Ethnic Conflict and Genocide: The Case of Bosnia

Analyzing the causes of ethnic conflict

The case of Bosnia

Xhensila Gaba

Course: Nationalism and Ethnic Conflict

Time: 9.30-12.30

Instructor: Dr. Nancy Kwang Johnson

Date: June 8, 2010

Abstract

Ethnic conflicts have been in the focus of many recent systematic researches with regard to its causes, intensity and consequences. After the World War II, there is an increased number in inter-state conflicts, in which at least one of the groups gets mobilized on basis of ethnicity. Since 1945, almost 15 million people have been killed in conflicts involving ethnic violence. The scope of this paper is to analyze the causes of ethnic conflict escalation and provide a conceptual framework for understanding how different factors combine to give a violent outcome. Due to the complexities of the ethnic conflict, it would be inaccurate to refer to a single theory for explaining the causes. Thus, the theoretical framework includes many approaches that will be used to incorporate my case study- Bosnia and Herzegovina war. The reason why I selected Bosnia is because of the high levels of violence in which the conflict escalated and also because of the violation of human rights in the cruelest forms. What were the factors that aggravated the tensions between ethnic groups in Bosnia--Muslims, Croats and Serbs, respectively? How much was this conflict an outcome of the "ancient hatreds" among groups and how much of the politicization of the ethnicity? In this essay, I try to prove my claim that the heterogeneity of a state and the politicization of ethnicity leads to violent ethnic conflict. There are several competing theories that explain why the occurrence of ethnic conflict. I list here four of them as following: primordialist approach, institutional approach, political entrepreneurs approach and competition over resources. I pose two hypothesis; (1) heterogeneous societies tend to have violent conflicts, (2) politicization of ethnicity leads to high levels of violence. Then I apply the theoretical framework in the case of Bosnia.

Keywords: ethnic conflict, theories of causes, Bosnia, heterogeneity, politicization of ethnicity

Introduction

Ethnic conflicts have been in the focus of many recent systematic researches with regard to its causes, intensity and consequences. Being a multidimensional phenomenon, ethnic conflict has served as an incentive for further studies among scholars of different fields, such as psychologists, sociologists, political scientists and IR scholars. Despite the fact that the peaceful regulation of inter-ethnic tensions provides a more beneficial model for each party, still violent ethnic conflict occur in different parts of the world. The international community still has the physical and emotional consequences of recent ethnic conflict violence, such as the ethnic cleansing in Bosnia or the genocide in Rwanda and Darfur. Knowing the wide range of books and articles dedicated to ethnic conflict's topics, the immediate question that comes to our mind is why are we studying them? What makes ethnic conflict so important? Indeed, the importance of ethnic conflict is threefold. First, after the World War II, there is an increased number in inter-state conflicts, in which at least one of the groups gets mobilized on basis of ethnicity. When the "iron curtain" of the cold war was destroyed, the global wars were substituted by ethno-cultural conflicts, which became the most widespread sources of political violence in the world. The democratization process helped in wiping off the dust from the old ethnic, religious or cultural differences, which led to the occurrence of ethnic conflicts. Nowadays, there are recorded almost 5,000 ethnic groups, but only 180 states (Carment, 1993, p.137). This means that the number of states ethnically homogeneous is very low, and that many others (mostly in Africa) do not have a majority ethnic group. The heterogeneity of states in ethnic terms is a common phenomenon. Since 1945, almost 15 million people have been killed in conflicts involving ethnic violence. As the worst examples, we can mention the civil war in Rwanda in 1994, where almost 1 million people were killed and other 3 million were refugees (Scientific American Magazine, 1998). But if there are so many multiethnic states, then why do some of them have high levels of potential violent escalation and others not? To answer such a question, several factors should be analyzed, including the prior-conflict relations between groups, and the instrumental factors, such as politicians, institutions and insecurities. The second reason why ethnic conflict constitutes an important issue to comprehend is because of the human rights violation and the intervention from abroad. It is common in many ethnic conflicts that people get tortured, children forced to hard labor and women raped. Genocide and ethnic cleansing have occurred for example, during the disintegration of former Yugoslavia. Many people were expelled from the country. These atrocities call for the intervention of international community, such as NATO, UN, other IOs or even NGOs. Despite the ambiguities of international law, the protection of human rights is a priority compared to the non-infringement upon jurisdiction and sovereignty. Last, the third reason that makes necessary the well-understanding of ethnic conflicts is because of the wide range of actors that it involves. Although ethnic conflicts occur within the territory of one state, it has an impact on the stability of the region and therefore on its neighbors, and affects also the Diaspora of both parties. Moreover, ethnic conflict has an impact on the international actors, as we mentioned above. So far, there are no cases of ethnic conflict resolved without the intervention from abroad. However, it is necessary to emphasize that intervention does not include only military means, but also economically and humanitarian assistance. Ethnic conflicts undermine the international peace and provide a threat beyond their jurisdiction, which means that the impacts of this conflict are extended as in a "chain affect".

Thesis paragraph

The scope of this paper is to analyze the causes of ethnic conflict escalation and provide a conceptual framework for understanding how different factors combine to give a violent outcome. This means that the mere existence of multiethnic states does not imply that conflict would emerge. Ethnic conflicts occur when a variety of means,