Broadly, there are five causes of conflict:
- Information: Something was missing, incomplete or ambiguous.
- Environment: Something in the environment leads to the conflict.
- Skills: People lack the appropriate skills for doing their work.
- Values: A clash of personal values leads to conflict.
Examples of such ethno-religious conflicts are the Kafanchan-Kaduna crisis that occurred in the 1980s and 1990s, the Kaduna Sharia riots of 2000 and the Jos riots of 20012 (Osaghae and Suberu 2005:19). Several hundred lives were lost during the Kaduna crisis of 2000 and the Jos insurrection of 2001.
In Northern Nigeria, clashes between Muslim groups—mainly ethnic Hausa and Fulani—and Christian and traditionalist communities have become a monthly affair, with devastating consequences. Since independence, religious and ethnic rhetoric has leveraged claims to political representation and opportunities.
In many fields, identity differences are seen to be a root cause of conflict. Psychological, especially social psychological explanations of conflict draw upon social identity theory as one of the primary explanations for conflict. Studies of religion attribute a large part of one's identity to one's beliefs.
Religious conflicts arise as followers of one religion take to the extreme and impose their religious beliefs on others with different religions.
The Muslims waged a violent war against representatives of other religions. When it comes to religious conflicts in Nigeria, the main cause is the intolerance towards representatives of a different religion. Intolerance is the main cause of religious riots and conflicts not only in Nigeria but around the world.
Religion in Nigeria
- Muslim (51.5%)
- Christian (46.9%)
- Traditional faiths (1.6%)
Examples of ethnic cleansing understood in this sense include the Armenian massacres by the Turks in 1915–16, the Nazi Holocaust of European Jews in the 1930s and '40s, the expulsion of Germans from Polish and Czechoslovak territory after World War II, the Soviet Union's deportation of certain ethnic minorities from
Political elites seek to attain and/or build political power by exploiting nationalism and its need to create the domestic 'other' in order to foster solidarity among the dominant nationality. Especially during war and the transition from war to peace, this process can lead to ethnic cleansing.
'Ethno-religious conflicts' refer to those involving groups where religion is an integral part of social and cultural life, and religious institutions are representative, possess moral legitimacy, and mobilisation potential.
“Ethnic cleansing” has been defined as the attempt to get rid of (through deportation, displacement or even mass killing) members of an unwanted ethnic group in order to establish an ethnically homogenous geographic area.
Abstract. Organized by groups whose distinctiveness is based on national origin, culture, language, religion, territory, or phenotype, ethnic movements are enacted with the purpose of promoting or resisting social change.
Artificial political borders and colonial favoritism set the conditions for ethnic rivalry in much of Africa. Poor governance makes matters worse. In the absence of national identity, people may identify with their ethnic group.
Definitions for Racial and Ethnic Categories
- American Indian or Alaska Native.
- Asian.
- Black or African American.
- Hispanic or Latino.
- Native Hawaiian or Other Pacific Islander.
- White.
10 Conflicts to Watch in 2020
- Afghanistan. More people are being killed as a result of fighting in Afghanistan than in any other current conflict in the world.
- Yemen.
- Ethiopia.
- Burkina Faso.
- Libya.
- The U.S., Iran, Israel, and the Persian Gulf.
- U.S.-North Korea.
- Kashmir.
Wars (1,000–9,999 combat-related deaths in current or past year)
| Start of conflict | Conflict | Continent |
|---|
| 1984 | Kurdish–Turkish conflict Kurdish–Turkish conflict (2015–present) | Asia |
| 1988 | Nagorno-Karabakh conflict 2020 Nagorno-Karabakh war | Asia |
| 1991 | Somali Civil War Current phase | Africa |
| 1999 | Ituri conflict | Africa |
The causes of nationalism that result in conflict are of great importance to the international community, but nationalism itself is not inherently violent; rather, nationalism has a capacity for violence precisely due to various contextual factors, specifically structural, political, socio-economic, ethnic, and
Work in progress for Africa's remaining conflict hotspots
- Democratic Republic of the Congo. The war in the DRC is one of Africa's deadliest.
- South Sudan. After a brutal civil war, South Sudan declared its independence from Sudan in 2011.
- Central African Republic. CAR has suffered more than six years of conflict.
A group of people who share a similar culture (beliefs, values, and behaviors), language, religion, ancestry, or other characteristic that is often handed down from one generation to the next. They may come from the same country or live together in the same area.
Ethnic diversity can become an impediment to economic growth and social stability, for instance, if particular groups are given preferential treatment by a government or a national leader, a situation which has been endemic in the past in parts of the continent.
The domestic strife in South Africa between ruling whites and subordinated blacks threatens to become a major conflict of violent dimensions in the African continent. This strife is primarily a consequence of racial policies promulgated by the white apartheid regime.
One of the main causes of conflict between Konkomba and other ethnic groups such as the Dagomba, Nanumba and Gonja is the struggle for paramountcy and autonomy. Land Ownership and control of land are another major source of ethnic conflicts in the Northern Region.
Forms of ethnic violence which can be argued to have the character of terrorism may be known as ethnic terrorism or ethnically-motivated terrorism. "Racist terrorism" is a form of ethnic violence dominated by overt racism and xenophobic reactionism.
