Ethno-territorial conflict and coexistence in the Caucasus, Central Asia and Fereydan

Babak Rezvani studied ethno-territorial conflicts and peaceful coexistence between ethnic groups in (post-) Soviet Central Asia, the Caucasus and Fereydan (in Iran), all of which are ethnically, linguistically and religiously heterogeneous.
The demographic dominance of titular groups in their autonomous region drastically increases the probability of conflict in regions of Central Eurasia. The transborder dominance of an ethnic group may also enhance the probability of such conflicts.
In the first half of the twentieth century, and based on their own interpretation of the right to national self-determination, the policy-makers in the Soviet Union decided that the (larger) peoples should posses autonomous homelands. This policy resulted in a hierarchical ethno-territorial system that eventually is responsible for the outbreak of ethno-territorial conflicts after the demise of the Soviet empire.
Rezvani constructed a dataset of 129 ethno-territorial encounters and filled it in on the basis of fieldwork, literature, and governmental and non-governmental (statistical) data. In addition to thorough descriptions of ethno-territorial conflicts, systematic qualitative comparative (QCA) and statistical analyses were performed using this dataset.
Rezvani's research emphasizes the importance of political-territorial factors. Besides the possession of territorial autonomy, demographic dominance of titular groups within such territories and transborder dominance, ethno-geographical configuration also plays an important role.