From Ethnic Conflict to Stillborn Reform is the first systematic
treatment of the major post-communist conflicts in both the former
Yugoslavia-Bosnia-Herzegovina, Croatia, and Serbia—and the
former Soviet Union—Armenia, Azerbaijan, Georgia, Moldova, and
Tajikistan. It is also the first work that focuses not on causes but
rather on consequences for democratization and market reform, the
two most widely studied political outcomes in the developing world.
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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SHALE HOROWITZ is an associate professor of political science at
the University of Wisconsin–Milwaukee who has written widely on
political and economic development and ethnic conflict, particularly in
the post-communist world and in East and South Asia. His Ph.D. is
from the University of California–Los Angeles.
What people are saying about this book
". . . Horowitz's book is an important and unique effort to combine
a broad comparative approach with in-depth case study analysis to
shed light on what is a critical question in comparative and
international politics."—Political Science Quarterly, Winter 2006-07
". . . a significant addition to the literature on transition and ethnic
conflict."—Journal of Peace Research, May 2006
"Horowitz has done an excellent job in conducting his research and
analysis, and the result is a solid piece of scholarship that
contributes greatly to our understanding of ethnic conflict and post-
communist reform in the former Soviet Union and Yugoslavia. In
short, with this work Horowitz has made an important contribution
to the field of Russian and East European Studies."—Christopher
Marsh, Baylor University
"Horowitz’s path-breaking study tackles the question of the causes
and consequences of war in the post-socialist world. It is the first
study to directly compare the wars in the Balkans with those in the
former Soviet Union. Through a combination of statistical analysis
and case study, Horowitz explores the complex relationship between
nationalist leaders, the wars they often cause (or fail to prevent),
and their uphill postwar struggle to rebuild their societies through
political and economic reform."—Peter Rutland, Wesleyan University
"In this sophisticated and wide-ranging book, Shale Horowitz takes
seriously one of the central counterfactuals in the postcommunist
world: What difference did ethnic war really make in the politics of
this region, and how might the pace and depth of political reform
have been different had governments managed to avoid interethnic
confrontation? War is always a tragic outcome, but its effects on
longer- term political development are variable. Much depends on
the nature of the existing regime, the ideological orientations of
political actors, the constellation of authority in the prewar society,
and the interests of external powers. As Horowitz shows, these
factors help explain why some postcommunist states have
weathered ethnic war and emerged as relatively stable, democratic
polities, while others have remained mired in unresolved conficts
and authoritarianism."—Charles King, Georgetown University
