ABSTRACT
The bloodiest war in post-Second World War Europe broke out in the Balkans following the dissolution of multinational Yugoslavia in 1991. Most analysts describe this conflict as being driven by incompatible ethnic demands. The term ‘ethnic’ has become the popular descriptive term for conflicts among ethnic groups who reside in multiethnic states. In the most general sense, the common assessment of the conflict in Yugoslavia— that it erupted because of deeply ingrained differences in religion, culture and state traditions which fed into ‘age-old ethnic hatreds’—is misleading. While the role of historical factors is dealt with elsewhere, the contention of this analysis is to demonstrate that ethnic differences are normal features of different ethnic groups rather than being inherent sources of conflict. The concern of this chapter is to see how ethnic differences can be and are being utilised as a tool by political elites and opportunist leaders to achieve political ends and, consequently, why ethnicity has become so salient in the process of the decline of communist power, and in its immediate aftermath, in the former Yugoslavia.
