Ethnopolitical Conflict Research Articles

Exploring the Role of Culture in Shaping the Dagbon Ethnopolitical Peace Negotiation Processes

Abstract Culture is a significant factor in peace negotiation processes. It frames the parties’ perspectives and strategies to managing the conflict. This study explores the role of culture in the peace negotiation processes of the Dagbon ethnopolitical conflict of Northern Ghana. Twelve elders from the Dagbon Traditional Area with an in-depth understanding of the traditions and culture of Dagbon were interviewed using an unstructured interview guide. Similar to most findings on cross-cultural negotiation processes in high-context cultures, all the negotiators were men. The issues negotiated were largely based on the culture and traditions of Dagbon, and the interest and priorities of the negotiators were culturally defined. As with many other ethnopolitical conflicts, the culture of Dagbon was key in shaping the process and outcome of the peace negotiations. It is imperative for cultural issues to be properly understood and addressed satisfactorily in order not to undermine peace negotiation processes.

Building a theory of communication and ethnopolitical conflict

ABSTRACTCoherent development of theories of ethnopolitical conflict has been slow and scattered. Moreover, the role of communication has been seriously neglected. I theorize ethnopolitical conflict along two dimensions: the level in which the conflict is entered (macro state-level, mid civil society level, and individual level) and the type of communication most characteristic of the level (bargaining and negotiation, intergroup relations and intercultural communication, identity theories and deliberative processes). Additionally, the article makes the case for a social constructionist perspective on ethnicity, and develops a relationship between communication and ethnopolitical conflict. Finally, theories of communication are posed as mediators of social systems that couple the communication systems of two conflictive groups in order for them to increase commensurability.

Georgia’s frosts: ethnopolitical conflict as assemblage

This article is a reinterpretation of ‘frozen conflicts’ as assemblages binding together and strategically orienting a variety of components from both human and nonhuman estates at various scales in order to make a move toward ‘unfreezing’ their research. It then demonstrates how this perspective may be employed in the case of the ethnopolitical conflict in Georgia. The resulting analysis points to several important processes that animate the constant pulsation of the conflict field even when arms are calm and contribute to the dynamic and becoming nature of the conflict and its dynamic (re-)assembling. It illuminates how the visibility function of the assemblage operates and endows with meaning the structure of relations in the conflict field. It traces how the bricolage of Georgian social association transformed over time, notably under Saakashvili, and how it has also been a key element of statebuilding practice in the separatist entities. The analysis moreover demonstrates how the actual instantiations of collective violence form but a fraction of that which takes place in the conflict field, from other forms of political and criminal violence to regime change, state (un-)making through processes of contraction or extension of heterogenous, ‘hybrid’ governscapes including some distinctly virtual ones but betraying real political effects. Finally, it expounds how the ethnopolitical conflict assemblage affixes together a variety of agency from human agents to institutions from local to state governments or the international conflict resolution apparatus in addition to the material (nonhuman) actants enrolled in the translation networks populating the conflict field.

<b>Camera-trapping survey to assess diversity, distribution and photographic capture rate of terrestrial mammals in the aftermath of the ethnopolitical conflict in Manas National Park, Assam, India</b>

Information on the presence and distribution of species is crucial for conservation planning and management within a region. Documentation of species assemblages in Manas National Park (MNP) in the aftermath of conflict is critical for informed conservation interventions. For nearly two decades (1990–2010), conservation efforts in MNP were compromised by ethno−political conflict. We conducted camera trapping surveys of terrestrial mammals across three administrative forest ranges (Panbari, Bansbari and Bhuyanpara) of MNP in 2017. A systematic survey with 118 trap locations accumulated data over 6,173 trap-days. We obtained 21,926 photographs of mammals belonging to 13 families and 25 species, of which 13 are threatened. We calculated photographic capture rate index (PCRI) using independent events. Trap specific PCRI’s were used to map the spatial variation in capture rates. We observed variation in capture rate between Bansbari-Bhuyanpara where conflict ended in 2003 and has remained peaceful, and Panbari, a forest range where conflict ended later in 2016. Our results further indicate lower capture rates of mammalian prey species and small felids, but higher capture rates of four large carnivores in Panbari as opposed to Bansbari-Bhuyanpara. These results highlighted the fact that despite a history of ethno-political conflict in the region, although almost all mammalian species expected to occur in the park were detected and confirmed, present evidence indicated ethno-political conflict influences the distribution of several key species. In depth studies assessing mammalian prey densities, distribution and density are required to further understand the effects of conflict.

Identifying peace-oriented media strategies for deadly conflicts in Pakistan

This paper investigates the existing journalistic practices in three deadly conflicts in Pakistan and also proposes corrective peace-oriented media strategies. Based on semi-structured interviews with journalists, analysts and stakeholders involved in the religiously inspired Taliban conflict, separatist-led Balochistan conflict and the ethno-political conflict in Karachi, six strategies have been identified. These include highlighting the problems of sufferers and contextualization of the Taliban conflict; inclusion of multi-perspectives and highlighting the voices of peacemakers in the Balochistan conflict; humanization and solution-oriented coverage of the ethno-political conflict in Karachi. While the journalists agreed these strategies were very much in line with their professional duties, the analysts and stakeholders hoped the proposed journalistic practices would lead to better understanding and facilitate resolution of the three conflicts. Based on the findings of this article, the researchers advocate a pragmatic form of peace journalism that reflects the ground realities as compared to the more critical form of peace journalism that becomes difficult to be practiced in conflict scenarios.

Security Strategy of Ukraine in the Context of Ethnopolitical Challenges of the Annexed Crimea

The article presents an analysis of ethnopolitical challenges in the national security system of Ukraine, which had led to the annexation of the peninsula, and also defines political and legal mechanisms for providing ethnopolitical security for conserving territorial integrity and sovereignty of Ukraine in the struggle for de-occupation and reintegration of Crimea. It is determined that since the 1990s, scientists focused their attention on ethnopolitical destabilizing factors in the Autonomous Republic of Crimea, in particular the constant support by Russia of the Russian community of the peninsula; lobbying the idea of the “Russian World” and “genuinely Russian Crimea”; the insufficient support by Ukraine of the Ukrainian and Crimean Tatar communities, who could have opposed separatist threats. Thus, Russian ethnocultural environment did not only avoid scaling back in the years since the Soviet era but also dominated in the ethnopolitical space of Crimea. In turn, after returning to the territory, Crimean Tatars, unsatisfied with such a situation, demanded from the Ukrainian state the full vindication of their rights, including ethnocultural and property ones. Ethnocultural problems of the peninsula’s Ukrainian community were constantly ignored on the part of the authorities as in Crimea so in the official Kyiv, which contributed to the partial assimilation of the Ukrainians. To some extent, the demands of the ethnically politicized Russian majority in the peninsula were balanced by the growing ethnocultural and ethnopolitical demands of the Crimean Tatar minorities. Thus, it was possible to keep the peninsula ethnopolitically stable for many years by suspending the ethnopolitical conflict between the key ethnic communities. The article considers the problem of determining the legal status of Crimean Tatar people as the indigenous people of Ukraine in the context of the state ethnonational policy of Ukraine. It studies the contemporary state of the legal framework as for the regulation of the Crimean Tatar question and the legal status of the AR of Crimea.

Chapter 2: Dealing with Dangerous “Peace”: Politics of Words in the “Armed Conflict” of Pa(t)tani

The deadly ethno-political conflict in the Deep South of Thailand or “Patani” corresponds with problematic issues regarding the presence or absence of certain terminology. In other words, the naming of violent situations, actors, the territory/land and the people, including the way in which these conflicts have been transformed, remains contested. This chapter elaborates upon the semantic dynamic of such naming by means of “unfolding” to present times how these contested words and concepts could shape conflict and the peace process and how peace communities should deal with confronting the political convenience of accepting a term such as “armed conflict” and the difference between Thai terms such as “santipap” and “santisuk” which both seem to mean “peace” in this conflict.

Intricate links: Displacement, ethno-political conflict, and claim-making to land in Burundi

This paper explores claim-making to land in Burundi, where civil war and multiple waves of displacement and return have resulted in complex disputes over land. Zooming in on two different regions, the paper shows that, as people articulate their claims and defend their interests in land disputes, they strategically draw on a diversity of arguments, related to legal categories, notions of belonging and citizenship, social categories derived from (land) policy, but also victimhood, security concerns, and political loyalty. Post-peace agreement land policies play an important role in this, as they instrumentalise war-based categories of identity and victimhood, privileging certain groups of displaced people for political purposes. As we show in two case studies, claim-making tactics follow shifting political discourses and policy changes, as people seek to secure the support of (powerful) allies. A perspective on processes of making claims to land allows us to explore the entanglements between multiple waves of displacement, policy implementation and the instrumentalisation of identities in conflict-affected settings.

The international mediation of power-sharing settlements

Power sharing is largely accepted among scholars and policy-makers as a potentially effective mechanism for building peace in the aftermath of violent ethnic conflicts and self-determination disputes. Although the operation of power sharing may be prone to ongoing challenges and even political crises arising from the legacy of the conflict, international actors continue to promote power-sharing arrangements to manage self-determination and other ethnopolitical conflicts. This article investigates the normative and instrumental reasons why third-party mediators (on behalf of international organizations and/or states) turn to power-sharing strategies during peace negotiations. It considers the reasons why third-party mediators promote power sharing when its maintenance is likely to depend on their ongoing commitment and governance involvement. We argue that mediators draw from four different perspectives in their support of power-sharing settlements: international law, regional and internal security, democracy and minority rights, and a technical approach where mediators focus on the mechanics of power-sharing designs. The article draws on in-depth semi-structured interviews with officials from the United Nations and the European Union working for the organizations’ respective mediation units as well as documentary analysis of official mediation documents.

The Rise of Ethnic Nationalism, Intra-State Conflicts and Conflict Resolution

This article aims to discuss the rise of ethnic nationalism and related intra-state conflicts in the post-Cold War era, also attempting to come up with some recommendations for the resolution of such conflicts. By looking through major ethnopolitical conflicts around the globe and trying to find out some main points in common, the study reaches the conclusion that these conflicts are, in general, associated with, but not limited to, restrictions of ethnic identity, legal, economic and cultural discrimination, anti-democratic regimes, unfavorable economic conditions, collapse of state authority, and international support. The study also reveals that ethnopolitical conflicts cannot be resolved through force only. Although a reasonable use of force may be functional in terms of stopping immediate violence and providing a cooling-off period for negotiations, multi-level efforts are said to be needed by domestic and international actors to be responsive to the underlying causes of intra-state conflicts discussed in detail.

A peace of bricks and mortar: thinking ceasefire landscapes with Gramsci

This article addresses the ways in which Nicosia has been affected by division due to the ethno-political conflict and the gentrification efforts that have attended attempts to reunite the city. It examines two spaces of civic action in particular that have involved reconstruction and rehabilitation of two areas in the capital’s UN-controlled Buffer Zone: one by a peace and reconciliation initiative and another by the local variant of the global Occupy movement. In doing so, it addresses the question of how conflict politics becomes imbricated in the politics of urban development. The article examines the role of organic intellectuals in the making of war heritage and the transformation of post-conflict landscapes amid processes of gentrification. In the cases we are examining, we want to trace the processes of creating landscapes that memorialise not only ethnic conflict but the multiple political conflicts that unfold in time and space.

Закарпаття як об’єкт етнотериторіальних претензій Угорщини та Росії: порівняльний аналіз стратегій та цілей.

In 2014, an open phase of ethnopolitical disintegration of Ukraine started, which was preceded by long-term preparation, feeding by neighboring states of separatist sentiments among ethnic minorities. It turns out that the foreign ethnopolitics of many countries contains a disintegration component toward neighboring states with ethno-territorial claims. It is Transcarpathia, where the interests of Hungary and Russia intertwined, in case of ignoring the disintegration factors and the destructive activity of these states, may become the next region over which Ukraine will lose control.Transcarpathia is the object of ethnoterritorial and ethnopolitical claims of Hungary and Russia – countries, pursuing various goals and applying different strategies that ultimately destabilize the ethnopolitical situation in the region and promote the spread of separatist tendencies. The official aim of Hungary is to form Hungarian territorial autonomy within the Transcarpathian region. Hungary is openly pursuing a gradual ethno-political integration of the region's population, rigorously protecting the rights of ethnic Hungarians. Russia, on the other hand, uses Rusyns secretly, promoting politicization and radicalization of the demands of this ethnic group, encouraging them to territorial self-determination. Unlike Hungary, Russia does not have a common border with Transcarpathia, therefore its goal is not to integrate the region, but to destabilize the Transcarpathia, to continue the process of disintegration of Ukraine, to weaken the position of the state in the ethnopolitical conflict in the South and East, to undermine the prospects for the de-occupation of the Donbas and Crimea.The prospects for further studying of the issue depend on the external ethno-political activity of Russia and Hungary and are grounded in monitoring the activity of these states and their organizations in Transcarpathia since the positions of national minorities – Hungarian and Ruthenian are not independent, but mostly determined from the outside.

Modus Operandi of Oppressing the “Savages”: The Kenyan British Colonial Experience

Colonialism can be traced back to the dawn of the “age of discovery” that was pioneered by the Portuguese and the Spanish empires in the 15th century. It was not until the 1870s that “New Imperialism” characterized by the ideology of European expansionism envisioned acquiring new territories overseas. The Berlin Conference of 1884-1885 prepared the ground for the direct rule and occupation of Africa by European powers. In 1895, Kenya became part of the British East Africa Protectorate. From 1920, the British colonized Kenya until her independence in 1963. As in many other former British colonies around the world, most conspicuous and appalling was the modus operandi that was employed to colonize the targeted territories. Part one of this article discusses the tactics of subjugation used by the British to oppress, humiliate, subdue, conquer and colonize the Kenyan communities. These tactics included crown land ordinances; capitalist estate production; the establishment of African reserves and squatter systems; the formation of the “white” highlands; the imposition of taxes and forced labor; the imposition of the pass or Kipande System; missionary churches; the declaration of a state of emergency; military operations; villigilization; ethnic divide and rule; and flogging, torture, incarceration and execution. The findings offer a comparative template about the tactics used by the British in other colonies. Part two of this study addresses a new focus about the link between British colonialism and ethnopolitical conflicts in Kenya. This presents a new avenue for more focused interventionism in addressing such conflicts. Part three of this study introduces a new important inquiry about “what next?” for the victims and survivors of British colonialism in Kenya. The argument is that the study of British colonialism cannot be complete without interrogating transitional justice for the victims and survivors of colonial atrocities. The focus on transitional justice introduces a new debate about the need for collaborative action in facilitating restitution, reparations, healing and closure for victims and survivors of British colonial atrocities. Although resistance to colonial invasion was experienced in many parts of Kenya, this study concentrates on the Mount Kenya region where it was most intensive and dominant.

УМОВИ ВИНИКНЕННЯ МІЖЕТНІЧНИХ КОНФЛІКТІВ В УКРАЇНІ

Overlooked the conditions for occurrence of ethnical conflicts in Ukraine based on long-time social and politics instability in the state and features of certain regions with high-density population of ethnic minorities. Outlined possible outcomes in case of beginning of ethnical conflicts. Defined position and role of National Guard in case of law enforcement units operating in the area. Predicted the general service and combat tasks of National Guard. The reason for this is that the position of traditional interstate conflicts is replaced systematically by interior and local conflicts, including so called hybrid warfare in Ukraine, at that among the first are prevalent `conflicts of identity` - national, ethnical, religious (interethnic conflict). The danger of such conflicts is determined by vulnerability of modern societies and underdevelopment of countermeasure methods. Last time events such as annexation of Crimea, Donbas (interior conflicts in the countries of the Near East and North Africa), also history of Soviet Union (Fergana, Karabachos, Abkhazia, the Baltic states and Trans Dniester) show that the state of international (interethnic) and interreligious relationships one of the main factors, which influence on social and political situation in the state, and particularly in this regions was noticed and continue to be observed some negative tendencies. The practice of the past and modern times shows, that the main tasks as implementing of security procedures and methods of force, focused on localization of the interethnic conflict area, suppressing of mass riots and standardization of situation are performed actually by law enforcement establishments. Therefore, it is necessary to define the extract characteristics of international relationships, level of cultural and social neighbourship or standoffishness between national-ethnic groups, also possible regions of beginning of interethnic conflicts in Ukraine. Due to this, it is possible to predict service and combat tasks of the National Guard of Ukraine. Analysis of historical practice shows that development and formation of most modern countries were not done without shattering impact of ethno-national minorities. The presence (or absence) ethno-political conflicts determines the level of political stability and secure progress of one or another country. The whole spectrum of ethno-historical based conflicts (as ethno-cultural, ethno-religious, ethnoterritorial, ethno-economical, ethno-political conflicts etc.) from objective side are interethnic phenomenon, i.e. collision between two and more ethno-historical subjects. That is why interethnic conflict is a currently important subject from the viewpoint of it`s formation and possible consequences.

THE THEORETICAL ASPECTS OF THE STUDYING OF THE PROBLEM OF THE SETTLING THE “FROZEN CONFLICTS” IN THE POST-SOVIET AREA

The article is devoted to the analysis of such threats of regional and global security as "frozen conflicts", and the approaches of their settlement in the post-Soviet space. The aggressive policy of the Russian Federation in relation with Ukraine, actualize this topic, because there is a threat of appearance a similar conflict on the territory of Ukraine. The paper analyzes the theoretical approaches to the research of "frozen" and ethnopolitical conflicts by domestic (G.Perepelitsa, O.Kartunov, A.Kisse, V.Kotygorenko) and foreign (R. Bruebooker, E. Hobsbawm, R.Dahrendorf, J. Rothschild, E. Smith) scientists. Considerable attention is paid to the study of the understanding of such conflicts by russian scientists (M. Lebedeva, A. Zdravomyslov, A. Tsigankov). The paper determined the main reasons and preconditions of interethnic contradictions on the post-Soviet area. Also determined the main approaches to the category of "frozen conflict" and their peculiarities in the region. The process of resolving such conflicts and their mechanisms, proposed by different scientific schools, is thoroughly studied. In the paper is determined the role of mediation in resolving conflicts of this kind.

Exploring Islamic School Leadership in a Challenging Southern Thailand Context

This study explores leadership practices in different Islamic schools in Southern Thailand, an area where already for decades an ethno-political conflict has been ongoing between Malay Muslims and the Thai Buddhist government. Using a multiple-case study approach, this research selected three Islamic schools one each in the provinces of Pattani, Narathiwat and Yala selecting their principals, teachers, and students as informants. The findings suggest that the principals, in their planning activities, tend to think strategically for the benefit of their schools, their students, and the community at large, that they are willing to compromise with the government so long as not contradicting their religious beliefs and principles, and that they have a strong vision for the school improvement. Under difficult conditions, they always consider the need to establish immediate and more extensive cooperation with various stakeholders to help further improve the school conditions and their output.DOI: 10.15408/sdi.v24i2.4608

Managing during Violent Conflict : Public Managers and Conflict Transformation Entrepreneurship

It is increasingly common for public administrations to be tasked with the management of service delivery in the midst of on-going ethno-political conflict and conflict transformation. Such process...

Conflict and Peace Journalism: Role of Media in Pakistan

This study aims to investigate the reporting of major conflicts in Pakistan by two leading TV channels i.e. Geo TV and Dunya TV, to ascertain the nature of the coverage in terms of being escalatory or de-escalatory. It aims to explore these conflicts from a peace journalism perspective. The conflicts include: the Taliban conflict, Balochistan conflict, sectarian conflict and ethno-political conflict in Karachi. The study is primarily a quantitative content analysis to explore the media coverage of conflicts during both high and low intensity periods from 2014 to 2015. The findings suggest that Pakistan news TV channels reported the Taliban and the ethno-political conflict in Karachi in an escalatory fashion, ridden in a de-contextualised pattern. While, on the other hand, the Balochistan and the sectarian conflict were mainly reported in de-escalatory terms owing to various socio-cultural reasons impacting the coverage. The findings are quite consistent with the existing literature on conflict journalism, which suggests that the media, in general, adopts a more propagandist and nationalistic stance, when the threats to national security are highest whereas it adopts a more humanistic stance, when the threats to national security are assumed to be low.

Analyzing the war–media nexus in the conflict-ridden, semi-democratic milieu of Pakistan

This study combined the key findings of a dozen empirical studies with an original qualitative investigation aimed at understanding the dynamics of conflict journalism in Pakistan. The author devised an original contextual model and tested its applicability in five different conflicts of varying intensity. The study found that conflict journalism is dependent on the interaction between two key factors: the journalistic assessment of a conflict in terms of its seriousness of threat to national security and the resultant flak that stems from various sources that significantly influence professional reporting. The article concludes that journalists working in the semi-democratic, conflict-marred settings of Pakistan adopt a more vigilant and independent stance if they perceive a conflict to be posing an enormous threat to national security, for example the Taliban conflict, and that their critical stance erodes to a more compromising position in the case of a medium-level threat in conflicts such as the one in Balochistan and the ethno-political conflict in Karachi; their reporting further diminishes to a more sensational stance in the case of a low-level threat conflict due to the preponderance of the commercial interests of media industries.

Ethnic reforms and the puzzle of public framing: the case of Kurds in Turkey

Will pro-Kurdish reforms decrease ethnic violence in Turkey? Conventional wisdom would suggest that elimination of the root causes will heal past wounds. In bitter ethno-political conflicts, however, the issue becomes much larger than its components: deep mistrust between parties overshadow specific issue reforms. Turkey’s Kurdish issue is a case in point where ethnic reforms would not bring stability unless they are coupled with steps to eliminate mistrust. This article pays a specific attention to public framing of reforms. We argue that the actual content of reforms is not so significant; what really matters, instead, is the public perception of reforms on both sides, Turkish and Kurdish. The AKP’s claim of “democratic opening” loses credibility in recent years as the PKK’s alternative narrative gains prominence.