E/CN.4/2003/24 page 9 13. The Special Rapporteur has pointed out that the entire history of the relations between peoples reveals the decisive nature of the misunderstanding about identity. Identity is an ambivalent concept, which can be both an affirmation of the self and negation of the other. In the light of the lessons learned from history, and particularly the movement/convergence/interaction dialectic between peoples which has shaped all civilizations and cultures, the Special Rapporteur has suggested, with a view to ensuring that identity is not an obstacle to but a factor that enables dialogue, that a new understanding of (ethnic, cultural or spiritual) identity should be promoted, whereby it is no longer viewed as a ghetto or place of confinement, but is understood, accepted and put into practice as a process, a coming together, a dynamic synthesis. In a context of retreat into core identity, where, as illustrated by most contemporary conflicts, yesterday’s neighbour is today’s enemy, and where old and new forms of racism, discrimination and xenophobia are emerging, it is necessary to make it manifestly clear that identity is interconnectedness, nexus, movement. Identity is the result of that mysterious alchemy by which a people with its own genius, through the dialectic of give and take and through complex and often random processes, receives, transforms and assimilates influences that come from elsewhere. 14. In the final analysis, it is a question of promoting the idea that identity can be the basis of a code of ethics, of the rediscovery of the proximity of the other, and, thus, of dialogue. 15. In this spirit, a sustainable strategy for the eradication of a discriminatory culture and ideology could take its inspiration from the fundamental lesson of biodiversity, which teaches us that the existence and interaction of different species is a source and condition of life and that the demise of any species is fatal for the ecosystem as a whole. To extrapolate this lesson from biodiversity to harmonious coexistence among peoples we must construct a new social vision based on the dialectic of unity and diversity as well as the understanding and promotion of the value of cross-fertilization between cultures, peoples, ethnic identities and religions as vital ingredients for the vitality, even the survival, of society as a whole. In this way, the dialogue between cultures and civilizations would be the expression of a kind of “bioculture”. 16. The elimination of discrimination implies the need to transform diversity, a concept with historical and ideological connotations, into a value which, while losing nothing of its multifacetedness, combines unity and diversity in a dialectic process. The value in question is pluralism. 17. Ethnic, cultural, social and spiritual pluralism constitutes a fundamental value in combating all forms of discrimination, particularly in the context of globalization. Pluralism could be defined as the recognition, protection and promotion of and respect for diversity. In its deepest sense, pluralism expresses the recognition and protection of ethnic, cultural and spiritual specificities as well as the acceptance of values, in a given society, that transcend those specificities. It is in this sense that pluralism represents the operating value of the unity/diversity dialectic, which is the most solid basis for achieving balance and harmony in any multicultural society. The promotion of pluralism could therefore be the key value around which to construct a strategy for the elimination of all forms of discrimination. A global strategy implies that pluralism, which the Special Rapporteur suggests should be defined as the recognition,