Intercultural Communication In The Modern World

Intercultural communication is a very important part of the modern world. People from different cultures and social groups exchange information, share their experience and knowledge in business, science, education, health and in many other spheres. It is known that one of the most influential intercultural interactions is communication between politicians of different countries. The history of diplomacy is full of examples of how ignorance of the history and culture of another people led or could potentially lead to sad consequences.

This story of misunderstanding is based on actual events which occurred in 1938. It was a period of tense relations between the US and Japan. In October this year, a former Japanese Ambassador to the United States died in Washington (Raymond C.,1997). The president of the United States Franklin D. Roosevelt was on good terms with the deceased and in a sign of respect ordered the allocation of a cruiser Astoria for the immediate delivery of the diplomat 's ashes to his homeland. From the point of view of Americans and Europeans, Roosevelt 's actions were perfectly understandable, however, in Japan, where there is a special tradition of farewells to the dead, this step aroused outrage. The Japanese could not understand why the diplomat 's ashes was being sent to Japan without carrying out complex ceremonies on the site of his death, designed to demonstrate the respect of the United States to him and his country. But from one cross-cultural