speak against the communist party, religious beliefs and literary expression were also monitored
Secret Police enforced the laws