Ethnonational conflicts

Ethnonational conflicts are organized political actions, mass riots, separatist actions and even civil wars, in which the confrontation takes place along the lines of "ethnic communities". Most often, this kind of conflict occurs between the minority and the dominant ethnic group that controls the power and resources in the state.
There are several theories explaining the causes of ethnonational conflicts, which were formulated on the basis of research in various regions of the world. One of the dominant is the sociological approach, which is based on an analysis of the ethnic parameters of social groups (classes, strata, social and professional groups, etc.) and reveals the phenomenon of the usurpation of certain privileged social niches by members of one group to the detriment of another and social discrimination by ethnic or racial basis. The coincidence of the social stratification with the ethnic structure of the population, as well as ethnic disparities along the “city - village” line, for all their conflict potential, still cannot be interpreted as the main cause of ethno-national conflicts.
In a sociological approach, it is of interest to analyze the phenomenon of economic mediation, especially the role of trade, which, as a rule, in multi-ethnic societies tends to be controlled by representatives of one of the groups or people from a certain region. This usually causes dissatisfaction on the part of the rest of the population, who projects their negative reactions to merchants through direct and frequent contact. In general, however, competitiveness and competition in the field of labor relations and economic interactions can not always be named among the main factors of major ethnic conflicts.
In explaining the causes of ethno-national conflicts, an important place is taken by the political science approach, which reveals the role of elites, primarily intellectual and political, in mobilizing ethnic feelings, increasing inter-ethnic tension and escalating it to the level of open conflict. It is questions about power, the desire of elite groups to possess it, the relationship of power with material rewards in the form of access to resources and privileges are key to understanding the reasons for the growth of ethnic nationalism and conflict, including in the former Soviet Union.