Managing and Settling Ethnic Conflicts

The term conflict describes a situation in which two or more actors, who interact with each other, pursue incompatible goals, are aware of this incompatibility, and claim to be justified in the pursuit of their particular course of action. Ethnic conflicts are one particular form of such conflict, namely that in which the goals of at least one conflict party are defined in (exclusively) ethnic terms, and in which the primary fault-line of confrontation is one of ethnic distinctions. Whatever the concrete issues over which conflict erupts (e.g., linguistic, religious, or cultural rights and/or corresponding claims to conditions conducive to their realisation), at least one of the conflict parties will explain its dissatisfaction in ethnic terms, i.e., will claim that its distinct ethnic identity, and lack of recognition thereof and/or equality of opportunity to preserve, express, and develop it, is the reason why its members cannot realise their interests, why they do not have the same rights, or why their claims are not satisfied. Thus, ethnic conflicts are a form of group conflict in which at least one of the parties involved interprets the conflict, its causes, and potential remedies, along an actually existing or perceived discriminating ethnic divide.