Presents 16 case studies of ethnic conflict in the post-Soviet world. The book places ethnic conflict in the context of imperial collapse, democratization and state building.

"Author Shale Horowitz employs both statistical evidence and historical case studies of the eight new nations to determine that ethnic conflict entangles, distracts, and destabilizes reformist democratic governments, while making it easier for authoritarian leaders to seize and consolidate power. As expected, economic backwardness worsens these tendencies, but Horowitz finds that powerful reform-minded nationalist ideologies can function as antidotes." "The comprehensiveness of the treatment, use of both qualitative and quantitative analysis, and focus on standard concepts from comparative politics make this book an excellent tool for classroom use, as well as a ground-breaking analysis for scholars."--BOOK JACKET.

The Geography of Ethnic Violence is the first among numerous distinguished books on ethnic violence to clarify the vital role of territory in explaining such conflict. Monica Toft introduces and tests a theory of ethnic violence, one that provides a compelling general explanation of not only most ethnic violence, civil wars, and terrorism but many interstate wars as well. This understanding can foster new policy initiatives with real potential to make ethnic violence either less likely or less destructive. It can also guide policymakers to solutions that endure. The book offers a distinctively powerful synthesis of comparative politics and international relations theories, as well as a striking blend of statistical and historical case study methodologies. By skillfully combining a statistical analysis of a large number of ethnic conflicts with a focused comparison of historical cases of ethnic violence and nonviolence--including four major conflicts in the former Soviet Union--it achieves a rare balance of general applicability and deep insight. Toft concludes that only by understanding how legitimacy and power interact can we hope to learn why some ethnic conflicts turn violent while others do not. Concentrated groups defending a self-defined homeland often fight to the death, while dispersed or urbanized groups almost never risk violence to redress their grievances. Clearly written and rigorously documented, this book represents a major contribution to an ongoing debate that spans a range of disciplines including international relations, comparative politics, sociology, and history.

Sample Text

Drawing on lessons from post-communist Europe, this book provides a summary of the practical wisdom learned in the management of ethnic conflicts from the Balkans to Chechnya. Grounded in empirical - mostly comparative - research, the essays go beyond theoretical postulates and normative ideals and acknowledge the considerable experience that exists within the post-communist world on ethnic conflict, nation and state building. What does the post-communist experience have in common with other nationalisms and nation-related conflicts, and what, if anything, is unique about it? This book, written by academics with experience as policy advisors, is strongly policy-oriented. The primordial type hypotheses of ethnic social capital and ancient hatreds are tested on the basis of public opinion surveys on nationalism and ethnic cohabitation in various countries in east-central Europe. Power-sharing arrangements in the Balkans, the small separatist Republics of the post-Soviet world as well as ethno-federalism from the former Yugoslavia to the former Soviet Empire are discussed in the respective chapters.

In them, Kolstø examines how the drivers behind ethnic conflicts in the non-Russian republics were not only struggles for collective identities but also more mundane interests, such as competition for jobs and positions.