A/50/476 English Page 19 41. Certain analysts argue that the emergence of neo-racism in Europe is due to the combination of psychological, political and economic factors which accentuate ethnocentrism, xenophobia and racism, the common source of which should be sought in the prejudices which develop throughout the long and complex process of the formation of mental mechanisms, which is completed only upon reaching adulthood. 17/ But how can one explain the origin of the ethnic antagonisms and the nationalism accompanied by ethnic cleansing in the former Yugoslavia, the ethnic massacres in Rwanda and the fire smouldering in Burundi, and the genocidal propaganda of the Hutu refugees in Zaire relayed by Radio démocratie - la voix du peuple? Are these phenomena of contagion, of resurgence or of explosion of latent, uncontained antagonisms? One is inclined to believe that it is psychological conditioning, which generates fear and contempt for the other, and encourages the latter’s extermination or domination, that fosters outbreaks of racism and the violent affirmation of ethnicity and nationality. 2. The fight against racism and racial discrimination in the face of the perversions of cultural relativism 42. Those active in the fight used to postulate that ethnocentrism and racism could not survive a process of education and dissemination of knowledge of civilizations and cultural systems, after which any claim that one of them was superior to the others would be nonsense. 43. The first attempt to combat racism and xenophobia consisted in advocating tolerance towards ethnic minorities, or more simply, towards "the other" - a sort of charitable indulgence in which was inherent a belief in the superiority of whichever ethnic group was tolerating others which was incompatible with an effective struggle that would lead to the disappearance of prejudice. In seeking to replace that tolerance, modern antiracism has sought to find a contemporary dynamic principle, a multi-ethnic and multicultural phenomenon whereby diversity would be perceived as a blessing, part of the fundamental heritage of all mankind. 44. Far from overcoming racial hatred and prejudice, however, the emphasis which, in the name of the struggle against racism and racial discrimination, was placed on the richness of multicultural societies, has had the opposite effect of providing ammunition for the supporters of racist interpretations and arguments. By manipulating ideas about cultures and by twisting and perverting antiracist theses, they were able to break away from the extolling of biological inequality and adopts the absoluteness of cultural differences as their new favourite theme. Masking its true appearance by appropriating and distorting antiracist theses, the new racism of difference was better able to gain acceptance from public opinion in various countries. Antiracists and racists could even be seen together, preaching respect for differences in group identities; the former, however, did so from the universalist perspective of respect for human rights, while the latter had a segregationist view of human society. 45. No sooner does antiracist teaching proclaim that race is merely culture than public opinion transforms culture into race. In this way, neo-racist arguments have replaced the pseudo-biological notion of "race" with the idea of /...