Nationality problems and war

Organised by

• Robert Schuman Centre for Advanced Studies
• EGPP: European Governance and Politics Programme

Half a century ago Myron Weiner introduced a descriptive model labeled the "Macedonian Syndrome'' that specifies how nationalist politics in irredentist actor constellations result in both civil and interstate conflict. Subsequent research, however, has tended to treat these types of conflict separately. The authors propose an integrated framework that links these categories to specific violations of nationalist principles. Specifically, the they show that groups that are exposed to alien rule are more likely to rebel, and groups that divided tend to trigger interstate disputes. Furthermore, as expected by Weiner's study, previous ethno-nationalist rebellion raise the risk of subsequent interstate conflict, and conversely, such events pave the way for rebellion. Their findings indicate that Weiner's model explains conflict patterns beyond its original realm of application.