Ethnicity and religion as conventional sources of internal conflict within states.
Internal conflicts within states are the disputes that occur between a government of a nation and its internally opposing groups, usually without interferences from other countries. The most common causes of such disagreements are often ethnicity and religion (Gahramanova 12). Ethnic conflicts, for instance, occur in multi-ethnic states or societies and usually accompanied by ethnic violence resulting in socio-political and economic instabilities within states. Similarly, religious differences, especially in independent countries, often serve as a source of conflict that sometimes erupts to violent wars and crimes. Internal conflicts are triggered by political and economic factors such as corruption.
Countries with identity-based conflicts.
Among the countries with identity-based conflicts is the South Caucasus, which composes of the previous Soviet republics of Armenia, Georgia, and Azerbaijan. The Caucasus region is identified with a remarkable ethnic diversity, which has compelled numerous attempts of drawing and redrawing political borders within the area since the Soviet Union collapsed (Monty 4). The region has three main ethnic groups, such as the Georgians, Armenians, and the Azerbaijanis, with an incredibly diverse ethnic composition. As the Soviet Union got weak, conflicts over territorial status emerged mainly from the populated ethnic minorities leading to thousands of deaths, destruction of property, political instabilities as well as economic deteriorations within the region. The Caucasus region is featured with high levels of ethnic tensions and identity-based conflicts.
Identity-based conflicts have also been highly rampant in the Middle East states, such as Israel and Palestine, with unending religious violence. Religious tensions are resulting from radicals of Islamic faith who wage international jihad and scrambles power within these states. These states have seen the rise of illegal prosecutions and rampant upsurge of violence among Christians and Muslims as well as widespread cases of animosities compelled by terrorism, religious hatreds, women harassments as well as the violation of ethical codes.
Work Cited
Gahramanova, A. Identity Conflict and Its Implications for Conflict Management. (1-34)(11 May 2006).
Gurr, Ted Robert, Mark R. Woodward, and Monty G. Marshall. Forecasting Instability: Are ethnic wars and Muslim countries different? Political Instability Task Force, (1-14) 2005.