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Keeping the Peace

Lasting Solutions to Ethnic Conflicts

Daniel L. Byman

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What strategies can a government use to end violent ethnic conflicts in the long term? Under what conditions do these strategies work best, and what are their limitations? Are there some ethnic conflicts that governments simply cannot solve? Drawing on an intimate knowledge of the Middle East as well as the experiences of trouble spots in Asia, Africa, and Europe, political scientist and RAND analyst Daniel Byman examines how government policies can affect—and, in some cases, prevent—the recurrence of violent ethnic conflict.

Byman identifies and describes five key strategies: coercing groups...

What strategies can a government use to end violent ethnic conflicts in the long term? Under what conditions do these strategies work best, and what are their limitations? Are there some ethnic conflicts that governments simply cannot solve? Drawing on an intimate knowledge of the Middle East as well as the experiences of trouble spots in Asia, Africa, and Europe, political scientist and RAND analyst Daniel Byman examines how government policies can affect—and, in some cases, prevent—the recurrence of violent ethnic conflict.

Byman identifies and describes five key strategies: coercing groups and leaders, coopting key elites, changing group identities, implementing power sharing systems, and partitioning states. After weighing the strengths and weaknesses of each of these internal solutions, he also considers the benefits and risks of outside intervention. But Byman's prescription is tempered with realism. "Even under the best circumstances," he concludes, "no single strategy is sufficient to keep the peace after a bloody ethnic war. Only the optimal combination of multiple strategies, implemented in the proper sequence, will ensure success."

Reviews

Reviews

A useful primer for the study of ethnic conflict, one whose prinicpal strength lies in its deft and succinct summarites of the main approaches to the study of ethnicity and conflict... His discussion of the distinctive features of ethnic civil wars shows a particular sensitivity to their uniqueness.

In a survey that is dense with insights but still a remarkably effortless read, Byman discusses five approaches to ethnic conflict.

Daniel Byman combines superior scholarship with pragmatic policy analysis in this excellent survey of ethnic conflict. His analysis of alternative policy responses to ethnic conflict problems—the heart of the study—is systematic, thoughtful, and balanced. He reminds us that, although crafting peace is difficult, it is not always impossible. This book advances both scholarship and the prospects for ethnic peace.

Keeping the Peace offers a broad-gauge analytic framework for governments facing serious (i.e., violent) ethnic conflict. As such, it does a better job than any book currently available of separating what we know, what we don't know, and what we should by now know is completely wrong. Byman's command of the theoretical literature is good, and the book is well-organized.

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About

Book Details

Publication Date
Status
Available
Trim Size
6
x
9
Pages
296
ISBN
9780801868047
Table of Contents

Chapter 1. Ethnic Conflict in Today's World
Chapter 2. Causes of Ethnic Conflict
Chapter 3. Control Policies
Chapter 4. Co-optation
Chapter 5. Manipulating Ethnic Identities
Chapter 6. Participatory

Chapter 1. Ethnic Conflict in Today's World
Chapter 2. Causes of Ethnic Conflict
Chapter 3. Control Policies
Chapter 4. Co-optation
Chapter 5. Manipulating Ethnic Identities
Chapter 6. Participatory Systems
Chapter 7. The Promise and Perils of Partition
Chapter 8. Military Intervention in Ethnic Conflict
Chapter 9. Dilemmas and Choices
Notes
Bibliography
Index

Author Bio
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Daniel L. Byman

Daniel L. Byman is a policy analyst with the RAND Corporation and the research director of RAND's Center for Middle East Public Policy. He is the co-author of The Dynamics of Coercive Force: American Foreign Policy and the Limits of Military Might.