Beyond ethnicity: historical states and modern conflict

IF 2.7 1区社会学 Q1 INTERNATIONAL RELATIONS

European Journal of International Relations Pub Date : 2022-07-10 DOI:10.1177/13540661221106911

M. Wishman, Charles Butcher

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引用次数: 1

Abstract

Historical states, be they sprawling empires or nominal vassal states, can make lasting impressions on the territories they once governed. We argue that more historical states located within the borders of modern states increase the chance of civil conflict because they (1) created networks useful for insurgency, (2) were symbols of past sovereignty, (3) generated modern ethnic groups that activated dynamics of ethnic inclusion and exclusion, and (4) resisted western colonialism. Using new global data on historical statehood, we find a robust positive association between more historical states inside a modern state and the rate of civil conflict onset between 1946 and 2019. This relationship is not driven by common explanations of state formation that also drive conflict such as the number of ethnic groups, population density, colonialism, levels of historical warfare, or other region-specific factors. We also find that historical states are more likely to be conflict inducing when they are located far from the capital and in poorer countries. Our study points to unexplored channels linking past statehood to modern-day conflict that are independent of ethno-nationalist conflict and open possibilities for a new research agenda linking past statehood to modern-day conflict outcomes.

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超越种族：历史国家与现代冲突

历史上的国家，无论是庞大的帝国还是名义上的附庸国，都会给他们曾经统治过的领土留下持久的印象。我们认为，更多位于现代国家边界内的历史国家增加了发生内乱的机会，因为它们（1）创建了有利于叛乱的网络，（2）是过去主权的象征，（3）产生了激活种族包容和排斥动态的现代族群，（4）抵制西方殖民主义。使用关于历史国家地位的新的全球数据，我们发现现代国家中更多的历史国家与1946年至2019年间爆发内战的比率之间存在着强有力的正相关。这种关系并不是由国家形成的常见解释驱动的，这些解释也会导致冲突，如种族数量、人口密度、殖民主义、历史战争水平或其他特定地区的因素。我们还发现，当历史国家位于远离首都和较贫穷的国家时，它们更有可能引发冲突。我们的研究指出，将过去的国家地位与现代冲突联系起来的未经探索的渠道独立于种族民族主义冲突，并为将过去的州地位与现代的冲突结果联系起来的新研究议程开辟了可能性。

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来源期刊

European Journal of International Relations INTERNATIONAL RELATIONS-

CiteScore

6.60

自引率

8.80%

发文量

期刊介绍： The European Journal of International Relations publishes peer-reviewed scholarly contributions across the full breadth of the field of International Relations, from cutting edge theoretical debates to topics of contemporary and historical interest to scholars and practitioners in the IR community. The journal eschews adherence to any particular school or approach, nor is it either predisposed or restricted to any particular methodology. Theoretically aware empirical analysis and conceptual innovation forms the core of the journal’s dissemination of International Relations scholarship throughout the global academic community. In keeping with its European roots, this includes a commitment to underlying philosophical and normative issues relevant to the field, as well as interaction with related disciplines in the social sciences and humanities. This theoretical and methodological openness aims to produce a European journal with global impact, fostering broad awareness and innovation in a dynamic discipline. Adherence to this broad mandate has underpinned the journal’s emergence as a major and independent worldwide voice across the sub-fields of International Relations scholarship. The Editors embrace and are committed to further developing this inheritance. Above all the journal aims to achieve a representative balance across the diversity of the field and to promote deeper understanding of the rapidly-changing world around us. This includes an active and on-going commitment to facilitating dialogue with the study of global politics in the social sciences and beyond, among others international history, international law, international and development economics, and political/economic geography. The EJIR warmly embraces genuinely interdisciplinary scholarship that actively engages with the broad debates taking place across the contemporary field of international relations.