What Is Intrastate Conflict?

Intrastate conflicts cause death and destruction.

Most armed conflicts today occur within rather than between states. They involve ethnic or religious groups fighting against each other or against the government to secure autonomy, independence, or well-being. This is why intrastate conflicts are often referred to as ethnic or civil conflicts.

Proliferation of Intrastate Conflicts

The end of the Cold War---the ideological confrontation between the West and the East, led by the U.S. and the USSR---drastically reduced the risk of intrastate wars. However, the number of intrastate conflicts caused in part by the dissolution of the Soviet Union and the new geopolitical reordering of the world map has increased significantly. Former Yugoslavia, Chechnya, Rwanda, and Congo are just some of the examples.

Causes of Intrastate Conflicts

Intrastate conflicts break out when one group---ethnic, religious or social---feels disadvantaged or exploited by another group in the same state and tries to change that through violence.

Effects of Intrastate Conflicts

In addition to loss of life and destruction inside a state, armed intrastate conflicts affect neighboring countries too because they tend to disrupt economic activity, produce refugees, and influence the internal politics of other counties. This is why neighboring countries and leading world powers have an interest in stopping these conflicts. Sometimes, however, it is the neighbors who, for political or economic reasons, help start intrastate conflicts in other countries.

References

• Conditions of Successful Third-Party Intervention in Intrastate Conflicts
• Ethnic Conflict Isn't
• Mediation in Intrastate Conflicts

Resources

• Intra-state conflicts in the post-Cold War era