This major and timely collection addresses one of the world's most visible and tragic problems: ethnic conflict and its regulation. It begins with a guide to the primary methods used to eliminate or manag eethnic conflict, and is followed by a global sample of case studies written by leading authorities in their fields.

Katharine Adeney demonstrates that institutional design is the most important explanatory variable in understanding the different intensity and types of conflict in the two countries rather than the role of religion. Adeney examines the extent to which previous constitutional choices explain current day conflicts.

Ethnicity is one of the most salient and enduring topics of social science, not least with regard to its potential link to political conflict/violence. Despite, or perhaps because of, the concept’s significant use, all too seldom has the field paused to consider the state of our knowledge. For example, how do we define and conceive of ethnicity within the context of political conflict? What do we really know about the causal determinants of ethnic conflict? What has been the most useful development within this literature, and why? This volume comprises reflections from an international range of prominent political scientists all engaged in the study of ethnicity and conflict/violence. They attempt to synthesize what the field does and does not know with regard to ethnic conflict, as well as draw out the research directions for the immediate future in unique and interesting ways. This book was originally published as a special issue of the journal Ethnopolitics.

In this book, Donald Rothchild analyzes the successes and failures of attempts at conflict resolution in different African countries and offers comprehensive ideas for successful mediation. The book demonstrates how negotiation and mediation can promote conflict resolution, along with a political environment that fosters development.

"Investigating the causes and consequences of ethnic conflict, the authors argue that the most effective responses are those that take into account factors at the local, state, regional and global level and that avoid seeking simplistic explanations and solutions to what is a truly complex phenomenon." "Ethnic conflicts are man-made, not natural disasters, and as such they can be understood, prevented and settled. However, it takes skilful, committed and principled leaders to achieve durable settlements that are supported by their followers, and it takes the long-term commitment of the international community to enable and sustain such settlements." --Book Jacket.

Published in 1997. After the collapse of the communist system, the political systems in Eastern Europe were unable to cope with increasing tensions between ethnic majorities and minorities. These tensions led to violent ethnic conflicts and civil wars, in particular in former Yugoslavia. In this phase of transition and nation-(re)building, ethnic groups strove for more political autonomy and even territorial secession. The newly independent states lacked democratic structures and traditions as well as civil manners that could be used for regulating ethnic conflicts. The idea of Civil Society provides both basic democratic mechanisms for a lasting co-existence in an ethnically plural society. The theoretical part of this book discusses the issues of conflict anatomy, causes for conflict, and democratic conflict resolution. The empirical part describes experiences of ethnic conflicts in former Yugoslavia (especially Slovenia, Croatia and Serbia) in Ukraine and Romania. Experiences from Switzerland and the United States demonstrate successful examples of ethnic conflict management and illustrations of the political culture within a Civil Society.

The author traces the changes that have taken place in international politics since 1989 and the impact these have had on the global awareness that ethnic conflicts are a major problem for international society. Coverage includes the Kurdish, Bosnian, and Sudanese conflicts.

A definitive global survey of the interaction of ethnicity, nationalism and politics, this handbook blends rigorous theoretically grounded analysis with empirically rich illustrations to provide a state-of-the-art overview of the contemporary debates on one of the most pervasive international security challenges today. Fully updated for the second edition, the book includes a new section which offers detailed analyses of contemporary cases of conflict such as in Ukraine, Kosovo, the African Great Lakes region and in the Kurdish areas across the Middle East, thus providing accessible examples that bridge the gap between theory and practice. The contributors offer a 360-degree perspective on ethnic conflict: from the theoretical foundations of nationalism and ethnicity to the causes and consequences of ethnic conflict, and to the various strategies adopted in response to it. Without privileging any specific explanation of why ethnic conflict happens at a particular place and time or why attempts at preventing or settling it might fail or succeed, The Routledge Handbook of Ethnic Conflict enables readers to gain a better insight into such defining moments in post-Cold War international history as the disintegration of the Soviet Union and Yugoslavia, and their respective consequences, the genocide in Rwanda, and the relative success of conflict settlement efforts in Northern Ireland. By contributing to understanding the varied and multiple causes of ethnic conflicts and to learning from the successes and failures of their prevention and settlement, the Handbook makes a powerful case that ethnic conflicts are neither unavoidable nor unresolvable, but rather that they require careful analysis and thoughtful and measured responses.

A definitive global survey of the interaction of race, ethnicity, nationalism and politics, this handbook blends theoretically grounded, rigorous analysis with empirical illustrations, to provide a state-of-the art overview of the contemporary debates on one of the most pervasive international security challenges today. The contributors to this volume offer a 360-degree perspective on ethnic conflict: from the theoretical foundations of nationalism and ethnicity, to the causes and consequences of ethnic conflict, and to the various strategies adopted in response to it. Without privileging any specific explanation of why ethnic conflict happens at a specific place and time or why attempts at preventing or settling it might fail or succeed, the Routledge Handbook of Ethnic Conflict enables readers to gain better insights into such defining moments in post-Cold War international history as the disintegrations of the Soviet Union and Yugoslavia and their respective consequences and the genocide in Rwanda, as well as the relative success of conflict settlement efforts in Northern Ireland, Macedonia, and Aceh. By contributing to understanding the varied and multiple causes of ethnic conflicts and to learning from the successes and failures of its prevention and settlement, the Handbook makes a powerful case that ethnic conflicts are neither unavoidable nor unresolvable, but rather that they require careful analysis and thoughtful and measured responses.