Browsing by Subject "Ethnic conflict"
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Item Blurred lines : effects of the Soviet nationality policy on ethnic conflicts in the South Caucasus(2016-05) Rowlette, Kacie Noelle; Garza, Thomas J.; Neuburger, MaryThis thesis will examine the ethnic conflicts in Nagorno-Karabakh, South Ossetia, Abkhazia, and Adjara, and how the Soviet nationality policy affected each of these conflicts in the following ways. First, the policy placed all of the ethnic groups in the Soviet Union into a strict hierarchy, creating power differentials between ethnic groups that had previously been on an equal footing under Imperial Russian rule. Second, some ethnic groups were divided across multiple union republics in order to weaken their political power, hindering their ability to advocate for themselves when conflicts arose. Third, because the autonomy level of each ethnic group was laid out in the Soviet constitution, any change in status could be seen as depriving an ethnic group of something that it was constitutionally guaranteed. Finally, the top-down power structure created by the policy made the Soviet Union the only arbitrator of conflicts and guarantor of autonomy. As such, when the Soviet Union collapsed and their continued autonomy was no longer guaranteed, some smaller ethnic groups in the region resorted to armed conflict in order to ensure that their autonomy would be respected.Item Explaining ethnopolitical mobilization : ethnic incorporation and mobilization patterns in Bulgaria, Cyprus, Turkey, and beyond(2014-05) Alptekin, Huseyin; Madrid, Raúl L.Why do some ethnic groups mobilize in violent ways whereas some others mobilize by using peaceful methods? And why do some ethnic groups seek integration while some others pursue separatist goals? This dissertation proposes a theoretical framework to answer these questions. It suggests that a state’s ethnic incorporation policies shape both why (centripetal or centrifugal aims) and how (peaceful or violent methods) ethnic groups mobilize. It argues that (1) consocitionalism recognizes ethnic groups and grants a degree of political autonomy to them, yet limits individuals’ political participation via non-ethnic channels of political participation; and, therefore, it leads to peaceful and moderately centrifugal ethnic mobilizations; (2) liberal multiculturalism recognizes ethnic groups, grants a degree of political autonomy to them, and allows individuals to participate in politics via non-ethnic channels; and, therefore, it leads to peaceful and moderately centripetal mobilizations; (3) civic assimilationism neither recognizes ethnic groups nor grants a degree of political autonomy to them, yet allows individuals to participate in politics via non-ethnic channels; and therefore it leads to peaceful and centripetal mobilizations of groups which lack pre-existing ethnic mobilization; but it leads to moderately violent and centrifugal mobilizations of groups which have strong pre-existing ethnic mobilizations; and (4) ethnocracies neither recognize ethnic groups nor grant a degree of political autonomy to them, and they also limit individuals’ political participation via non-ethnic channels. Therefore, they lead to centrifugal and violent ethnic mobilizations. The dissertation uses a mixed method research design. The hypotheses are tested based on the Minorities at Risk data as well as the case studies of ethnic Turks in Bulgaria and Cyprus, and Kurds and the Roma in Turkey. The case studies benefit from an extensive field research in Bulgaria, Cyprus, and Turkey using original interviews with former and current guerillas, guerilla families, political activists, and politicians from each ethnic group under scrutiny and archival research on newspapers and legal documents. The findings indicate that politics of ethnic accommodation are not only an explanation for the causes of different ethnic mobilization patterns, but also a feasible remedy for ethnic disputes spanning all over the world.Item Political institutions, contexts, and ethnic conflict in comparative perspectives(2007) Lee, Feng-yu; Lin, Tse-min; Moser, Robert G. MoserSince the 1990s, ethnic divisions have replaced the cold war as the world's most important source of violent conflict (Lijphart 2002). According to Fearon and Laitin (2003), a conservative estimate of the total dead between 1945 and 1999 is 16.2 million, five times the interstate toll, as a direct result of about 127 civil wars that each killed at least 1,000. The problem of ethnic tensions is so widespread and serious that it has presented a major impediment to further democratization in this century and has possibly caused a third reverse wave of democratization (Lijphart 2002). Are ethnic tensions and conflicts inevitable in heterogeneous states? Which governmental institutions (parliamentary or presidential) and electoral systems (PR or SMD) create the best framework for addressing ethnic conflict? Is there any one-size-fits-all institutional solution to ethnic conflict? This dissertation aims at answering these urgent but under-explored questions, especially the last two about the effects of institutional arrangements. This dissertation will hold out institutional prescriptions that meet the needs of specific divided societies through a large-N quantitative study covering all ethnic groups in Minorities at Risk dataset from 1985 to 2003.Item The social and spatial dimensions of ethnic conflict : contextualizing the divided city of Nicosia, Cyprus(2013-12) Oswald, John Frederick; Butzer, Karl W.Ethnic conflict is a persistent and vexing problem for the world today. The intercommunal violence during these conflicts not only significantly alters the social and spatial geography in these regions for decades, but also frequently involves external actors who magnify the social conflict. It is within the urban areas that the impacts of violence are often most acute and deleterious to the once functioning system. Ethnic conflict transforms many urban areas into “divided cities” in which barricades and armed posts dominate the landscape. With this paradigm of conflict in mind, the overarching purpose of this dissertation is two-fold: 1) to examine how and why certain peaceful societies devolve into intercommunal conflict, and 2) to outline how ethnic conflict ultimately, and often irreparably, transforms an urban area into a “divided city.” In this dissertation, Nicosia, the ethnically divided capital of Cyprus, serves as the primary case study used to illustrate the process of social devolution from ethnic conflict to a militarily fortified urban division. The three main research questions are asked concerning Nicosia’s division. 1) What historic factors contributed to the progression and intensification of the social and spatial cleavages that appear in the urban landscape today? 2) To what extent is the urban divide diagnostic of the overarching ethnic conflict on Cyprus? 3) How is Nicosia’s urban division similar to or different from other “ethnically” divided cities and how might this comparison help further the general understanding of the causes and consequences of these entities? These three questions help frame Nicosia within the context of the larger social conflict on Cyprus as well as assist in developing linkages with other divided cities. As articulated throughout this study, Nicosia is a “model” divided city that typifies how the historically-laden process of ethno-territorial polarization can manifest itself in the physical and social geography of a contested region. In the end, divided cities epitomize the “worst-case-scenario” outcome of ethnic conflict and once the urban divisions take root, they prove exceptionally challenging to remove from the social and physical landscape.Item The effect of renewable natural resource scarcity on ethnic conflict: an analysis of minorities at risk, 1985-1998(Texas Tech University, 2004-08) Stanton, Samuel SThis work looks at the effect of renewable natural resource scarcity on ethnic conflict. The work takes its roots from literature on environmental security and applies the study of renewable natural resource scarcity and acute conflict to the study of ethnic conflict. The theoretical framework utilized is ethnic competition and the ethnic security dilemma. Determining how renewable natural resource scarcity affects ethnic conflict requires multiple levels of inquiry. First, is there a relationship between renewable natural resource scarcity and ethnic conflict. Second, if this relationship exists how does it franslate into ethnic conflict. Third, does the framework established have evidentiary support in particular cases that can be considered. To address these three levels of inquiry, both large N statistical analysis and case study analysis is used. The large N analysis uses data taken from a variety of sources, particularly the Minorities at Risk project, the World Resource Institute, the World Bank, the U.S. Central Intelligence Agency, the United Nations, and Keesing's World Record. Using ordered logistic regressions, and panel-corrected standard error cross-sectional time-series regressions a relationship is shown to exist between renewable natural resource scarcity and ethnic conflict. Further, using the same techniques a relationship is proven between renewable natural resources and key mechanisms that allow ethnic conflict to be affected. Finally, four cases are examined. The four individual cases look at states where there was low scarcity and low conflict, high scarcity and low conflict, low scarcity and high conflict, and high scarcity and high conflict. The case studies are conducted to see if a process can be traced that reinforces the findings of the statistical analysis conducted. Findings give a mixture of results. The findings suggest that a relationship exists statistically between renewable natural resource scarcity and ethnic conflict. They also suggest that only certain combinations of scarcity and mechanisms effect ethnic conflict. Finally, the cases suggest that in addition to these effects found to exist statistically, that there are other factors that must be considered, such as strategic decision making by both the leadership of ethnic groups and the state.