| Summary: | One of the most challenging issues for students of international relations is the interstate dimension of ethnic conflict in both its secessionist and irredentist forms. This thesis contributes to an understanding of the interstate dimension of ethnic conflict in three ways. First, the thesis provides a more precise delineation of the causal relationship between ethnic and interstate conflict. Second, the thesis develops a model to identify the conditions under which ethnic conflict is most likely to lead to interstate conflict. Third, and finally this thesis provides insight into a theory and policy for management and resolution of ethnic conflict. The results of this research are used to identify the international conditions and actions that affect the dynamics and resolution of ethnic conflict. From that perspective, the central goal of this inquiry is to lay the groundwork for preventive peacekeeping. === The inquiry unfolds in five stages. First, a formal model, specifying the precise causal relationship of the selected variables and their interaction effects, is presented. Second, two cases (Somali irredentism and the Indo-Sri Lankan crisis) are used to test the assumed linkage. Third, aggregate data from the International Crisis Behavior Project data base, for the period 1918-1988, are used to test the explanatory power of variables derived from the combined framework. Fourth, two additional cases (Thai Malay separatism and the Balkans War) are used to test the most relevant propositions from the previous phase. Fifth and finally, based on the degree of support for propositions from both quantitative and qualitative analysis, the model is refined. Policy relevant and theoretical contributions are presented in the light of the findings. Directions for further research also are discussed.
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