Nationalism and Ethnic Conflict

Abstract

Most of the wars of the 1990s have been complex and bloody internal conflicts driven to a significant degree by nationalism and ethnic animosity. Dozens of wars—in Bosnia, Rwanda, Somalia, the former Soviet Union, and elsewhere—have killed or displaced millions of people. Scholars and diplomats have been frustrated in their attempts to understand and control these wars.

The first part of Nationalism and Ethnic Conflict addresses the roots of nationalist and ethnic wars, focusing in particular on the conflicts in the former Yugoslavia, the former Soviet Union, and Kashmir. The second part of the book, which explores options for preventing and resolving such conflicts, develops proposals for international action ranging from military intervention to partition to a reconsideration of the idea of the state in Africa.