The Impact of Group Fears and Outside Actors on Ethnic Party Demands: Comparing Sudeten Germans in Inter-War Czechoslovakia with the Post-1989 Moravian Movement

Introduces a bargaining model to explore the process by which ethnic groups are mobilized & then demobilized, such that the extremity of their demands shifts over time. Two arguments are presented: (1) A group's structural characteristics (including its size & compactness) define the upper limits of goals that groups are capable of pursuing against the center. (2) The extremity of these claims is a joint function of (A) the group's expected political or economic benefits of exercising its 'exit option' (the independent variable) & (B) the bargaining power & activities of a group's lobby state or organization (the intervening variable). Discussion focuses on how & why an ethnic group's demands can shift from extreme goals, such as broad territorial autonomy, to very moderate goals, such as affirmative action policies, & vice versa. How international organizations may intervene to ameliorate the intensity of ethnic conflict is considered in conclusion

A nacionalizmus változatai a Covid-19 korában

Florian Bieber (2021) azt jósolta, hogy a Covid-19 világjárványnak korlátozott mértékben lesz csak hosszútávú hatása a nacionalizmus szintjének globális emelkedésére, érvelése szerint ugyanis a legtöbb kormány a világjárványt követően vélhetően visszatér majd korábbi nacionalista irányvonalához. Mindazonáltal azt állítom, hogy a nacionalizmusnak a közegészségügyi válságok kezelésében játszott szerepéből tanulhatunk valamit, ha megvizsgáljuk, hogy az államok milyen eltérő válaszokat adtak a vírus országhatáraikon belüli megjelenésére. A modern nemzetközi rendszerben az államok kormányainak feladata a lakosság egészségének és jólétének védelme. Amikor a nemzetek vészhelyzetbe kerülnek, olyan szuverenista mozgalmak jönnek létre, amelyek egymással versengő nemzetképeket védelmeznek. Cikkem politikai témájú műalkotások segítségével mutatja be, hogy Donald Trump amerikai elnök és Andrew Cuomo New York-i kormányzó hogyan használták az idealizált szuverén közösség különböző képzeteit eltérő pandémiás politikájuk igazolására. A járvány során mindkét vezetőt kritika érte, mivel nem védték meg választóikat, valamint nem biztosítottak helyet alternatív vezetőknek és nemzetvédelemi modelleknek

Forum: conflict delegation in civil wars

This forum provides an outlet for an assessment of research on the delegation of war to non-state armed groups in civil wars. Given the significant growth of studies concerned with this phenomenon over the last decade, this forum critically engages with the present state of the field. First, we canvass some of the most important theoretical developments to demonstrate the heterogeneity of the debate. Second, we expand on the theme of complexity and investigate its multiple facets as a window into pushing the debate forward. Third, we draw the contours of a future research agenda by highlighting some contemporary problems, puzzles, and challenges to empirical data collection. In essence, we seek to connect two main literatures that have been talking past each other: external support in civil wars and proxy warfare. The forum bridges this gap at a critical juncture in this new and emerging scholarship by offering space for scholarly dialogue across conceptual labels

Is Nationalism or Ethnopopulism on the Rise Today?

Published versio

Grounded Nationalisms over Time, Territory, and the State

Grounded Nationalisms: A Sociological Analysis has become an instant classic in nationalism studies. In just over 300 pages, Siniša Malešević, one of the world’s leading nationalism scholars, has constructed a rich treatise on some of the central questions of our day: How should we think about nationalism? What is the future of nationalism? And what accounts for the ubiquity of national identities and national identification long after the so-called Age of Nationalism ended?Published versio

Varieties of Nationalism in the Age of Covid-19

In the lead article of this symposium, Florian Bieber predicted that the Covid-19 pandemic would have limited long-term effects on the global rise in the level of nationalism because most governments were likely to revert to their prior nationalist trajectories following the pandemic. Nonetheless, I argue that we can learn something about the role of nationalism in the management of public health crises by looking at the variable state responses to the arrival of the virus within their borders. In the modern international system, state governments are tasked with safeguarding the health and well-being of their national populations. During national emergencies, sovereigntist movements form around competing images of the nation that deserves protection. This article uses political artwork to show how different images of the idealized sovereign community were employed to justify divergent pandemic policies of US President Donald Trump and New York Governor Andrew Cuomo. Over the course of the pandemic, both leaders came under fire for failing to protect their constituents, providing space for alternative leaders and models of national protection.Published versio

Managing European Conflicts through Devolution: Lessons from the League of Nations

This paper conducts comparative historical analysis on three cases of devolution in interwar Europe (Aland Islands, Danzig and Memel) to identify the conditions under which devolving autonomy to minority regions is most likely to mitigate internal tensions. The analysis indicates that both advocates and detractors of devolution overstate the effects of this technique on ethnic tensions on the ground. This is because internal conflict is less responsive to domestic institutions than it is the wider geopolitical environment. While institutions can have an effect on the long-term tendency to engage in separatism, nested security on the regional and hegemonic levels may be a determining factor in whether autonomous institutions have an inhibiting or exacerbating effect on separatist conflict

Managing European Conflicts through Devolution: Lessons from the League of Nations

This paper conducts comparative historical analysis on three cases of devolution in interwar Europe (Aland Islands, Danzig and Memel) to identify the conditions under which devolving autonomy to minority regions is most likely to mitigate internal tensions. The analysis indicates that both advocates and detractors of devolution overstate the effects of this technique on ethnic tensions on the ground. This is because internal conflict is less responsive to domestic institutions than it is the wider geopolitical environment. While institutions can have an effect on the long-term tendency to engage in separatism, nested security on the regional and hegemonic levels may be a determining factor in whether autonomous institutions have an inhibiting or exacerbating effect on separatist conflict.minorities