Across the world, violent ethnic conflicts continue to destabilise entire regions, hamper development and cause unimaginable human suffering. The author investigates the origins, dynamics, management and settlement of these conflicts.

Ethnic conflicts have shaped the 20th century in significant ways. While the legacy of the last century is primarily one of many unresolved conflicts, the author contends that Western Europe has a record for settling ethnic conflicts which provides valuable lessons for conflict management elsewhere.

Wolff examines the domestic and international dynamics of the German question, one of the 20th century's most interesting and complex phenomena since its 1919 inception. The German question is best described as the incompatibility of the territory of any German state with the extent of German cultural space and the different ways in which Germany and the relevant European and world powers have responded to the various problems arising from this incompatibility. The German question cannot be reduced merely to the issue of German reunification and sovereignty, as was often the case between 1945 and 1990. Rather, it has always involved other aspects, including the situation of German minorities in Europe, migration, the definition of a German national identity, and so on. From this perspective, unification in 1990 only resolved one aspect of the German question, while others continue to exist and remain, with varying prominence, on the political agenda, at least in Europe. Still, contrary to previous decades, none of the remaining aspects of the German question today poses a serous threat to European and international security and stability. Wolff goes beyond the usual focus on this question and includes the postwar expulsions and migration of ethnic Germans from Central and Eastern Europe and their integration in the two German states, as well as the legacy of the complex German-Polish and German-Czech relations as they play out in the current negotiations of the two countries' accession to the European Union.

"Investigating the causes and consequences of ethnic conflict, the authors argue that the most effective responses are those that take into account factors at the local, state, regional and global level and that avoid seeking simplistic explanations and solutions to what is a truly complex phenomenon." "Ethnic conflicts are man-made, not natural disasters, and as such they can be understood, prevented and settled. However, it takes skilful, committed and principled leaders to achieve durable settlements that are supported by their followers, and it takes the long-term commitment of the international community to enable and sustain such settlements." --Book Jacket.

Following a theoretical introduction, experts in ethnopolitics provide in-depth case studies, covering each of the major approaches to conflict management and settlement in different geographic regions.

What are the causes and consequences of the crisis in Ukraine, and what has been the nature of local, national, and external actors’ involvement in it? These are the questions that the authors examine in this comprehensive analysis of the situation in Ukraine. The crisis evolved from peaceful protests to full-scale military conflict and to an unstable ceasefire frequently interrupted by, at times, intense clashes between government forces and separatist rebels. Tracing the emergence of two new de-facto state entities in the post-Soviet space—the self-declared Donetsk and Luhansk People’s Republics—from the chaos of the early days after Russia’s annexation of Crimea in Spring 2014 to the second Minsk Agreement in February 2015, and focusing on the actions of the immediate conflict parties and their external backers, the authors investigate the feasibility and viability of several prominent ‘scenarios’ for a possible future settlement of the conflict. As an in-depth case study of the complex dynamics of the conflict at local, national, regional, and global levels of analysis, the book complements and advances existing scholarship on civil war and international crisis management and also provides insights for the policy community and the wider interested public.

Presenting a thorough examination of critical aspects of twentieth century history this book explores how the events of the twentieth century still cast a shadow over relations between Germany, Poland and the Czech Republic.

The study of ethnic minorities and their role in the domestic politics of their host states has long attracted scholars from a wide range of disciplines in the social sciences and humanities. By contrast, national (or external) minorities, have been under-represented in the literature on ethnic minorities, although the interest has increased since the collapse of communism and more recently since the eruption of violent conflict in Kosovo. Ethnic Germans in particular, although still numbering millions and spread over twenty countries in western, central, and eastern Europe, have attracted only little attention. This volume addresses the issue of Germany's external minorities, exploring the complex interrelationship between their ethnic identity and sense of cultural belonging on the one hand, and the political, economic, legal, and social situation in their respective societies, on the other. Leading specialists, representing a wide spectrum of viewpoints on the social and political conditions under which German minorities live today, provide case studies of all the major individual minority groups.

Against the backdrop of the recent military coup in Egypt and the ongoing civil war in Syria, the initial euphoria of the Arab Spring has long since faded. But the political transitions in Tunisia, Libya and Yemen, though fragile, continue to offer hope for stable outcomes. Anthony Dworkin explains why Tunisia's transition has kept from derailing--so far. William Lawrence argues that our failure to recognize Libya's specificities has kept us from understanding its post-revolutionary trajectory. And Stefan Wolff examines what's at stake in Yemen's ongoing National Dialogue Conference.

More than three decades since the fall of the Soviet Union, several conflicts over territory and political influence in Eastern Europe persist. This volume gathers new empirical and conceptual perspectives on the situation regarding security and human rights in the EU's eastern neighborhood. The first part of this volume consists of five articles, detailing the origins and recent developments in the conflict areas of Donbas (Ukraine), Transnistria (Moldova), Abkhazia and South Ossetia (Georgia), and Nagorno-Karabakh (Armenia and Azerbaijan). The second part provides a comparative perspective, focusing on the implications of protracted conflicts for European security, the OSCE, and international law. The articles analyze the regional context, explain the role of regional powers such as Russia, Turkey, and the EU, and provide clear policy recommendations regarding conflict resolution and accountability.