Fifty years of ethnic conflict and cohesion: 1945-94

The diversity of conflict sequences observed among 163 ethnic groups rangin g from 1945 to 1994 is portrayed in correspondence with political and socio -economic factors. This diversity comes first from the strong association b etween mobilization, slight discrimination, migration distress, religion an d repression. On a finer derail, discrimination appears to be associated wi th resistance if it is related to land and power, with war if it concerns s ocial mobility, or with insurgency if it has to do with social customs. Mig ration From rural to urban and abroad is accompanied by high mobilization a nd rioting or war when social mobility is at stake. Declining state power a nd democratization can open the door to violent action. Finally, there is a lso international diffusion of protest. Locating minority groups in this la ndscape of correspondence helps to compare and characterize the various par ticular histories. These range from Lebanon's period of war, or the years o f insurgency in Iran or Somalia, to the mixture of verbal opposition and te rrorism in Western democracies. Crystallizing protest in India or China is differentiated against the deterioriation of group coherence in the Middle East; sporadic bursts of violence in Africa are contrasted against insurgen cy and rioting in East and Southeast Asia. The results point to the need fo r conflict prevention policies to pay more attention to the promotion of eq uitable social mobility.