Modern scholarship typically differentiates utilitarian ethnic cleansing from ideological ethnic cleansing. Pre-twentieth-century acts of ethnic cleansing typically were of the utilitarian type, in which perpetrators were pursuing land, economic wealth, slaves, or simply settling old scores. Modern ethnic cleansing, however, tends to be ideological, whereby the perpetrator proceeds for reasons having to do with race, ethnicity, religion, politics, or some other ideological factor. In most cases, the ideology underpinning an ethnic cleansing is complex; rarely …
showed first 75 words of 809 total

showed last 75 words of 809 total
…causes of ethnic cleansing are varied and complex. No two acts of ethnic cleansing are ever the same. In every case, however, ethnic cleansing is a quick solution to a problem--a solution, unfortunately, built on hate, prejudice, intolerance, and a complete disregard for the sanctity of human life. Is it possible to identify potential ethnic cleansings in their early stages so that preventive measures can be implemented, thus averting the needless destruction of human life?