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This article explores the major approaches to the study of conflict resolution strategy from a variety of interdisciplinary perspectives. It argues that conflict resolution strategy, as a civil integration resource, is a necessary tool for overcoming deep-rooted ethnic conflicts in the unstable North Caucasus. This research pursues the goal of analyzing how the strength of civil integration can affect conflict resolution and peacebuilding. The author considers the essential factors of protracted ethnic conflicts and emphasizes the destabilizing role of the repoliticization of ethnicity in a crisis society. The concept of ethnic, "identity-based" conflicts is the heuristic theoretical model of exploring causes for increased ethnoreligious tensions in the North Caucasus. This article focuses on the ability of conflict resolution strategy to de-escalate growing tensions and transform protracted identity-based conflicts. The need to stimulate civil integration is caused by moral and structural causes: from the ethical point of view, the creation of an inclusive society is the fundamental societal goal; structural factors are related to the need to reduce inequalities and differences leading to social fragmentation and an escalation of ethnic conflicts. Among the structural conditions of regional conflicts, the author names ethnosocial inequalities, a civil identity crisis, ethnopolitical neo-authoritarianism, large-scale socioeconomic polarization and an "ideological combat" between secular modernization and religious fundamentalism. While discussing conflict resolution strategies, it is necessary to consider the following: 1) Peace and integration within the North Caucasus is a macropolitical project, the content of which is determined by issues of social cohesion and civil solidarity; 2) The development of the North Caucasus after the end of armed ethnic conflicts shows the inadmissibility of political demodernization, fundamentalism and isolationism. Today, the North Caucasus remains a crucially geopolitical macroregion, as it forms the southern volatile frontier of Russia. In this case, conflict resolution strategy must serve as an integrational and preventive tool on the conflict environment by way of providing structural solutions for deep-rooted cultural antagonisms, transforming and rationalizing ethnoregional contradictions.

Identity-based conflicts as a type of destructive ethnic conflicts have become a considerable obstacle to post-Soviet modernization, socio-political integration and ethnic peace in the current decade. The interest in the concept of identity-based conflict has been increasing worldwide during the first decade of the 21-st century. Identity-based conflicts are a notable phenomenon in the post-traditional world, where rational and irrational motives fancifully intertwine in politics, social structures, culture and everyday life of common people. Ethno-political identity became a prism for studying the problem of security in multi-ethnic communities. A rapid strengthening of hyper-ethnic, competing identities in Russian multi-ethnic regions occurred in two post-Soviet decades. It was manifested in the demands of ethno-political sovereignty, ethno-centrism, national-cultural autonomy, secession, as well as in the substantial growth of tension in ethnic relations, which resulted in protracted identity-based conflicts. The reduction of the role of civic identification, the growth of ethno-religious radicalism, new realities in ethnic and political life, new global rivalries, unstable processes of modernization in Russian regions were significant factors of the emergence of a large number of identity-based conflicts, ethno-political destabilization and social instability. In this case, conflict resolution in the North Caucasus may be built on the principles of civic solidarity and socio-political integration but not on the assimilation policy and suppression of ethnicities.

The goal of the research is to analyze the social and cultural integration as a tool for resolving the identities conflicts in the modern Russia. The methodology of research includes the systemic, social and philosophical analysis of social and cultural integration as a way for settling the identities conflicts in the North Caucasus. As a result of the study the author comes to the fact that a theoretical synthesis of conflictological paradigm and neofunctionalism is essential. In the paper, it is concluded that the modern conflicts resolution theory focuses its attention on the capacity of social and cultural integration to transform the destructive identities conflicts into constructive conflicts of interests. The author considers the structural factors of regional identities conflicts escalation and emphasizes the destabilizing role of ethnicity politicization. As the conditions of growth for the ethnic tension in the North Caucasus and its transformation into destructive identities conflicts, the author singles out the social inequalities, civic identity crisis, and ethnic mobilization. Proceeding from the analysis conducted, the author identifies the main factor of regional identities conflicts escalation: the controversy between systemic modernization and social disintegration. Finally, the conclusion is drawn about that the conflict resolution strategy for the Russian society has to be built on the principles of civic solidarity and social and cultural integration but not on the assimilation policy and suppression of ethnic distinctions. DOI:10.5901/mjss.2015.v6n6s5p325