This text""provides a comprehensive account of the most salient political issues in world politics and explains their significance in a way that is accessible to students and non-specialists alike. The end of the Cold War led to a widespread feeling of relief and talk of a new world order. Optimism however was short-lived and a whole range of difficult new issues, including ethnic conflict, refugees, terrorism and world security, have come to the fore. A number of ethical and moral issues such as poverty, human rights and religion has moved up the agenda of world politics. A new set of...

The events of recent years have demonstrated beyond doubt not only that ethnic pluralism presents major problems for the management of political systems, but that it is also a major cause of their failure and disintegration. This timely and topical book discusses the general issue of ethnic pluralism and considers a range of types of multi-ethnic society within a common analytical framework. It then examines the responses of governments to the problems of ethnic diversity and assesses the effects of ethnic conflict on the development and viability of states.