This thesis considers Michael Ignatieff’s theory regarding ethnic conflict and applies Afghanistan as a case study. Ignatieff correlates the outbreak of ethnic violence to the breakdown of state government which creates societal anarchy and war. Ignatieff argues that ethnic relations can improve through the creation of democratic institutions. Afghanistan represents a model empirical case study to explore the central tenets of the Ignatieff thesis. Ignatieff’s argument is critically analyzed by assessing the viability of transplanting democratic institutions into Afghanistan. According to democratic theory a successful democracy requires a strong economy, a vibrant civil society, an advantageous institutional history and a positive security and geopolitical environment. Based on these five key variables it is reasonable to conclude that Afghanistan is not predisposed to pluralistic governance. Such analysis highlights the limitations of Ignatieff’s thesis as his theory is only relevant to those post-conflict societies that possess the requisite preconditions for democracy. / February 2007

Thesis (M.A. in Security Studies (Civil Military Relations))--Naval Postgraduate School, March 2004. / Thesis advisor(s): Donald Abenheim. Includes bibliographical references (p. 65-67). Also available online.

Thesis (D. Min.)--Ashland Theological Seminary, 2007. / Abstract . Description based on microfiche version record. Includes bibliographical references (leaves 138, 143-148).

Master's thesis. / Database: Nordic Web Publications. Format: PDF.

Decentralisation and federalism are often said to mitigate conflict by better meeting the preferences of a heterogeneous population and demands for limited autonomy. But it is argued in this thesis that this perspective does not sufficiently address the ways in which conflict-ridden relations entangle processes across different scales ‒ local, regional as well as national. The aim of this thesis is to explain how it is that while decentralisation may contribute to national stability, it may simultaneously generate local conflict. This problem is analysed through a conflict in Kaduna State in north-central Nigeria where there have been outbreaks of violence between Hausa-Fulani Muslims and Christians of different ethnicities since the 1980s. Christian ethnic groups claim to be excluded from state benefits, while Muslim groups claim that Christians have undue influence over the state bureaucracy. The conflict feeds off ethnic and religious mobilisation. Expanded local political space further fuelled the conflict following the decentralisation that came with the shift from military to civilian rule in 1999. Decentralisation in Nigeria implies that the authorities should be associated with the majority ethnicity or religion in a specific territory. A localisation of politics accordingly raises the stakes in identity-based conflicts, especially as control of local institutions is necessary for inclusion in wider political processes. In Kaduna, this has led to demands for separating the state on a religious and ethnic basis. Actors make use of “scalar politics” to conform to or challenge boundaries set by the state. Social relations are associated with different boundaries.  Accordingly, decentralisation triggers conflicts on an identity basis, involving contestation over the hierarchy of scales. While national struggles between ethnic and religious groups may be subdued, conflicts play out locally as decentralisation in Nigeria makes religion and ethnicity a powerful tool for political mobilisation. / <p>At the time of the doctoral defense, the following paper was unpublished and had a status as follows: Paper 2: Manuscript.</p>

This thesis considers the extent to which decentralisation in the Republic of Macedonia between 2005 and 2012 has been effective in reducing ethnic inequalities that exacerbate social divisions and can lead to conflict. Guided by the concept of horizontal inequalities, it identifies the factors which influenced the decision to devolve responsibilities to the municipalities after 2001. It examines the particular institutional design that Macedonian decentralisation took, and demonstrates how its use of local power-sharing mechanisms was intended to address the concerns of the Albanian and Macedonian communities simultaneously. This thesis takes an integrative approach to studying the political, administrative, and fiscal dimensions of decentralisation's implementation, and considers whether the reform has indeed contributed to the reduction of inequalities between Macedonia's ethnic groups. Where decentralisation's potential has not been reached, obstacles to its successful implementation are identified. While decentralisation alone may be unable to address all of the grievances raised by the Albanian community prior to 2001, this thesis argues that the reform has the potential to address many of the horizontal inequalities that were responsible for raising inter-ethnic tensions during the 1990s. However, decentralisation in Macedonia between 2005 and 2012 has only been partial, and advances in the administrative and political aspects of the reform have been undermined by limited progress in its fiscal dimension. Attempts to solve self-determination conflicts through decentralisation will fail if local self-governance exists only in form but not in substance.

This study examines the impact of conflict on the socio-economic development of Burundi. Conflicts, underdevelopment and poverty had marred most, if not all the post-colonial and African States contrary to the expectations of the world, especially after the end of the Cold War in 1989 when rivalry between Russia and United States ceased. International and other conflicts occurred paradoxically to the United Nations' claim that considerable progress has been achieved in resolving conflicts since the end of the Cold War and the creation of the United Nations. In almost every area the individuals. · nations, international communities, regional organizations, continental and global structures are working together in attempts to set the global agenda for peace and security. Burundi is one of the African States that has drawn the attention of the United Nations in as far as conflict and underdevelopment is concerned. The ethnically motivated tension between the Hutu and Tutsi is one example where socio-economic development has been affected and the communities are suffering, especially the vulnerable ones like women and, children and old people. Building lasting peace in Burundi will require that post-conflict regimes implement strategies that are explicitly aimed at addressing the root causes of the country's . contlicts and come up with best strategies for development. Therefore I examined carefully the causes of the conflicts that occurred in 1965, 1972, 1988, 1991 and the ongoing conflict that started in 1993, drawing from the literature on the social, economics and politics of civil wars in general and on existing studies on Burundi in particular. The socio-economic decline during 1960-1972 was due to political instability and the loss of Burundi's export markets in neighbouring Rwanda and Congo following decolonisation. During the period 1972-1988, socio-economic decline was fuelled by an increase in coffee export whereby the funds were used to create inefficient state firms used by the ruling elites as a source of economic rents and massive borrowing. During the third· sub-period, that is 1988 to date the decline was due a result of three civil wars, a total economic blockade, the freezing of aid by international donors and the collapse of investment and infrastructure. The study characterizes the conflicts in Burundi as distributional conflicts in the sense that they arise from institutional failure and unequal distribution of national wealth across ethnic groups and regions. I illustrate the argument with the case of education and military, two key tools of consolidation of the patrimonial state. Institutional failure was not a result of incompetence on the part of leaders, but that it was carefully engineered by the ruling ethno-regional elite to consolidate power and privatise the state. Characterizing the wars as distributional conflicts has immediate policy implications for post-conflict recovery and peace consolidation. The analysis implies that the emphasis should be on achieving equitable access to national resources and power sharing, and that the attention should move beyond the narrow confines of ethnicity to embrace all the dimensions along which discrimination has been engineered in the past, especially regionalism. On the whole, growth and socio-economic development has been a failure because it has not been the priority of Burundi leadership. Blending traditional macroeconomic growth analysis with microeconomic, institutional and political economy approaches, the study shows that socio-economic outcomes have been endogenous to political imperatives. Controlled access to education and to the civil service and the army, the creation of a large number of state corporations, monetary policy, trade policy and a myriad of other policies were used to ensure that resources were allocated to the members of the ruling elite. The overarching objective of the leadership was the government's desire to hold its grip over the different sources of economic rents It is therefore clear that if the new Burundian leadership is serious about building peace and developing the socio-economic situation in Burundi, it must engineer institutions that uproot the legacy of discrimination and promote equal opportunity for social mobility for all members of ethnic groups and regions. In the process, the protection of human life and the socio-economic integration of all Burundians without distinction based on regional or ethnic background should be the basic principle guiding political, social and economic reforms. / M.Admin. (Peace Studies and International Relations) North-West University, Mafikeng Campus, 2005

This thesis considers Michael Ignatieff’s theory regarding ethnic conflict and applies Afghanistan as a case study. Ignatieff correlates the outbreak of ethnic violence to the breakdown of state government which creates societal anarchy and war. Ignatieff argues that ethnic relations can improve through the creation of democratic institutions. Afghanistan represents a model empirical case study to explore the central tenets of the Ignatieff thesis. Ignatieff’s argument is critically analyzed by assessing the viability of transplanting democratic institutions into Afghanistan. According to democratic theory a successful democracy requires a strong economy, a vibrant civil society, an advantageous institutional history and a positive security and geopolitical environment. Based on these five key variables it is reasonable to conclude that Afghanistan is not predisposed to pluralistic governance. Such analysis highlights the limitations of Ignatieff’s thesis as his theory is only relevant to those post-conflict societies that possess the requisite preconditions for democracy.

<p>How can we explain variation in support for radical right parties over time and across post-communist democracies? This project suggests that support for radical right parties is driven by the politics of accommodation, and is aimed at counteracting the political inroads, cultural concessions and economic gains of politically organized minorities. It differs from other studies of extremist politics in three primary respects: (1) Unlike current approaches that focus on competition between the extreme and mainstream parties, I emphasize dynamics between the radical right party and non- proximate parties that promote minority rights. (2) Several approaches argue that xenophobia drives support for the radical right, whereas I show that xenophobia is not a distinct feature of the radical right party support base; what differentiates radical right voters from other voters is opposition to governmental transfers towards politically organized minorities. (3) I endogenize issue salience and identify coalition politics - i.e., coalitions of mainstream parties and parties supporting minority protection - as a key mechanism that increases the salience of identity issues in political competition, and benefits radical right parties. The project tests these propositions empirically, and finds supportive evidence using two unique micro-level surveys and an original party-election-level data set covering all post-communist democracies.</p> / Dissertation

Saturday Night and Sunday Morning marks the tenth anniversary of the Bradford riot of Saturday 7 to Sunday 8 July 2001. The day began with a peaceful demonstration against a banned Far Right march but ended in one of the most violent examples of unrest in Britain for 20 years. More than 320 police officers were injured as they battled rioters who hurled missiles and petrol bombs, pushed burning cars towards them and torched buildings. Criminal acts of looting characterised the final hours. Riot damages amounted to GBP7.5 million. In the aftermath, nearly 300 arrests took place and nearly 200 were charged with riot leading to prison sentences of four years or more. Images of the riot, and of a smaller disturbance which followed on one of its traditionally 'white' estates, have haunted Bradford ever since. Nine years later, in August 2010, Bradford faced another Far Right provocation. The English Defence League came in force to demonstrate against Bradford's Muslim population. Bradford braced itself. However this time, Asian lads mostly stayed off the streets and the police worked with the council, communities and local activists to keep order against the threat of violence. Saturday Night and Sunday Morning traces Bradford's journey over the decade, beginning with the voices of rioters, police and others interviewed after the 2001 riot and ending with those of former rioters, citizens, police and politicians following the EDL protest. The authors argue that while 2001 reflected a collective failure of Bradford District to address a social legacy of industrial decline in a multicultural context, 2010 revealed how leadership from above combined with leadership from below restored its confidence and opened up possibilities for a new era in Bradford's history and prospects. Saturday Night and Sunday Morning is written by two authors from the University's renowned Department of Peace Studies who balance research with an active commitment to peace, economic regeneration and social justice in Bradford.