From Ethnic Conflict to Stillborn Reform
The Former Soviet Union and Yugoslavia
978-1-58544-396-3 Cloth
6 x 9 x 0 in
296 pp. 8 maps., 6 tables., 7 figs.
Pub Date: 04/27/2005
Available
Building on existing work emphasizing the effects of economic development and political culture, the book adds a new, comprehensive treatment of how war affects political and economic reform.
Author Shale Horowitz employs both statistical evidence and historical case studies of the eight new nations to determine that ethnic conflict entangles, distracts, and destabilizes reformist democratic governments, while making it easier for authoritarian leaders to seize and consolidate power. As expected, economic backwardness worsens these tendencies, but Horowitz finds that powerful reform-minded nationalist ideologies can function as antidotes.
The comprehensiveness of the treatment, use of both qualitative and quantitative analysis, and focus on standard concepts from comparative politics make this book an excellent tool for classroom use, as well as a ground-breaking analysis for scholars.
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Published by Texas A&M University Press