How Multicultural Cohesion Can Survive

History shows how countries can advance economically while regressing socially. Avoiding this is a key challenge.

- Tharman Shanmugaratnam

To sustain multicultural togetherness, we need more than the acceptance of different races, religions, and cultures within society. More than "live and let live," or even the celebration of diversity.

Cohesive societies can last, and diversity remain a strength—only if people have shared hopes, and a sense of shared endeavor and purpose. We can achieve this only if our lives are intertwined, starting with how kids grow up. And by developing respect for each other along the way—not only the respect for differences but also for the contributions that we all bring to the table.

Unfortunately, history shows that these attributes do not come naturally. Even once achieved, they may later recede. A large-scale international survey two years ago, in fact, revealed a startling picture of social cohesion in retreat. More than half of all respondents believe their societies are more divided than at any time in living memory. While no more than a third feel that way in a handful of nations like Singapore, the majority in most nations believe that divisions had never been worse.

The loss of cohesion reflects several trends, besides a waning enthusiasm for multiculturalism. Politics has become more polarized, weakening the moderate middle ground. The social and political divides between those with a college education and the rest have widened sharply in most advanced nations. And so too between those who live in the cities with vibrant economies and those in declining towns and the countryside.