LECTURE 11 ETHNIC CONFLICT 1 EthnicNational Conflict Violence

LECTURE 11 ETHNIC CONFLICT 1

Ethnic/National Conflict Violence, Genocide, and Interventions Rwanda Nazis in WWII 2

What is an Ethnic Group? l A large group of people who share ancestral, language, cultural, or religious ties and a common identity. l Thus, this is very subjective and abstract, but has importance when many people begin to agree. l Ethnicity and Nationality have very similar definitions and sometimes are one-in-the-same for the Kurds, Kosovars, Chiapas, etc. 3

I believe this is from Cambodia: The effect of the Pol Pot Regime 4

Why should we study ethnic conflicts or civil wars? 5

Why Ethnicity/Nationality is relevant to IR and world politics: Nations often identify with territory. l Claim to Self-Determination. l Groups spread across borders. l May lead to terrorism or civil war that crosses borders. l Affects the foreign policy of states. l States may aid or instigate problems with groups in foreign states l 6

How is ethnicity related to conflict and violence? l In-group/out-group phenomenon: Other groups seem to be different and foreign, and thus potentially threatening. l In the worst case situations, people become dehumanized, which makes it possible to kill them like lesser beings. l Nazis with the Jews and Slavs l Yugoslavia l Tutsis and Hutus in Africa 7

Ethnicity and violent conflict contd? Past (sometimes long) histories of conflict that spiral. l Becomes impossible who was to tell for original sins that set in motion continuous ethnic hatred l l Notable feuds: Israel-Palestine, Armenia- Azerbaijan, Armenia-Turks, Serbs-Croats, Hutu -Tutsis (Burundi, Rwanda, Congo), Kurds vs. everyone around them. 8

Ethnicity and violent conflict contd? Cultural differences such as religion pour fuel on such fires. l Leader’s manipulation: Ethnic conflict does not just happen, it has to be instigated. l Often used to exploit differences between people that may not be that important. l Intentional spread of fear and threat against groups by national leaders: Hitler-Jews, Idi Amin-Indian merchants, Milosevic in Serbia vs. Croats and Muslims. l 9

Other Important Points: l Sometimes the differences between warring groups are slight or by degree. l The dehumanization of people makes it possible to forget similarities of culture. l Are Serbs and Croats really drastically different? Only by Religion and to a lesser extent language. How can outsiders identify a Kurd or a Shiite from Sunni Iraqis? 10

Case Study: Former Yugoslavia 11

Brief History of Yugoslavia Area controlled by Austrians and Turks for hundreds of years. l Though most people are Slavic, different languages and religions (Eastern Orthodox, Muslim, Catholics) l Ethnic conflict goes back many centuries l Most recent periods of ethnic conflict and genocide: WWII when many Croats helped Nazis exterminate Jews, Serbs, and Bosnian Muslims. Then again after Cold War l 12

Brief History of Yugoslavia, contd l Yugoslavia independent Kingdom after WWI. l Yugoslavia means “Land of the Southern Slavs” as opposed to northern Slavs of Poles and Russians, but did not include Bulgaria which is also Slavic but earlier won its independence. 13

Brief History of Yugoslavia, contd l Croat-Slovene communist Marshall Tito led resistance that liberated Yugoslavia from Nazi occupation during WWII. l Later became ruler of the country and successfully prevented ethnic conflict. l Died in 1980 from cancer leaving a power vacuum. Certain leaders manipulated ethnicity to mobilize others for political support. This lead to the breakup of Yugoslavia when Slovenia and Croatia declared independence, later followed by Bosnia and Macedonia 14

The Serbian led Yugoslavian government first tried to stop Croatia from leaving the country but lost. Then, Yugoslavia attempted to help Serbians in Croatia and later Bosnia establish their own governments, that would eventually be reunited with Serbia. Serbs in Bosnia turned to ethnic cleansing as a way to eliminate the opposition ethnic groups. Defined as “Forced displacement of an ethnic group from a particular territory, accompanied by massacres and other human rights violations. ” Goldstein 15

Ethnic Diversity of Yugoslavia l Republic of Croatia: (4. 67 million) l l l Religion: 77% Roman Catholic; 11% Serbian Orthodox Nationality: 78% Croat, 12% Serbian Federal Republic of Yugoslavia (including Kosovo, and its refugees): (11. 21 million) l l Religion: 65% Serbian Orthodox, 19% Muslim, 4% Roman Catholic, 1% Protestant, 11% other Nationality: 63% Serbian, 14% Albanian, 6% Montenegrin, 4% Hungarian, 13% other 16

Ethnic Diversity of Yugoslavia Republic of Bosnia and Herzegovina: (3. 36 million) l Religion: 40% Muslim, 31% Serbian Orthodox, 15% Roman Catholic l Nationality: 40% Serbian, 38% Muslim, 22% Croat l l Big Problem: The nations overlap from town to town. 17

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• Ethnic Cleansing meant forcing other ethnic groups out of their homes and villages, and if they refused killing them. The goal was to homogenize the land for your ethnic group. • The Bosnians and Croats, and later the Kosovars fought back and reciprocated with their own massacres. 19

An ethnically cleansed town 20

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Human Rights and Intervention 22

Western European nations, along with the US, became enraged over the bloodshed and eventually intervened to stop the Serbs, and their compatriots in Bosnia, with the authority and force of the United Nations. Later NATO troops replace UN peace-keepers in Bosnia. Though the people of the area were very similar in most respects, and actually much more intertwined nationally, leaders succeeded in convincing other people that other ethnic groups posed a risk. In reality, many of the people were of multinational lineage, though this was ignored and treated as a fiction. The ethnic lines were never quite as clear as some have claimed. There are few “pure” Croats, Serbs, etc. 23

Later the Serbians again in 1999 attempted to cleanse the Kosovo area of Albanian Muslims, the Kosovars. But NATO acted to stop Serb aggression. 24

War Crimes l Serb leader Slobodan Milosevic turned over to UN for war crimes in 2001 for “crimes against humanity and genocide”, and is still under trial. He is defending himself without legal representation and sees the Criminal Proceedings as illegitimate. l Radovan Karadzic of the Bosnian Serb forces was also indicted of such crimes but has not been apprehended. 25