Was nationalism the main cause of the wars of secession in the former Yugoslavia? (ePub)

Scientific Essay from the year 2005 in the subject Politics - International Politics - Topic: Peace and Conflict Studies, Security, grade: A (74% - 1,0), University of Edinburgh, course: International Security: The New Security Agenda, language: English, abstract: The bloody wars of secession in former Yugoslavia have been one of the greatest tragedies in the post-Cold War-period. Hardly anyone was "(...) entirely prepared for the dissolution of Yugoslavia and the ensuing civil war (...)." (Simic, 2000:103) Within a short period of time the multinational state, which had consisted of a diversity of ethnic groups that had lived together for decades, simply ceased to exist. In the cruel wars from 1991-1995 huge numbers of people were killed, ethnic cleansing was quite common. But what were the causes of the drama? Why did neighbours suddenly turn against neighbours? The Yugoslavia-wars have been subject to numerous studies that have tried to analyse the reasons for the drama. The concept of nationalism is frequently referred to in this context.1 However, nationalism does not always imply such a negative notion, it can also lead to positive developments.2 By examining the causes of conflict in former Yugoslavia one immediately finds that this case is very complex, many different factors contributed to the outbreak of the wars.3 This essay analyses the connection between nationalism and the wars in Yugoslavia by taking into account the complexity of this specific case. First, it provides a definition of nationalism and explains three nationalism-theories, followed by a brief outline of the nature of the Yugoslav state in section two. Sections three and four examine the different theories and the role of nationalism in light of the various factors and developments that led to war. The essay concludes by providing an answer to the question of whether nationalism was the main cause of the wars of secession in former Yugoslavia. 1 There are also approaches that focus on other factors than nationalism. Roe (2000) for example explains the wars in Yugoslavia with the concept of the security dilemma. However, the focus of this paper will mainly be on the nationalism-concept. 2 An example for the Velvet Revolutions are the peaceful mass demonstrations in the former GDR in 1989, which, inspired by the slogan "Wir sind ein Volk", led to the reunification of Germany in October 1990. Heywood (2000: 256) demonstrates that nationalism can mean freedom and democracy on the one hand but also oppression, intolerance and conflict on the other. 3 At this point it has to be remarked that an explanation, which would focus on nationalism as a natural phenomenon, would simply be an oversimplification.