Edward Azar’s Human Needs Argument
According to Edward Azar, protracted social conflict means contentious interrelations between groups in the community that have ethnic, racial, religious, and societal differences. When these differences continue for a prolonged time, they cause violence when a certain group is intimidated resulting in conflict. Such conflicts are brought about in the communities by struggles with basic needs for example being recognized, accepted, and fair treatment. Edward Azar’s human needs argument is convincing because cultural divisions cause a single group to dominate in an area and deny the basic human needs to the majority of the people in that area.
Azar points out that the human basic needs are not negotiable and when these needs fail to be met, people will always want a formative change to be made. The lack of basic human needs is the major source of protracted social conflict. A need for a formative change is most likely to result in a violent conflict. Therefore the national identity of persons has to be emphasized over single or individual group identity to avoid or reduce such violence. The government too is required to give security to all levels of people in the community regardless of their ethnic groups. This will ensure that a certain group is not deprived of their basic human needs.
Most countries consist of people who are from different cultures and ethnic groups making protracted conflicts more likely to arise. The only thing that could change this is if pluralism is adopted and the access to human needs is made possible to every single person equally. These conflicts give rise to crises and struggles and very little or no development. This is because these conflicts cause enormous destruction, for example, property destruction, people's hopes, and dreams are shattered and can eventually lead to loss of lives. These conflicts are also a result of the political divide, communal hatred, the effect of migrants from disasters, and most significantly the lack of human needs.
Human needs are the main factor in development and conflict and people work towards fulfilling their basic needs by forming communal groups. These basic needs mostly fail to be evenly met and this leads to deprivation protests being expressed by groups. When the relevant officials fail to meet the collective demands, conflicts arise. The role of the government in power or the state is to ensure that they intervene in satisfying people with human needs. States that are prone to these conflicts are those that lacked fairness, capability, and resources. Some are monopolized by groups that dominate and want to fulfill their interests at other people’s expense. Natural resources are among the environmental factors that could lead to a lack of human needs. This could be due to fast growth which could lead to a population imbalance affecting healthcare, mobility, and technology among others.
The dependency of states may lead to deprivation of human needs. This is in the sense that an international, local, and political elites partnership could lead to the exploitation of national resources. This restricts the access and security needs of people. When violence starts, the cost of human life raises that conflict with acts of aggressive communication. Political explanations are not available, being assessed only if there is any power gain. Aggressiveness grows rapidly while the extreme deprivation of human needs causes stereotyping, isolation, and separation along communal lines.
Protracted social conflict causes physical, emotional, economic, and political destruction. Physical security worsens causing loss of human life. Destroying physical and social infrastructure causes the removal of welfare and development programs from the system. A cycle of underdevelopment and destitution starts to thrive and this leads to deprivation of human needs from all groups and economic well-being. It becomes worse in the emotional perplexity for the ones that are trapped in the conflict situation, whereby the consequences lead to frustration and even depression. These conflicts lead to negativity, discouraging leaders, and creates a sense of numbness that affects the moral sense of the whole population. This brings forth to the development of a frame of mind that inhibits productive negotiation on how to manage the conflicts. This hinders meaningful conversations among the different parties thus eliminating any opportunity for satisfaction of acceptance needs. Eventually, the unmet human needs lead to debilitated perception and behavior patterns that cannot be remedied easily.
Being deprived of one form of any developmental need leads to problems in other areas. It is therefore of utmost significance to interpret the relationship among these needs to be able to comprehend the causes of any protracted social conflict. Needs can either be tangible or intangible and when combined they make the protracted social conflict unmanageable. For example, material needs are straightforward but it is difficult to identify the psychological needs.
Edward Azar’s Human Needs Argument helps to explain the protracted social conflicts. These conflicts are brought by differences in race, ethnicity, or culture by individuals living together. The major reason that causes these conflicts is the deprivation of human needs mainly because of their cultural differences. Another reason is when the governing authority is willing to do what is of their interest at the cost of others. These conflicts can lead to physical, emotional, economic, and political destructions and overall loss of lives.
