Partition and Conflict Transformation in India-Pakistan and Cyprus

Abstract

This article argues that partition -a peacebuilding approach in a post-conflict society -can lead to the transformation of intrastate conflict to interstate conflict, thereby providing a helpful insight for further comparison of partition with multi-ethnic settlements such as federalism/powersharing and reconciliation. While advocates of partition maintain that intrastate conflict caused by a security dilemma between ethnic groups can be settled only by partition, this article argues that partition could cause the transformation of conflict rather than settling it. The cases of India-Pakistan and Cyprus provide the empirical evidence. The partition of India and Pakistan transformed intrastate conflict within India into interstate conflict between India and Pakistan including nuclear competition. The partition of Cyprus contributed to interstate conflict between Greece and Turkey. Therefore, this article concludes that the transformation of conflict reduces the value of partition, and that it is necessary to take this point into consideration when partition is compared with alternatives such as federalism/powersharing and reconciliation.

How Fear of Violence Drives Intergroup Conflict: Evidence from a Panel Survey in India

“…20 Suzuki applied the notion to explaining Hindu-Muslim tensions in India. 21 Chandra reviews theories of ethnic conflict and highlights the centrality of fear and security concerns. 22 Fear also features prominently in the minds of violent perpetrators.…”

How fear of violence drives intergroup conflict: Evidence from a panel survey in India

“…Kaufmann (2007) suggests a similar logic played out in Iraq. Suzuki (2011) applied the notion to explaining Hindu-Muslim tensions in India. Wilkinson (2004:32) reviews earlier studies on India and finds the idea of city-level population balances fueling Security Dilemmas to be "ubiquitous".…”