The Multifaceted Nature of Ethno-Nationalism

Abstract

Hopes that the end of the Cold War world might usher in an era of peace between and within the nations of the world were quickly dashed by new sources of domestic and international tensions. Two stood out: there was a resurgence of ethnic conflict in a number of parts of the world, particularly during the 1990s, while the assault on America on 11 September 2001 underscored the threat that the new menace of masscasualty terrorism posed to the world. Often blamed for the first of these challenges to a new world order was ethno-nationalism. The phenomenon was commonly associated with the horrors of ethnic cleansing, a term that originated in the Balkans in the early 1990s. This gave ethnonationalism a bad name and also meant that it tended to be linked with secession and the break-up of states, as well as with political mobilisation leading to war. Ethno-nationalism also tended to be associated with minorities dissatisfied with their place in an existing polity. But, in fact, the phenomenon was much broader than simply providing recourse for rebellious minorities. This volume explores the challenges presented by ethno-nationalism in a wide range of different contexts. While the primary focus of the book is on the post-Cold War context, the analysis in a number of the chapters extends well before this. This is most particularly so in the Irish case, where conflict not merely long predated the end of the Cold War, but where this watershed in world affairs arguably contributed to its resolution.