Ethnic Conflicts in Kosovo and Afghanistan: Why Essay

Ethnic Conflicts in Kosovo and Afghanistan: Why a "One-Size-Fits-All" Analytical Approach Will Not Work

Today, Kosovo is recovering from decades of ethnic violence, and the same came be said of Afghanistan to some extent as well as the American military presence continues to draw down. Although both countries have experienced their fair share of such ethnic-based violence over the years, there is no "one-size-fits-all" analytical approach to examining the multifaceted problems that are being experienced by these countries because of the fundamental differences that exist between them and these issues are discussed further below.

As can be seen from the breakdown of Kosovo and Afghanistan language, population and ethnic groups, Kosovo is populated mostly by Serbians (92%) with two official languages (Albanian and Serbian) and one main religion (Islam) while Afghanistan is comprised of several primary ethnic groups and dozens of others, all with their own languages. Furthermore, the populations of the two countries are dramatically different, with Kosovo representing just 6% of the total population of Afghanistan.

Table 1

Ethnic Groups, Religions and Languages in Kosovo and Afghanistan

Country

Ethnic Groups

Religions

Languages

Population

Kosovo

Albanians 92%, other (Serb, Bosniak, Gorani, Roma, Turk, Ashkali, Egyptian) 8% (2008)

Muslim, Serbian Orthodox, Roman Catholic

Albanian (official), Serbian (official), Bosnian, Turkish, Roma

1,825,632

Afghanistan

Pashtun 42%, Tajik 27%, Hazara 9%, Uzbek 9%, Aimak 4%, Turkmen 3%, Baloch 2%, other 4%

Sunni Muslim 80%, Shia Muslim 19%, other 1%

Afghan Persian or Dari (official) 50%, Pashto (official) 35%, Turkic languages (primarily Uzbek…