Theorizing on the Causes of Civil War and Ethnopolitical Conflict

  • Emil Souleimanov
Chapter
Part of the Rethinking Peace and Conflict Studies book series (RCS)

Abstract

Recent decades have seen an increased occurrence of civil war and ethnopolitical conflict in certain areas of Europe. Whereas, in Latin America and the Middle East, incidents of ethnopolitical warfare decreased by 74 percent and 54 percent, respectively, between 1989 and 1999, incidents of such conflict increased by 43 percent in Europe, by 40 percent in Asia, and by 35 percent in Africa during the same time period.1 In fact, the recent upsurge of ethnopolitical violence within these areas seems to be a continuation of a previously established trend which dates back to the latter half of the 1940s, as a majority of the civil wars fought during the postwar era have been fought in the name of ethnonational self-determination.2 Indeed, remarkably, since the end of World War II such intrastate conflicts have in fact been more frequent and numerous than interstate conflicts.3 During the period from 1945 to 1999 alone, approximately 130 intrastate civil wars have brought death to 20 million people and have caused the displacement of up to 70 million people in more than 70 countries across the globe; by contrast, during the same period, only 25 interstate wars have occurred, with a total death rate close to 3 million.4 In absolute numbers, as of 2003 there were approximately 70 ongoing intrastate ethnopolitical conflicts still in an actively violent stage.5

Keywords

Ethnic Identity Armed Conflict Ethnic Conflict Insurgent Group Ethnic Line 
These keywords were added by machine and not by the authors. This process is experimental and the keywords may be updated as the learning algorithm improves.
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Notes

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Copyright information

© Emil Souleimanov 2013

Authors and Affiliations

  • Emil Souleimanov
    • 1
  1. 1.Charles UniversityPragueCzech Republic

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