From Voting to Violence: Democratization and Nationalist Conflict by Jack Snyder (review)

Abstract

Рецензии 304 щимся во времени (от одного но- мера к другому) метатекстом. По- этому окончательные итоги в этой рецензии подвести не удастся. Не имея возможности подробно оста- навливаться на втором номере “Диаспор” (сдвоенном № 2-3), по- священным проблеме русских, об- ратим внимание на новые черты метатекста “Диаспор”, проявивши- еся в этом номере. Очевидно, что журнал стал более “управляемым”, ровным по составу отобранных ма- териалов. Но от этого ничуть не менее интересным... Arkady TORITSYN Jack Snyder. From Voting to Violence : Democratization and Nationalist Conflict. New York, London: W. W. Norton & Company, 2000. The international system has undergone dramatic transformations since the early 1990s. The collapse of the Soviet Empire and the demise of the Cold War system have brought about a new strategic landscape: rivalry between superpowers no longer dictates the fate of international politics . The importance of geo-strategy and military security has receded in significance, while economic, ecological , communal, and societal security issues have become increasingly important . War is no longer an instrument of policy and a method of resolving disputes — in most cases it has become a means of creating nationalism, mobilizing the masses for supporting the existing regime or opposition, and sparking social revolution. Although there have been conventional wars, a majority of wars have had nationbuilding , social-revolutionary, statecreation , or other purely domestic objectives .3 Jack Snyder in his brilliant book challenges the simplistic approach, which claims that democratization would be an effective antidote to international war and ethnic strife. Snyder explains why in some instances democratization may cause nationalist conflicts, whereas in other instances the process of democratization may be relatively smooth and peaceful. He builds the book on his previous research4 and openly criti3 See, for instance, Edward Azar and C. Moon, (Eds.), National Security in the Third World. Hants, England: Edward Elgar Publishing, 1988; Donald M. Snow. Distant Thunder: Third World Conflict and the New International Order . New York: St.Martin’s Press, 1993; Mohammed Ayoob. The Security Problematic of the Third World // World Politics. No. 43. January 1991. Pp. 257-83. 4 Edward D. Mansfield and Jack Snyder. Democratization and the Danger of War // International Security. Vol. 20. No. 1. Summer 1995. Pp. 5-38; Edward D. Mansfield and Jack Snyder. Democratization and War // Foreign Affairs. Vol. 74. No. 3. May/June 1995. Pp.7997 ; Jack Snyder and Karen Ballentine. Nation- Ab Imperio, 2/2000 305 cizes a “take it easy” approach of some Western politicians who advocate limited involvement in unseemly struggles because they are caused by ancient hatreds and therefore hopelessly intractable. A key theme in Snyder’s research is that conflict or growth of nationalist feelings cannot generally be explained as an inevitable resurgence of ethnic tensions. Ideas about ethnicity and ethnic differences are essentially political and they are routinely reworked by various political actors. In his view, the process of democratization creates conditions that allow for nationalism and ethnic conflict. Snyder starts his book by defining nationalism and democratization. He defines nationalism as the doctrine according to which a people that treats itself as distinct from others in its culture , history or institutions should govern itself through a political system that reflects and protects such distinctiveness . Nationalist conflict is organized violence that emerges on the grounds of such a nationalist doctrine . Defining democracy and democratization , Snyder rejects the minimalist view of democracy, which emphasizes the absolute sovereignty of the majority, expressed through elections. Democracy, in his view, is a more complex phenomenon and includes such aspects as freedom in civic , economic, political, cultural and social dimensions, freedom to organalism and the Marketplace of Ideas // International Security. Vol. 21. No. 2. Fall 1996. Pp. 540 . ize groups to contest elections as well as free press. Then the author examines with great precision the link between democratization and nationalist conflict. He presents two major contending views, as he labels them, the “popular -rivalries”, when democratization opens a window of opportunity for long-held aspirations of an alreadyformed nation, and the “elitepersuasion ” argument, according to which nationalism is weak or absent prior to democratization processes. Snyder favors the second approach which basically states that the elites in the process of democratization exploit nationalism to prevent surrendering real political authority to common people. Since the elites are concerned about their own survival, they are usually reluctant to allow full democratization because this could challenge their economic interests as well as political position of power. Since nationalism is the doctrine of rule in the name of people but not necessarily by people, it allows the elites to be popular and not necessarily democratic. In Snyder’s view, the intensity of democratizing...