ABSTRACT
The enormous surge in identity-based conflict has captivated world attention with a new sense of urgency to explain how cycles of violence are fueled by notions of identity and difference. Familiar models of nation-states at war fail to explain the character of such violence and the militant tactics that ensure escalation of hostilities. The demands for vengeance acquire a ferocity that taps into the most violent passions of individuals. This ferocity emanates from a collective fixation on the dangerous Other, a fixation that in turn tends to dominate ingroup identity, and fosters a readiness to address grievances through violent means.
