Religious minorities and majorities: the inclusiveness of the excluded

Inter-religious tensions based on non-tolerance or lack of desire for dialogue, account for the majority of cases of intra- and inter-state violence. Apart from prevalent religious beliefs, the presence of minority faith groups, and their tensions with or repression by the mainstream politics often raises questions as to the future. Conflict ethnography, as outlined by David Kilcullen (2009), should deconstruct one sole country, considering geography, religion and language, socio-cultural contexts and identity meanings. This is crucial as a first step to the establishment of common denominators among different culture, and development of cross-border dialogue. The initiation of dialogue as a means to combat the “clash of civilisations” has been projected largely as an initiative of the West. This does not mean, however, that other societies lack peaceful conflict management tools. Many know of the Afghan traditional dispute resolution still widely practiced in villages and tribal areas, yet, few have gone deep into this conflict transformation tradition. My research explores the opportunities for dialogue between communities as a means to initiate peaceful coexistence. With the support of impartial religious and secular institutions, local grassroots and international community, dialogues will lead to building trust and bridges on multiple levels.