Includes bibliographical references (p. 225-242) and index.

Machine generated contents note: -- Acknowledgements -- Preface -- 1. Introduction -- PART I: THE SOUTH CAUCASUS -- 2. Theories Of Ethnic Conflict And Civil War -- 3. Aims And Objectives -- 4. Methodological Remarks -- 5. Organization Of The Book -- 6. Note On Transliteration -- PART II: THEORIZING ON THE CAUSES OF CIVIL WAR AND ETHNOPOLITICAL CONFLICT -- 7. Explaining The Terms -- 8. Typology Of Conflicts -- 9. Conflict Vocabulary -- 10. Periodization In Ethnopolitical Conflict And Civil War -- 11. Phase A. Mobilization - Latent Conflict -- 12. Phase B. Radicalization - Sporadic Or Low-Scale Violence -- 13. Phase C. Sustained Large-Scale Violence - Civil War -- 14. Structural Accounts -- 15. Level Of Economic Development -- 16. Facilitating A Rebellion? Natural Resources, Diaspora And Geography -- 17. Demographic Factors: Ethnic Diversity, Size, And Proportions -- 18. Regime Type And Regime Change -- 19. Social Inequality Accounts -- 20. General Shortcomings Of Quantitative Research -- 21. Conflict-Escalation-Based Theories -- 22. Perceptional Accounts -- 23. Ancient Hatreds -- 24. Security Dilemma -- 25. Symbolic (Identity) Politics -- 26. Instrumentalist Accounts - Manipulative Leaders -- 27. Opportunity In Power Asymmetry: A Missing Causal Link Between Ethinc Riots And Civil War? -- PART III: THE SOUTH CAUCASUS -- 28. A History Of Identities, An Identity Of Histories -- 29. (I) Azerbaijan And Azerbaijanis -- 30. Azerbaijan -- 31. Relations With Persia And Persians, Or Turks And Turkey, In Historical Perspective -- 32. Relations With Russians And Russia In Historical Perspective -- 33. (Ii) Armenia And Armenians -- 34. Armenia -- 35. Relations With Turks And Turkey In Historical Perspective -- 36. Relations With Russians And Russia In Historical Perspective -- 37. (Iii) Georgia And Georgians -- 38. Relations With Russians And Russia In Historical Perspective -- 39. Forging Nation States: Societal Transition In The South Caucasus Republics -- 40. (I) The Internal Political Situation In Azerbaijan On The Eve Of The Breakup Of The Ussr -- 41. The Role Of Clans In Azerbaijani Politics -- 42. Mütällibov's Rule: Chaotic Internal Politics -- 43. Elçibäy: The Nationalists In Power -- 44. The Rise Of Heydär Äliyev -- 45. (Ii) The Internal Political Situation In Armenia On The Eve Of The Breakup Of The Ussr -- 46. Georgia -- 47. The Internal Political Situation In Georgia On The Eve Of The Breakup Of The Ussr -- PART IV: NAGORNO-KARABAKH, SOUTH OSSETIA AND ABKHAZIA: THE ASCENT OF ETHNOPOLITICAL CONFLICT -- 48. Nagorno-Karabakh -- 49. Conflict And Historiography -- 50. Chronology Of Escalation -- 51. Phase A: Mobilization - Latent Conflict -- 52. Phase B. Radicalization - Sporadic Violence -- 53. Phase C. Armed Conflict - Civil (International) War -- 54. The Conflicts In South Ossetia And Abkhazia -- 55. South Ossetia -- 56. Abkhazia -- 57. Conflict And Historiography -- 58. South Ossetia: Chronology Of Escalation -- 59. Phase A: Mobilization - Latent Conflict -- 60. Phase C. Armed Conflict - Civil War -- 61. Abkhazia: Chronology Of Escalation -- 62. Phase A: Mobilization - Latent Conflict -- 63. Phase B. Radicalization - Sporadic Violence -- 64. (I) Turkey -- 65. Relations With Azerbaijan -- 66. Relations With Armenia -- 67. Turkey And The War In Nagorno-Karabakh -- 68. (Ii) Iran -- 69. Relations With Azerbaijan -- 70. Relations With Armenia -- 71. Iran And The War In Nagorno-Karabakh -- 72. (Iii) Russia -- 73. Relations With Azerbaijan -- 74. Relations With Armenia -- 75. Russia And The War In Nagorno-Karabakh -- 76. (Iv) Russian Relations With Georgia -- 77. Russian-Georgian Relations And The War In South Ossetia -- 78. Russian-Georgian Relations And The War In Abkhazia -- 79. Phase C. Armed Conflict - Civil (International) War -- 80. Outcomes Of The Ethnopolitical Conflicts In Georgia -- PART V: CONCLUSIONS -- 81. Level Of Economic Development -- 82. Facilitating A Rebellion? Natural Resources, Diaspora And Geography -- 83. Demographic Factors: Ethnic Diversity, Size, And Proportions -- 84. Regime Type And Regime Change -- 85. Social Inequality Accounts -- 86. Ancient Hatreds -- 87. Security Dilemma -- 88. Symbolic (Identity) Politics -- 89. Manipulative Leaders -- 90. Expanding The Theory -- 91. In-Group Cohesion -- 92. External Support To Secessionist Movements -- Bibliography.

"This book seeks to explore the relevance of major theoretical and methodological approaches currently dominating the field of ethnic conflict and civil war research, testing their efficacy by applying them to three major South Caucasus conflicts of the late 1980s and early 1990s.Souleimanov explores the causes and dynamics of ethnic conflict and civil war, distinguishing between onset-based and process-based theories. He introduces a scheme of periodization which links the phase of low-scale inter-ethnic violence with the phase of sustainable organized violence, asserting the crucial importance of elites and their use of opportunity in power asymmetry as a key factor in instigating full-scale civil war.As a merger of theoretical and empiricist approaches, this book focuses on the case-specific contextual richness of the local conflicts in Karabakh, Abkhazia, and South Ossetia to draw solid theoretical conclusions as well as providing suggestions for the improvement of current theories. "-- Provided by publisher.