Ethnic conflict resolution: Routes towards settlement

Abstract

This article generalizes on the basis of a set of case studies of ethnic conflicts that have followed different routes towards the goal of a long-term settlement: Belgium, Spain, Northern Ireland, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Cyprus, Lebanon, South Africa, and Sri Lanka. It begins by reviewing the significance of ethnicity in the modern state, exploring the political implications of different terminologies in this area. Having examined the patterns of political mobilization of ethnic groups (whether in the form of the party system or in the shape of military-type formations), it looks at the kinds of political outcome that have been associated with settlement processes. In addition to "solutions" that would be regarded as politically unacceptable, it identifies three common features which, depending on specific local circumstances, commonly occur: federal or other territorial arrangements, consociational government, and the political integration of minorities. © Taylor & Francis Group, LLC.