Ethnic cleansing

Philip J. Cohen, Serbia's Secret War: Propaganda and the Deceit of History. College Station, Texas: Texan A&;M University Press, 1996, xxvi, 235 pp. + maps, tables.

Stefano Bianchini and Paul Shoup, eds., The Yugoslav War, Europe and the Balkans: How to Achieve Security? Ravenna: Longo Editore Ravenna, 1995, 192 pp.

Andrew Bell‐Fialkoff, Ethnic Cleansing. New York: St. Martin's, 1996, 346 pp. + figures, maps, tables.

Ruth Lapidoth, Autonomy: Flexible Solutions to Ethnic Conflicts. Washington, DC: United States Institute of Peace Press, 1997, xiv, 298 pp.     

Social Welfare and Ethnic Warfare: Exploring the Impact of Education on Ethnic Violence

This article questions the popular assumption that education promotes peaceful ethnic relations and explores ways education potentially contributes to ethnic violence. It begins by describing mechanisms through which education can shape ethnic violence. Next, it provides a comparative–historical analysis of Assam, Cyprus, and Sri Lanka. The analysis offers evidence that education can promote ethnic violence by strengthening ethnic divisions and inter-communal disfavor, increasing frustration and aggression, intensifying competition, and providing mobilizational resources.     

Ethnic minority development in Vietnam

This study examines the disparities in living standards between and among the different ethnic groups in Vietnam. Using data from the Vietnam Living Standards Surveys and 1999 Census, we show that ‘majority’ Kinh and Hoa households have substantially higher living standards than ‘minority’ households from Vietnam's 52 other ethnic groups. While the Kinh, Hoa, Khmer and Northern Highland Minorities benefited from economic growth in the 1990s, the position of the Central Highland Minorities stagnated. Decompositions show that even if minority households had the same endowments as Kinh households, this would close no more than a third of the gap in their per capita expenditures. While some ethnic minorities seem to be doing well out of a strategy of assimilating with the Kinh-Hoa majority, others groups are attempting to integrate economically while retaining distinct cultural identities, and a third group is largely being left behind by the growth process.     

The International Dimensions of Ethnic Conflict

Abstract

In recent years, the Abu Nidal Organization (ANO) has been politically marginalized. The current Gulf crisis may serve to reinvigorate the ANO as a significant actor in the Middle East. As an organization with its raison d'être rooted in violence, there is a paucity of literature concerning the ANO. It is, therefore, a useful exercise to collect and collate available information to construct a study of this organization.     

The Primordialisation of Ethnic Nationalism in Macedonia

Abstract

After the Greek veto on Macedonia’s NATO accession in 2008, the Macedonian government launched comprehensive policies to reconstruct the Macedonian ethno-national narrative as stretching back to ancient Macedonia. The ‘Skopje 2014’ project, which was a large-scale reconstruction of the capital city in neoclassical and baroque styles, as well as new educational and mass media campaigns claiming the continuous existence of the Macedonian nation since antiquity, were the cornerstones of the Gruevski government’s project. The so-called ‘antiquisation’ programme was both a domestic and international assertion of Macedonia’s name, identity and history amid Greek challenges and attempts to undermine Macedonia’s legitimacy in the eyes of the international community. The Skopje 2014 project increased tensions between ethnic Macedonians and Albanians in Macedonia, and also deepened divisions among Macedonians.     

Explaining Ethnic Autonomy Regimes in Latin America

Through a systematic examination of nine cases, the author identifies factors that enabled indigenous movements in five Latin American countries to secure formal recognition of politico-territorial autonomy regimes. All nine cases occurred within the framework of a larger regime bargain—either (1) peace talks intended to end armed struggle when the regime faced a serious challenge to maintain political order or territorial control, or (2) a severe crisis of legitimacy and governability that forced political elites to renegotiate fundamental regime structures via the process of constitutional reform. In the five successful cases, changes in the political opportunity structure occurred that favored indigenous autonomy claimants. These changes were the opening of access to decision-making spheres and the emergence of an influential ally. Donna Lee Van Cott is assistant professor of political science at the University of Tennessee, Knoxville. She is author ofThe Friendly Liquidation of the Past: The Politics of Diversity in Latin America and editor ofIndigenous Peoples and Democracy in Latin America.     

Ethnic party competition beyond the segmented market

The outbidding model of ethnic politics focuses on party competition in an ethnically perfectly segmented electoral market where no party appeals to voters across the ethnic divide. The power sharing model retains this assumption, yet tries to prevent outbidding through moderation-inducing institutional design. Empirically, imperfectly segmented electoral markets and variance of ethnic party strategies beyond radical outbidding have been observed. To provide a stepping stone towards a more complete theory of ethnic party competition, this article introduces the notion of nested competition, defined as party competition in an imperfectly segmented market where some – but not all – parties make offers across ethnic divides and where competition in intra-ethnic arenas is nested within an inter-ethnic arena of party competition. The notion of nested competition helps explain why ethnic outbidding is not omnipresent in contemporary multi-ethnic democracies. A moderate position on the ethnic dimension that appears inauspicious from the perspective of intra-ethnic competition can turn into the strategically superior choice once ethnic parties take the whole system of competitive interactions within intra- and inter-ethnic arenas into account. A case study of nested competition for Hungarian votes in the Vojvodina region of Northern Serbia illustrates the conceptual innovations.     

Ethnic versus organizational cultures: The bureaucratic alternative

It has been suggested that the common values and beliefs of an organization's culture can be used to control employee behavior. However, the use of organizational culture to control behavior assumes that employees either already have, or can be inculcated with common values and beliefs. The flow of immigrants across national borders increases the diversity of organization workforces. This diversity may include employees who hold values and beliefs associated with their membership in different ethnic cultures. It may be difficult or impossible to infuse common values and beliefs in such a diverse workforce. A more bureaucratic form of organizational governance, in which rules and expectations are made explicit, may be more appropriate when an organizations′ employees are members of diverse ethnic cultures.     

The Roots of Algeria's Religious and Ethnic Violence

Although the existing literature on Algeria's civil conflict recognizes the role of religious and ethnic violence in the crisis, it does not sufficiently explain the various reasons behind it. The main aim of this article is to fill in this gap to some extent by examining the main factors determining the emergence of armed religious and ethnic groups in this country. The basic conclusion to emerge from the analysis is that, although such factors as the closure of the country's political space, state repression, and the growth of atavistic sentiments remain important in explaining Algeria's religious and ethnic violence, economic collapse, religious spending, and diversionary politics are variables that should not be ignored when addressing the sources and sustainability of such violence.     

Institutions and Ethnic Trust: Evidence from Bosnia

This study considers the prospects for rebuilding trust in a multi-ethnic society with a history of ethnic violence. Findings are based on survey data from a stratified random sample of 681 Bosnian Serbs, Croats and Bosniaks, conducted between September 2003 and January 2004. The data indicate significant trust problems in Bosnian society both within and across ethnicity. However, the study also finds strong linkages between ethnic trust and trust in institutions, suggesting that institutions can play a vital role in restoring ethnic trust and promoting reconciliation.