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Originally Posted by powerclown
The main question as I see it is whether religious intolerance and extremism should continue to be allowed to spread. The major nations of the world have the responsibility of addressing the issues of violent religious extremism, something I don't see them doing.
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Despite the way the field is aligned and who the players are, I don't think the root of any of the Israeli conflicts is
religious intolerance. Ultimately it comes down to displacement of people and ownership of territory. Of course we are proceeding down a path that could easily lead to a flat-out "holy" war.
I certainly agree with you about the major nations of the world having responsibilities, but I think it is very difficult for any nation, however powerful, to exert much effect on these dynamics within another sovereign state. The most effective solutions would come from nations taking responsibility for influencing and monitoring the dynamics operating withing their own borders. There are only 2 problems with that: (1) not all nations want to step up to the plate here or are capable of doing so, such as Afghanistan, Somalia, etc., and (2) sometimes the extremist philosophy is more representative of popular opinion than the government itself, as in Saudi Arabia, and, in some cases, Pakistan.