ABSTRACT
This chapter focuses on the theoretical framework describing patterns of behavior of ethnic groups within states and the relationship between the state and its ethnic minorities. A situation of anarchy has developed among the ethnic groups in which mutual distrust has prevailed and all the ethnic groups have felt aggrieved and threatened by each other. The consequence was that ethnic groups have claimed their independence and the territorial split from the former nation-state. International governance means setting up institutionalized and sustainable cooperation structures among nation-states, i.e., institutions for collective problem and conflict management and settlement in which states would voluntarily cooperate according to predetermined norms, rules, principles and decision-making procedures. The states voluntarily submit to collective decision-making, they regulate their behavior and act according to collectively defined rules. The normative institutionalization of cooperation implies the willingness of participating actors to put back the option of self-help and abandon the use of force.
