(Estimated Pub Date) the Challenge of Ethnic Conflict to National and International Order in the 1990S: Geographic Perspectives- October 1995

Approved for Release: 2018/06/01 C00123268
1
The Challenge of Ethnic Conflict
to National and International
Order in the 1990s: Geographic
Perspectives '
Overview
Since the end of the Cold War, ethnic conflicts have
been of increasing importance—posing a threat to
intemational order and demanding the attention of
US policymakers. The aim of this conference report is
to highlight geographic concepts and factors that con-
tribute to our understanding of these conflicts and to
identify sources of potential ethnic strife. Following
the order of the conference, this report is divided into
three pans:
' The conferenceis conceptual framework. An exami-
nation of the geographic approach to the study of
ethnic conflict.
~ Regional manifestations. Current and potential eth-
nic conflicts by region.
' Implications. Looking at ethnic conflicts from a
comparative basis and viewing consequences for the
United States and the international community.
Part I: Framing the Discussion
Dr: Alexander Murphy, Associate Professor in the
Department of Geography at the University of Oregon,
establishes the groundwork in his keynote address. He
examines the geographer’s unique approach to analyz-
ing ethnic tensions and discusses how the geographic
perspective can aid in understanding these tensions, in
identifying destabilizing ethnic conflicts, and in devel-
oping effective policy responses. His discussion
focuses on the core concepts of location, territory, and
environment. '
Dr: David Knight, Dean of Social Sciences at the Uni-
versity of Guelph, provides additional insights on the
geographic perspective, exploring the linked concepts
of identity, territory, territoriality, and self-detem1ina-
tion as well as numerous territorial processes that
function within the nation-state system.
1
Part II: Regional Manifestations
Eastern Europe
Dr: Ronald Wixrnan, Professor of Geography, Univer-
sity of Oregon, identifies some potentially serious
ethnotenitorial conflicts that may arise in Eastern
Europe as well as others that have implications
beyond the region. He also discusses the impact of
Western nonaction in Bosnia and Herzegovina and
presents a worst case scenario for the situation in the
Balkans.
Dr: Thomas Poulsen, the respondent, is Professor of
Geography at Oregon State University. He under-
scores some of the key elements that affect the Bosnia
situation.
Western Europe and Canada
Dr: Colin Williams, Research Professor at the Univer-
sity of Wales, College of Cardiff, examines ethnic
issues in Western Europe, highlighting the most press-
ing and drawing out the implications for multiethnic
accommodation to a changing world order. He empha-
sizes the significance of the spatial perspective at
urban, regional, and continental scales.
Dr: Alexander Murphyis response provides further
observations on ethnic dynamics in the region and on
the impact of Western Europe’s changing political
geography on ethnic conflict.
Former Soviet Union
Dn Robert Kaiser, Professor of Geography at the
University of Missou1i—Columbia, explores the fac-
tors underlying the regional variations in the ethnoter-
ritorial conflicts in the former Soviet Union. Among
these factors are the degree of national consciousness,
the strength of attachment to place, the nature of
ethnodemographic trends, and the social mobility and
relative deprivation of the ethnic group. He also dis-
cusses how various groups have reacted to rising terri-
torial nationalism.
Approved for Release: 2018/06/01 C00123268