INTRASTATE WAR

Intrastate war



Intrastate war

Introduction

Intra-state conflict means conflict occurs within the borders of sovereign nation or state. Despite of interstate conflict, intra (within) state conflict involves both state and non-state actors and comparison to interstate conflict intrastate conflict does not end up with agreements but mostly it results with intervention of third party such as former Yugoslavia issue. These two types of conflict still occur all over the world. However, after end of the Cold War, there was a new trend which is intra-state conflict have been rising (Bloomfield 2008, p76).

Disintegration of multinational countries played important role in this rising such as Soviet Union or former Yugoslavia. It triggered emphasizing on ideology and nationalism, also goals of conflict sides changed. Accordance with effects of ending Cold War, causes of conflicts also changed. Intra-state conflicts have mostly ideological, ethnic or religious reasons (Caplan 2008, p745). For example, former Yugoslavia case had an ethnic reason between Albanians and Serbs. As well as, Rwanda issue as a intra-state conflict is motivated by ethnic hatred between Hutus and Tutsis. In related with rising of intra-state conflicts, non-state actors became more important. Since 1988 when almost the Cold War ended, there have been four interstate conflicts but 44 intra-state conflicts occurred (Walt, 2001, p239).

Discussion

The increase of the intrastate wars

Intra-state was defined as a major security threat instead of interstate war especially after end of the Cold War because international cooperation directly reduced the risking of inter-state wars. In other words main threat does not come from major inter-state confrontations any more, but from intra-state conflicts. Sources of intra-state conflict can be described with the help of level of analysis (Farrell, 2002, p49). First of all, individual level of analysis shows that there are two important point as a sources of conflict; effective leaders such as Milosevic and social identity has played important role in intrastate conflict in terms of feeling "superiority" from other groups. Secondly, state level analysis points out economic or political gain which means unfair distribution of national welfare and political power. Also, form of government causes intrastate conflict, in authoritarian, totalitarian, and other non-democratically constituted states can causes high social tension, may easily escalate a conflict (Ware, 2007, p78).

The last level is global level of analysis claim that intrastate wars may be a product of conflicts between states that share a transnational ethnic group or of meddling by external powers. In short, the general characteristics of intra-state are motivated by religious and ethnic differences. Unfortunately, due to characteristics of intra-state conflict, intra-state conflicts became more deadly and violent during a decade such as example of Yugoslavia or Rwanda, so, "increasingly internal conflicts, rooted in ideas of human identity and often expressed with frightening intensity, is the major threat to stability and peace, at the individual, local and international level" (Fearon, 2003, p75).

The decrease of the interstate wars

The nature of intra-state conflicts, as mentioned above, makes it insoluble, durable conflicts in a short ...