Causes Of Trans-border Ethnic Issues

Trans-border ethnic group is an ethnic group which is separated by the borderline between two states. When the centripetal force of a trans-border ethnic group causes centrifugal forces between the trans-border ethnic group and related states, there is a trans-border ethnic issue. It not only affects the stability of a state, but also national security and international relations. In order to avoid and solve the problems, we should find out the causes of trans-border ethnic issues. At the same time, this thesis can also fill the gaps in recent findings. First, trans-border ethnic groups can be divided into three types, which are the trans-border ethnic group composed with two ethnic minorities, trans-border ethnic group composed with one ethnic majority and one ethnic minority, and the trans-border ethnic group composed with two ethnic majorities. According to case analysis method, the author chooses three typical relevant trans-border ethnic groups that cause international issues. They are Jingpaw/Kachin trans-border ethnic group, trans-border ethnic group of Korean Peninsula and Tamils of India and Sri Lanka. Second, based on level-of-analysis approach of international politics, those three cases can be divided into three levels, which are ethnic group, state and international system. Third, this thesis will used theoretical assumptions of Realism to analyze each level of those cases, and then find out the rational factors of the causes. Meanwhile, this thesis classifies trans-border ethnic issues with5grades of intensity and finds out the major factors that intense those issues.The common causes of trans-border ethnic issues include the leading roles of ethnic elites, the internal ethnic gap, the disparate development of the trans-border ethnic groups, the standpoints of state leaders, the neither-a-friend-nor-an-enemy relationship of related states and the influence of third parties, especially great powers. By studying the intensity of those three cases, we can see that different types of trans-border ethnic issues are affected by different major factors. The major factor that influencing the trans-border ethnic group composed with two ethnic majorities is great power politics. The major factor that influencing the trans-border ethnic group composed with two ethnic minorities is the guiding of the leading party of the trans-border ethnic group. The major factor that influencing the trans-border ethnic group composed with one ethnic majority and one ethnic minority is the intervening of the majority of the trans-border ethnic group and its host country. Commonly speaking, trans-border ethnic issues are influenced by different major factors in different stages. While they are in low intensity (grade1-2), the major factor is the guiding of the leading party of the trans-border ethnic group. While they are in medium intensity (grade3), the major factor is the intervening of the main part of the trans-border ethnic group and its host country. While they are in high intensity (grade4-5), the major factor is great power politics.