"The New World Disorder:" Ethnic Violence and the Disintegration of the Multi-Ethnic State
Date
1998
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Haverford College. Department of Political Science
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Thesis
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Award
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eng
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Haverford users only
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Abstract
Increasingly, existing multi-ethnic states are faced with challenges from ethnic, religious, and/or linguistic communities who demand, often using violent or extralegal means, greater voice in political decision-making or outright sovereignty. These demands for secession threaten to destroy even consolidated democracies, and may undermine peace and security within a state or an entire region. Given the daily news of mounting internal violence in places like the former Yugoslavia, Indonesia, Israel, Rwanda, Russia, Mexico, and scores of others, it seems as though multi-ethnic states are doomed to perpetual strife. Many people see the growing trend of secessionist movements on the part of ethnic minorities, and conclude that such demands are the result of innate ethnic antagonisms. However, while it is true that many, if not most, contemporary states have histories of past injustices against minority groups, not all past injustices become current political problems. The roots of secessionist demands have cultural, economic, structural, political, ideological, and external roots, and therefore also have attainable political solutions. The aim of this thesis is therefore to uncover why ethnic groups choose secession, even with high costs, over remaining within current states. There is hope, but we must fully understand the problem before we can begin to explore solutions. First, I provide a general framework with which to understand the emergence and potential severity of ethno-national movements for secession. Then, through the lens of two case studies of multi-ethnic states -- Spain and Czechoslovakia -- I attempt to fine-tune the general framework. Sources of internal tensions must not be overgeneralized, since each context will have differing forms, and differing intensities, of secessionist demands. Finally, I suggest some preliminary solutions to the multitude of challenges confronting today's multi-ethnic states. The experience of past and future conflicts caused by secessionist ethnic minorities can be used, and indeed must be used, as base with which to understand, and solve, similar future conflicts. The stakes are too high not to learn from the past.