ABSTRACT
Four important types of politically active ethnic groups coexist with modern states: ethnonationalists, indigenous peoples, ethnoclasses, and communal contenders. Most people with nationalist aspirations live in the Third World, such as the southern Sudanese, the Kurds in the Middle East, and the Tibetans. They have fought some of the modern world's most persistent wars of self-determination, but only two new internationally recognized states have been born in the Third World in armed ethnonational conflict during the last forty years. The indigenous people's movement has had great influence, first by encouraging political action by many previously passive local and regional groups, second by making forceful presentations to international bodies, most recently to the World Bank and the World Trade Organization. Religion also has been an important identifier in communal conflicts in other world regions. Afghanistan under the rule of the Taliban helps illustrate the complex interplay of religion, ethnicity, and politics in the Islamic world.
