In many respects, the 1990s was the decade of ethnic conflict. Following the decline and fall of the Soviet Union, the world witnessed a rapid development of civil wars, secessionist movements, and genocidal conflicts that were all defi ned along ethnic lines. The Bosnian and Rwandan genocides sparked outrage and indignation from many members of the international community. Chechens in Russia initiated underground guerilla operations against their former Soviet oppressors. In Sri Lanka, the Tamil minority continued to fi ght for complete secession from the Sinhalese-controlled government. In addition, countless other confl icts in Africa, Asia, and the Balkans contributed to the perception that the 1990s was a decade defi ned by ethnic violence. The current decade has not seen signifi cant improvement from the last. The US-led invasions of Afghanistan and Iraq in 2001 and 2003 have led to the development and escalation of twin civil wars between ethnic groups in each country. International attention has also focused on the escalation of the decades- old confl ict in the Darfur region of Sudan, where a campaign of ethnic cleansing brings back sobering memories of the Rwandan genocide that took place only a decade ago.

One would assume that an effective strategy for diffusing these violent situ- ations would have emerged. But it has not. Although a number of engagement strategies and intervention tactics have been utilized in various countries, there is still no comprehensive strategy for how international actors ought to approach an impending or ongoing ethnic conflict.

This issue’s symposium seeks to address this deficiency. Each article presents a unique account of how ethnic conflicts are generated and which strategies are most effective for solving them. What are the root causes of ethnic violence in the first place, and why do internal conflicts tend to manifest themselves along ethnic lines? What is the best approach for preventing tensions from degenerating into violence? And, most importantly, once the conflicts are ignited, what can the international community do to stop them from continuing?

Each of the following articles examines at least one specific ethnic conflict, providing a context for the arguments and grounding the debate in current and ongoing ethnic disputes. All five authors also question the notion that purely ethnic factors motivate ethnic conflicts. Charles King, who most strongly defends this position, argues that labeling such disputes as “ethnic” simply legitimizes and amplifies the claims of ethnic militants. Other authors, namely Paul Collier and David Carment, echo this sentiment, claiming that it is political elites who turn ethnic identity into a force that mobilizes people to violence. To complement this analysis of ethnic conflict’s foundations, some authors propose more straightfor- ward solutions. Chaim Kaufmann argues that these conflicts ought to be considered security dilemmas and that, in cases where security has degenerated beyond a certain point, partitioning ethnic groups is the only viable way to maintain peace and stability. Andrew Reynolds contends that the single most important factor in maintaining inter-ethnic harmony is constitutional and democratic design. In contrast, David Carment feels that third-party intervention can prevent a conflict from escalating into a full-scale civil war. Similarly, Paul Collier stresses the importance of international peace-keeping forces and ties this to a strategy of economic development—the former to ensure security in the short run, the latter to ensure peace in the long run.

The symposium reexamines the assumptions and fundamentals of ethnic conflict and provides a number of prescriptive suggestions that the international community can and should follow in attempting to mitigate ethnic violence. As we move from this decade into the next, our hope is that policymakers and analysts will take a careful look at the current and past wave of ethnic con- flicts and begin to develop an effective approach to preventing and resolving ethnicized disputes. Having developed such an approach, perhaps it is possible that the decade to come will reverse the trend of the 1990s and be marked instead by a wave of ethnic coexistence.