Belligerent Nationalism in a Globalizing World: A Peace and Conflict Studies Perspective.

The purpose of this paper is to explore the various ways in which Peace and Conflict theory and practice may facilitate a conceptual understanding of ethno-centric nationalism that helps develop strategies for transcending nationalism?s belligerent dimensions. Historians and political scientist have long acknowledged the role of nationalism in international and intra-national conflict throughout the 20th century and beyond. Scholarship in these fields has addressed the controversial phenomenon of nationalism from the vantage point of competing ethno-national interests and power-play configurations. However, scholarship in the field of peace and conflict studies offers a unique perspective for assessing nationalism?s propensity for either peace or conflict. The paper will examine major dimensions of the nationalist world view, political thought and action in light of nationalism?s role in intra and inter-national politics. The nationalist concepts of ethnicity, the nation state, identity, democracy, ethnic rivalry, liberty, life and death, among others, will be analyzed and appraised from the criterion of their political function and utility for peace and/or conflict. The inquiry will also explore the challenges and strategies for sustainable inter-ethnic/inter-national peace, particularly in the context of a globalizing world. ..PAT.-Unpublished Manuscript [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]