Ethnic Conflict

Abstract

In the aftermath of the Cold War, the nature of conflicts occurring in Europe, Africa, and the Middle East brought societal security concerns to the forefront of the international security agenda. In fact, many modern societies are multiethnic, multiracial, and multireligious. The presence of minorities in conflicts that span the borders of two or more countries and who identify with their ethnic kin in formally opposing states increases the likelihood of interstate conflict and societal insecurity, such as the war in the former Yugoslavia. This is one reason why societal security should be brought to the forefront of security studies. It provides a way of thinking about security issues in which the referent object is not the state but, instead, the people. For instance, the existence of the Kurdish people, who are present in large numbers in Turkey, Iraq, Iran, and Syria, raises the issue of the potential of national secession from the currently existing states. Furthermore, Kurds are internally divided into different factions, clans, and insurgency movements, and all four states have consistently and fervently suppressed their Kurdish minorities.1KeywordsEthnic IdentityNational SecurityNational IdentityRelative DeprivationCollective IdentityThese keywords were added by machine and not by the authors. This process is experimental and the keywords may be updated as the learning algorithm improves.