As we begin the new millennium, relationships are more challenging than ever. Every relationship travels through specific stages. Keeping a relationship from moving into the coming apart stages is a principal concern. Each relationship is challenged by dialectics, or contradictory impulses, pushing and pulling each partner in two directions simultaneously. Intercultural relationships are even more challenging. Individuals from collectivist cultures have a We-emphasis, but persons from individualist cultures have a Me-emphasis. This fundamental distinction in cultural values can put a strain on an intercultural relationship.
