Cementing Divisions?

This article analyses the ethnic implications of peace-building policies and institutional design in recent international interventions. International interventions and peace-building efforts emphasize the importance of reconciliation and representative government. However, based on evidence derived primarily from the interventions in Bosnia-Herzegovina, Afghanistan and Iraq, it is argued here that policies pursued by international agencies to achieve an end to violence and rebuild institutions have had the unintended consequence of reinforcing ethnic identities and cementing ethnic divisions. Ethnicity is a dynamic identity whose salience and meaning can change over time. ‘Ethnic conflicts’ are conflicts which have become highly ethnicized; ethnicity has not only been politicized but has also become the predominant political identity rather than one of many crosscutting identities. Despite the dynamic character of ethnicity, international peace-building policy-makers have too often assumed the existence of discrete groups with relatively fixed ethnic identities. Institutional designs intended to promote representative government and manage ethnic conflict have institutionalized ethnicity as a key resource in political competition. International interventions have thus continued and extended processes of ethnicization that take place in ethnic mobilization and conflicts. In conclusion, the article examines alternative approaches that might minimize the risk of institutionalizing and perpetuating ethnic politics in post-conflict situations.