Colorful community or ethnic witches' brew? Multiethnicity and domestic conflict during and after the cold war

This article investigates the relationship between multiethnicity and domes tic conflict from 1946 to 1992. Multiethnicity is measured by the size of t he largest ethnic group, the number of ethnic groups, the size of the large st ethnic minority group, and ethnic affinities to groups outside the count ry. Although ethnic heterogeneity is expected to stimulate conflict, ether factors may alleviate ethnic tension. Moreover, most countries are heteroge neous in one way or another and yet do nor engage in violent conflict. The type of political regime and the socioeconomic level within the country bec ome important here. Using data for two different types of domestic conflict the article concludes that multiethnicity does increase the propensity of domestic violence, although less so for large-scale conflicts. Such cultura l factors seem to have become more important in the post-cold war period. H owever, the country's political regime and socioeconomic level are more imp ortant in predicting domestic conflict.