Facing Ethnic Conflicts: Toward a New Realism

Ethnic conflict is the major form of mass political violence in the world today, and it has been since World War II. Dramatic acts of terrorism and calculated responses to them may distract the attention of policymakers and the public, but ethnic and nationalist conflict continues to pose the greatest challenge to peace and security across the globe. Causes of such conflict and ideas about how to address it are hotly debated in the literature that has emerged over the past fifteen years. This volume offers a unique overview of research and policy approaches to ethnic conflicts. It is the first book to bring together experienced policymakers and key scholars from all disciplines. They debate how to best understand the rise and escalation of ethnic conflict, assess different strategies for peacemaking, mediation, and reconciliation, and evaluate the prospects for conflict management through institutional design. In contrast with a more enthusiastic assessment of the willingness and capacity to successfully intervene in ethnic conflict, this volume documents the new realism that has emerged over the past decade. It recognizes the complex and protracted nature of such conflicts and demands a multifaceted, case-by-case approach sustained by long-term political engagement. Published in co-operation with the Center for Development Research, University of Bonn.

Table of Contents:
Chapter 2 Introduction: Facing Ethnic Conflicts Part 3 I Understanding Ethnic Conflicts Part 4 The Rise of the Ethnic Question Chapter 5 A Few Cautionary Notes on the History and Future of Ethnonationalist Conflicts Chapter 6 Ethnicity without Groups Chapter 7 Ethnic Conflict and the Colonial Legacy Part 8 The Dynamics of Escalation Chapter 9 Exclusion, Marginalization and Political Mobilization: The Road to Hell in the Great Lakes Chapter 10 Conflicts Start with Words: Fighting Categories in the Chechen Conflict Chapter 11 The Asymmetry between the Dynamics of Violence and the Dynamics of Peace: The Case of Civil Wars Part 12 II The Politics of Intervention Part 13 Prevention and Peacemaking Chapter 14 Looking Back, Looking Forward: Reflections on Preventing Inter-ethnic Conflict Chapter 16 Operationalizing the Lessons from Recent Experience in Field-Level Conflict Prevention Strategies Chapter 17 Sources and Settlements of Ethnic Conflicts Chapter 18 Transforming Ethnic Conflict: Theories and Practices Part 19 Mediation and Reconciliation Chapter 22 From Resolution to Transformation: Assessing the Role and Impact of Dialogue Projects Chapter 23 Justice and Reconciliation in Fragmented Societies Part 25 III Institutional Reform Part 26 Democracy and Electoral Systems Chapter 27 Ethnic Pluralism: Strategies for Conflict Management Chapter 28 External Democracy Support: Challenges and Possibilites Chapter 29 Liberalism, Democracy, and Conflict Management: The African Experience Chapter 30 Some Realism about Constitutional Engineering Chapter 32 The Politics of Electoral Systems in Transition Part 33 Federalism and Autonomy Chapter 34 Territorial Autonomy: Permanent Solution or Step toward Secession? Chapter 35 Containing Ethnonationalist Violence Chapter 36 Decentralized Governance in Fragmented Societies: Solution or Cause of New Evils? Part 37 IV Conclusion Chapter 39 Hidden Ties: Similarities between Research and Policy Approaches to Ethnic Conflicts Chapter 40 Toward a New Realism

About the Author :
Andreas Wimmer is professor of sociology at the University of California, Los Angeles. Richard J. Goldstone is Hauser Global Visiting Professor at New York University Law School and retired justice of the Constitutional Court of South Africa. Donald L. Horowitz is James B. Duke Professor of Law and Political Science at Duke Law School, Duke University. Ulrike Joras is reasearch fellow at the United Nations Fund for International Partnerships. Conrad Schetter is research fellow at the Center for Development Research (ZEF), University of Bonn.

Review :
...Overall this book manages to systematically summarise the research on ethnic conflicts from different academic and practical political perspectives, while also proposing new ways, or a 'new realism', to understand and help resolving ethnic conflicts. An immensely interesting and valuable volume which should receive much use in upper-level undergraduate and graduate-level courses on ethnic conflict, this edited volume brings together more than a score of contributors to examine the prospects for managing the type of protracted ethnic and national conflicts which have recently proven so destructive to multinational states in the contemporary world, and which have often spilled into the international system. An important book. It is very rare to find in a scholarly treatise of this nature a wide representation of different voices arguing a range of analytical standpoints as well as reporting empirical data about root causes, dynamics of intensification, and methods of management and resolution of ethnic conflicts. This volume is a needed addition to the diverse but often incoherent ethnic conflict literature. An impressive list of contributors, for the first time combining accomplished scholars with the expertise of diplomats, NGO officers, and government advisors, shows the entire spectrum of methods, approaches, and worldviews of the various actors concerned about understanding and ultimately preventing ethnic violence. Highly recommended.