Geopolitical motives of interethnic conflicts in Sri Lanka

Abstract

          Ethnic conflictology as an independent discipline is one of the youngest areas of world conflictology science: it is believed that it arose in the 60-70s. XX century in the course of research by Western, primarily English and American scientists. Compared to other types of social conflicts, interethnic conflicts are among the most protracted, intractable and bloody. They have become the dominant form of violence and have become one of the global challenges of our time. In most countries where there are serious contradictions on an ethnic basis, the latter often become the cause of political instability, economic stagnation and even humanitarian disasters. People living in these countries develop a permanent feeling of fear.

       A classic example of modern interethnic conflict can be considered the Sinhala-Tamil conflict in Sri Lanka. Emerging long before independence in 1948, the ethno-political conflict in Sri Lanka has a fairly long history. The Sinhalese have inhabited the island of Ceylon (Sri Lanka since 1970) since the 6th century BC. Today, the Sinhalese make up about 75% of the state's population. The Tamils tried for a long time to take root on the island, which they managed to do already in the 8th century AD. Interethnic conflicts began already in the 10th century, however, they occurred without the participation of the broad masses of the population at the level of political elites.

              The causes of the conflict include ideological differences and minor conflicts, the desire to appropriate limited values, historical motives, differences in religious and cultural values, and ideologies. When studying interethnic conflicts, there are three main approaches to their analysis: primordialism (the value motivation of the participants in the conflict), instrumentalism (ethnicity as a tool of group mobilization used by ethnic leaders to achieve their goals) and constructivism (the social nature of the origin of ethnicity). Particular attention is paid to the typology and main stages of development of interethnic conflicts. For example, we can typologize them as: conflict of stereotypes, conflict of ideas and conflict of actions. Other classifications of conflicts include: territorial conflicts; conflicts based on the desire for self-determination; conflicts related to claims to the territory of another state; conflicts where the main factors are of a historical nature (long-term national liberation struggle against the mother countries); conflicts resulting from deep divisions between different national communities, etc. Conventionally, an interethnic conflict can be divided into the following stages: pre-conflict stage (latent phase); suppression of discontent of the ethnic group and the return (temporary) of the conflict to a latent state or non-recognition of the fact of the existence of the conflict; recognition by the parties to the conflict of its existence; escalation or resolution of conflict; reaching the climax of the conflict; de-escalation (new exacerbations cannot be ruled out); post-conflict stage. An assessment is also made of the role and goals of international actors in conflicts of this type. Additional difficulties are created due to the depth of contradictions between the conflicting parties, which international mediators are not able to fully understand. Sometimes states acting as mediators or supporting one of the parties pursue their own goals, neglecting the interests of the direct participants in the conflict. International organizations are also not always able to make effective decisions and prevent the development of destructive processes, including in the sphere of interethnic relations.

     The current situation in Sri Lanka is actually a latent phase of interethnic conflict, but the level of tension is consistently decreasing. 13 5. In recent years, there has been a certain geopolitical turn by the United States and China towards the Pacific and Indian Ocean regions. There is already some tension in South Asia along the US-China and India-China lines. In these conditions, Sri Lanka, due to its geographical location, becomes the object of increased interest of these powers.

      In conclusion, it must be noted once again that the ethnopolitical conflict in Sri Lanka is a striking example of modern interethnic conflict. Unfortunately, in such conflicts, the memory of past contradictions is passed on from generation to generation. That is why the government of the state has to do a lot of work to completely resolve this conflict and to avoid its recurrence.