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This paper theorizes the link between ethnicity and conflict. Conventional research relies on the ethnolinguistic fractionalization index (ELF) to explore a possible causal connection between these two phenomena. However, such approaches implicitly postulate unrealistic, individualist interaction topologies. Moreover, ELF-based studies fail to articulate explicit causal mechanisms of collective action. To overcome these difficulties, we introduce the new index N* of ethnonationalist exclusiveness that maps ethnic configurations onto political violence. This formalization is confirmed statistically in regression analysis based on data from Eurasia and North Africa.

In recent years, constructivists in International Relations have been attempting to `seize the middle ground' between positivist objectivism and postmodernist relativism. Yet, while useful in rendering the approach more palatable to mainstream researchers, these efforts risk leading to premature ontological closure. We therefore propose that constructivist research be extended to a `sociational' research agenda. Based on Georg Simmel's process theory of Vergesellschaftung, it joins contemporary constructivists on the epistemological middle ground while liberating itself from some of their ontological restrictions. The sociational perspective endogenizes the actors' corporate identities as a way to trace `entity processes' such as the creation and dissolution of actors as well as boundary change. Such an analytical shift makes it possible to imagine, and thus also to analyze, past, present and even future worlds constituted by co-evolving social formations, such as nations, ethnic groups, supranational organizations and states. We show how sociational analysis complements and surpasses conventional explanations of cooperation and conflict as applied to the democratic peace and ethnic conflict.

European integration follows a puzzling stop-and-go pattern that traditional international reations theories cannot fully explain. The predominating paradigms only account for either the achievements or the setbacks of the integration process. An information based explanation makes it possible to move beyond structural accounts provided by realist and functionalist scholarship. Such an approach yields solid micro-level foundations of international bargaining and focuses on leaders' use of threats in negotiations about regional cooperation. Situations involving governments agreeing on the necessity of further integration, but disagreeing about its level, create room for strategic manipulation of information asymmetries. This type of uncertainty stems from the manipulator's information and control advantages concerning domestic costs. The analysis of different summit meetings demonstrates the empirical relevance of such maneuvers for the dynamics of European integration.

European integration follows a puzzling stop-and-go pattern that traditional international reations theories cannot fully explain. The predominating paradigms only account for either the achievements or the setbacks of the integration process. An information based explanation makes it possible to move beyond structural accounts provided by realist and functionalist scholarship. Such an approach yields solid micro-level foundations of international bargaining and focuses on leaders' use of threats in negotiations about regional cooperation. Situations involving governments agreeing on the necessity of further integration, but disagreeing about its level, create room for strategic manipulation of information asymmetries. This type of uncertainty stems from the manipulator's information and control advantages concerning domestic costs. The analysis of different summit meetings demonstrates the empirical relevance of such maneuvers for the dynamics of European integration.

This edited volume explores the link between natural resources and civil conflict, focusing especially on protest and violence in the context of mining and the extraction of minerals. The primary goal of the book is to analyze how the conflict-inducing effect of natural resources is mediated by inequality and grievances. Given the topicality of the current boom in mining, the main empirical focus is on non-fuel minerals. The volume is structured in four parts. Part I sets the stage of the volume in two chapters. Part II contains large-N studies of fuel and non-fuel resources and their effect on conflict. Based on qualitative methods, Part III presents case studies focusing on Zambia, India, Guatemala and Burkina Faso, which investigate the mechanisms between the extraction of natural resources and violent conflict. Finally, Part IV provides a summary of the previous analyses. Hamid E. Ali is Associate Professor of Economics and Public Policy, Doha Institute for Graduate Studies, Qatar, and the author of Darfur Political Economy: A Quest for Development (2014), nd co-author with Christos Kollias of Defense Spending, Natural Resources, and Conflict (2017). He is also the author and co-author of articles in many scholarly journals. Lars-Erik Cederman is Professor of International Conflict Research at ETH Zürich, Switzerland, and the author of Emergent Actors in World Politics: How States and Nations Develop and Dissolve (1997) and co-author of Inequality, Grievances and Civil War (2013), as well as numerous articles in scientific journals.

We introduce the contributions to this special issue on "Disaggregating Civil War." We review the problems arising from excessive aggregation in studies of civil war, and outline how disaggregation promises to provide better insights into the causes and dynamics of civil wars, using the articles in this special issue as examples. We comment on the issue of the appropriate level of disaggregation, lessons learned from these articles, and issues for further research.

In quantitative models of international conflict, the variables' causal effects are generally assumed to be constant over historical time. Yet, qualitative liberal theorizing, especially that of Immanuel Kant, has tended to emphasize a dynamic perspective based on the theme of progress. To bridge this gap between method-imposed stasis and theoretical dynamics, a framework featuring time-varying parameters is applied to the democratic peace hypothesis. The model strongly confirms a dynamic reinterpretation of Kant's theory. Results show that dispute probabilities decline steadily among democratic states over time, and the democratic peace hypothesis is not just a transient cold war effect. This result is robust to statistical control involving geopolitical and liberal control variables, including alliances, capabilities, and economic development.