, Columnist
The Perfect Way to Help Heal a Divided Country
If your team does well at the World Cup, it might reduce polarization at home.
Victory has beneficial national consequences.
Photographer: Mike Hewitt//FIFA via Getty Images
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Might the World Cup, which starts this week, reduce ethnic divisions and political violence? Absolutely. To see why, we have to back up a bit.
All over the world, many people closely identify with their religion, their race or their ethnicity — and much less with their country.