International Law Review

International Law Review

The Mirage of Peace? Some of the Challenges to and Opportunities of International Law in Resolving Ethnic Conflicts

Document Type : academic

Authors
Mostafa Fazaeli 1
Mousa Karami 2
1 Professor , Department of International Law, Faculty of Law, University of Qom, Qom, Iran
2 Ph. D. in Public International Law, Faculty of Law, University of Qom, Qom, IRI
10.22066/cilamag.2024.2025470.2532
Abstract
Resolution of ethnic conflicts (ECs) is crucial for restoring international peace and security, which implicates the role of international law (IL). Employing a descriptive-analytical method and relying on desk research, this contribution seeks to examine the most significant challenges to and opportunities of IL in the context of resolving ECs. The analysis identifies three principal challenges: 1) the internal contradictions inherent in peacebuilding processes that impede the realization of sustainable peace in multiethnic societies; 2) the lack or insufficiency of a minority-oriented approach in United Nations’ structure and reaction mechanisms, rendering the achievement of lasting ethnic peace elusive; and 3) the organizational discoordination and one-dimensional approach within the UN framework, which has led to the inability or difficulty of taking effective, concentrated, comprehensive, and case-specific measures to resolve ECs. Conversely, the authors propose several existing solutions in international law for addressing these challenges including: 1) mainstreaming minority rights at the UN level; and 2) establishing a specialized institution for ECs within the UN structure. This paper provides an in-depth analysis of the aforementioned challenges and opportunities faced by international law in the context of resolving ethnic conflicts.
Keywords
International Law
Ethnic Conflict
Conflict Resolution
Peacebuilding
Consociational Democracy

Subjects

  1. Barten, Ulrike; Minorities, Minority Rights and Internal Self-Determination. Cham: Springer, 2015.
  2. Castillo, Graciana del. Obstacles to Peacebuilding. London and New York: Routledge, 2017.
  3. Maleševic, Siniša. Sociology of Ethnicity. London: SAGE Publication Ltd, 2004.
  4. Shahabuddin, Mohammad. Minorities and the Making of Postcolonial States in International Law. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 2021.

 

  1. Visoka, Gëzim. Shaping Peace in Kosovo: The Politics of Peacebuilding and Statehood. Cham: Palgrave Macmillan, 2017.
  2. Watts, Izabela Periera. Peace or Democracy? Peacebuilding Dilemmas to Transition from Civil Wars. London and New York: Routledge, 2023.
  3. Wolff, Stefan. Ethnic Conflict: A Global Perspective. Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2006.

 

- Articles

  1. Agarin, Timofey. “The Limits of Inclusion: Representation of Minority and Non-Dominant Communities in Consociational and Liberal Democracy”. International Political Science Review 41, 1 (2020).
  2. Badache, Fanny, Sara Hellmuller and Bilal Salaymeh. “Conflict Management or Conflict Resolution: How Do Major Powers Conceive the Role of the United Nations in Peacebuilding?”. Contemporary Security Policy 43, 4 (2022).
  3. Budryte, Dovile. “The “Nation” State on Trial: Minority Rights, Othering, and Exclusion in Europe during Times of Crisis. Nationalism and Ethnic Politics 23, 2 (2017).
  4. Chila, Irini. “Ethnic Conflict and ‘Democratic Peace’: 20 Years Later”. In: Nikolaos Tzifakis (ed.), International Politics in Times of Change, Berlin: Springer, 2012.
  5. Choi, Seung-Whan and Henry Noll. “Democratic Peace: Does Ethnic Inclusiveness Reduce Interstate Conflict?”. International Political Science Review 2, 42 (2021).
  6. Chow, Pok Yin S. “The International Court of Justice and Ethnic Conflicts: Challenges and Opportunities”. Texas International Law Journal 56, 1 (2021).
  7. Fuentes-Julio, Claudia and Ibrahim, Raslan. “A Human Rights Approach to Conflict Resolution”, Ethics in International Affairs 33, 3 (2019).
  8. Igdir-Akaras, Aslihan. “Ethnic Tensions and Global Response: Disentangling the Complexities of the Bosnian War”, Lectio Socialis 8, 1 (2024).
  9. Kim, Kyungmee and Tania Ferre Garcia. “Climate Change and Violent Conflict in the Middle East and North Africa”. International Studies Review 25, 4 (December 2023).
  10. Kymlicka, Will. “Liberal Multiculturalism as a Political Theory of State–Minority Relations”. Political Theory 46, 1 (2018).
  11. Maleševic, Siniša. “Ethnicity in Time and Space: A Conceptual Analysis”, Critical Sociology 37, 1 (2010).
  12. Paris, Roland and Timothy D. Sisk. “Understanding the Contradictions of Postwar Statebuliding”. In: Roland Paris and Timothy D. Sisk (eds.), The Dilemmas of Statebuilding: Confronting the Contradictions of Postwar Peace Operations, New York: Routledge, 2009.
  13. Reuter, Tina Kempin. “Including Minority Rights in Peace Agreements: A Benefit or Obstacle to Peace process after Ethnic Conflict?”. International Journal on Minority and Group Rights 19, 4 (2012).
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  15. Sweet, Rachel. “Peacebuilding as State Building? Lessons from the Democratice Republic of the Congo”. In: Terence McNamee and Monde Muyangwa (eds.), The State of Peacebuilding in Africa: Lessons Learned for Policymakers and Practitioners, Cham: Palgrave Macmillan, 2021.
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- Thesis and Dissertations

  1. Kempin Reuter, Tina. Ethnic Conflict and InternationalLaw: Group Claims and Conflict Resolution within the International Legal System. D. Dissertation in International Law, Zurich: University of Zurich, 2006.
  2. Odero Ouma, Steve. Constitutional Mechanisms for the Management and Settlement of Identity Conflicts: The Cases of Sudan, Kenya and Somalia, Ph.D. Dissertation in History and Political Science, Rome: Luiss University of Rome, October 2011.
  3. Resulani, Nadina. Ethnic Tensions in the Western Balkans and the Experience of Ethnic Minorities. MA Thesis in Political Science, New York: The City University of New York, April 2023.

 

- Cases and Reports

  1. Case concerning the Application of the Convention on the Prevention and Punishment of the Crime of Genocide (Bosnia and Herzegovina v. Serbia and Montenegro). Judgment of 26 February 2007.
  2. Case Concerning the Application of the Convention on the Prevention and Punishment of the Crime of Genocide (The Gambia v. Myanmar). Provisional Measures, 23 January 2020.
  3. Independent Expert on Minority Issues (Gay McDougall). Report of the Independent Expert on Minority Issues. A/HRC/16/45, 16 December 2010.
  4. Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights. Rights of Persons Belonging to National or Ethnic, Religious and Linguistic Minorities. A/HRC/55/35, 10 January 2024.
  5. Minority Schools in Albania (Advisory Opinion). 1935 P.C.I.J. (ser. A/B) No. 64 (Apr. 6), 6 April 1935.
  6. Special Rapporteur on Minority Issues (Rita Izsák-Ndiaye). Report of the Special Rapporteur on Minority Issues. A/HRC/28/64, 5 January 2015.
  7. Special Rapporteur on Minority Issues (Fernand de Varennes). Report of the Special Rapporteur on Minority Issues. A/HRC/37/66, 16 January 2018.
  8. Special Rapporteur on Minority Issues (Fernand de Varennes). Conflict Prevention Through the Protection of the Human Rights of Minorities. A/HRC/49/46, 15 March 2022.
  9. Special Rapporteur on Minority Issues (Fernand de Varennes). Minority Issues. A/77/246, 29 July 2022.
  10. Special Rapporteur on Minority Issues (Fernand de Varennes). Strengthening and Mainstreaming the Protection of the Rights of Minorities at the United Nations: An Assessment of the Implementation of the Declaration on the Rights of Persons Belonging to National or Ethnic, Religious and Linguistic Minorities. A/HRC/52/27, 26 January 2023.
  11. Special Rapporteur on Minority Issues (Fernand de Varennes). Minority Issues. A/78/195, 16 August 2023.
  12. Special Rapporteur on Minority Issues (Nicolas Levrat). Promoting Diversity on Minority Issues to Strengthen the Universal Dimension of Human Rights. A/HRC/55/51, 6 February 2024.

  • Receive Date 25 March 2024
  • Revise Date 02 July 2024
  • Accept Date 03 July 2024