ABSTRACT
The revival of ethnic cleavages and increased tensions is one of the major problems for today’s community of nations. Processes of democratization in the aftermath of the Cold War in some countries have revealed old ethnic, religious, and cultural differences and animosities; these have led to the ethnic violence and intrastate wars that jeopardize the traditional concepts of nation-states and world security. The administrative state and state institutions of former socialist states, once relieved of central authoritarian leadership and one-party domination, did not have the capacity to accommodate diverse claims of constituent ethnic groups.
