Many countries are changing from the traditional way of life to modernity. The process of modernization creates a system of winners and losers. This divides the societies into social classes comprising the rich and the poor people leading to labor unrests and emergence of political ideas that strive to put checks and balances on modernization process. Countries like North Korea, for example, have taken on isolation policies whose result is international tension between it and other civilizations, such as those of the west.
According to American political scientist Samuel Huntington, modern day conflicts are not between ideologies but civilizations bearing different cultural and religious identities. Huntington, in his 1993 thesis "The Clash of Civilizations" adds that the assertion of cultural and religious identities through extreme ideologies creates tension among civilizations around the world and that civilizations opposing radical religious ideas can survive conflicts arising from these tensions by staying together.
Conflicts between civilizations can be driven by the concept of secession and creation of new states. Unequal sharing and distribution of natural resources, employment opportunities, health care and education within a country may lead to marginalization of certain communities. The marginalized citizens may revolt against authority and demand that the country be split into to two or more states to enable them address their needs through proper management of their natural resources. The dissolution of the Soviet empire was driven by this concept. Other countries known to have taken the decision to separate are Czech Republic and Slovakia, Ethiopia and Eritrea
According to the University of Pennsylvania American sociologist and scientific criminology pioneer Thorsten Sellin, the dominant ethnic group or culture in a society tend to have an upper hand in deciding the structure of the society's laws. This creates a conflict among members of the society who are perceived to be favored by the laws and those marginalized. Members of the less powerful group may take on criminal activities to demonstrate their disagreement with specific laws, creating a recipe for conflicts.