Why does ethnopolitical conflict sometimes lead to genocide and other times to peace? In this volume, political scientists, psychologists, sociologists, and historians examine over a dozen international cases to try to understand what causes a society's ethnic conflicts to escalate or deescalate. This unique book contains cogent critiques of the political and historical antecedents to conflict around the world, combining them with psychological analyses of group identity and intergroup conflict. In examining the escalation of ethnic conflict, the authors highlight the critical role of group identification. How group identification becomes enmeshed with threatened economic resources, violent political subcultures, and media manipulation of collective fear is stressed.

The lessons from the histories of specific countries are given cogent review: Why is Tanzania a rare model of ethnic peace in Africa while its neighbor Rwanda houses the worst case of ethnic warfare on the continent? How can South Africa's history provide a positive example of the resolution of ethnopolitical tensions? This book illustrates the promise that an interdisciplinary approach has to offer in preventing further genocide and ethnic warfare in the 21st century.