"Nationalism and Ethnic Conflict" from Greenhaven Press [5]

Apologies for dragging this rather sub-par review out for so long. There isn't much more of direct interest to this blog, so I'll wrap it up shortly.

Chapter 3: What Are the Causes Of Ethnic Conflict?

In a nutshell--five essays, all of which postulate that some outside factor* is the primary cause of ethnic violence. I appreciate that this chapter implicitly argues that there needs to be a cause, rather than simply concluding that some areas of the world are inherently violent and unstable, or that some mutually antagonistic ethnic groups simply cannot keep themselves from giving in to bloodlust without outside coercion or domestic repression.

Chapter 4 concerns the Balkans directly; I will consider it in my next post. Only one chapter after that, and then I can move on. I apologize for what I acknowledge has been a sloppy and unfocused review. It's been a busy summer.

*In order: Nationalism; Religious Radicalism; Economic Prejudice; Political Exploitation of Ethnicity; Political Crisis. All much better choices than "ancient hatreds".