Violent conflicts rooted in ethnicity have erupted all over the world. Since the Cold War ended and a new world order has failed to emerge, political leaders in countries long repressed by authoritarianism, such as Yugoslavia, have found it easy to mobilize populations with the ethnic rallying cry. Thus, the worldwide shift to democratization has often resulted in something quite different from effective pluralism. This volume of essays assembles a diverse array of approaches to the problems of ethnic conflict, with researchers and scholars using pure theory, comparative case studies, and aggregate data analysis to approach the complex questions facing today's leaders. How do we keep communal conflicts from deteriorating into sustained violence? What models can we follow to promote peaceful secession? What effect does—or should—ethnic conflict have on foreign policy? Wars in the Midst of Peace should be of interest to international relations specialists, policy makers, students and practitioners of peacekeeping.

This book offers the most comprehensive study to date of peacekeeping over time and across all regions of the world.

Hardships and pain are inevitable and will be encountered in everyone's life. At some point in our life, we will experience hardships, pain, and suffering, for no one can escape them. Prepared people aren't as badly affected by the inevitability of hardships as those who aren't prepared. How you deal with hardships defines your future. Hardships and suffering define your character and make you better. Pain and hardship give one an opportunity to grow as a person. They are impermanent and won't last. Nothing in our universe escapes impermanence. Keep the truth "it won't last" in your mind. Strength comes from realizing that other people are going through what you're going through. Pain and suffering can't be avoided and sometimes come acutely. Fierce experiences are a part of life. Negative self-talk increases their effect, while positive self-talk keeps you calm. Use your words to turn negative thoughts into positive ones. Deal with stress through your self-talk. We all talk to ourselves, either out loud or in our heads. Your positive self-talk will reduce stress and help you deal with situations that cause you stress. Control your thoughts and words. Stress and anxiety can help us make the necessary changes in our lives and help us to act in our best interest. Everyone has feelings of nervousness, tension, and stress at times. Practice relaxation techniques to control your mind. Deep breathing helps the entire body let go and loosen up. Your mind and body must feel peaceful and strong in order to handle life's ups and downs. Keep your mind off of worry by focusing your thoughts on beautiful, happy, and positive things.

Are you depressed, living in doubt, unbelieving, fearful, anxious, confused, and grieving? Do you believe God has abandoned you? God Almighty is always there for you. Have you been going through a bad marriage? Have you been divorced? Do you want to end your life from all the misery from within and without? Oh, my little ones, God is not even a breath away. He is there for you. Are you the one God is calling out to? God is the god of peace and love. He is waiting for you to call out the name of Jesus for his gentle touch of salvation. He wants to free you from death, hell, and the grave. Are you the one who has run away from Jesus and his loving hands of forgiveness? Come back to him. He did not leave you. You are mad at him, but he is not mad at you. Are you the one who has lost your little child, wife, husband, brother, or sister? God Almighty, the creator of your very being, is there for you—always loving, always caring, always blessing. I have your answer, my friend. His name is Jesus Christ, the son of the living God. He is alpha and omega, our beginning, and with his presence, there will never be an end. Let me share with you my personal collection of psalms, poems, and thoughts, which God has given to me throughout the years. It is my heartfelt prayer that if you can relate to any of these life issues, you are the one this book was written for to give you peace in the midst of the storms of life. —J. Michael Vessels

As people, we all struggle with stress, moments of panic, times of confusion, and other times that we feel overwhelmed and we can't sleep. And if it was up to the devil, he would be more than happy to medicate all of us with his fake remedies of alcohol and drugs. He is an opportunist, experienced in using our problems, our vulnerability, our wounding, our pain, our traumatic past experiences to get us where he wants. He is good at offering temporary relief for deeper crises of the soul. This is my true story of God stepping into my messy, shattered, and broken family life and rescuing me. You see, freedom, according to Satan, is being away from God. I don't think my son had any idea of who the devil was or how cunning he could be. He befriends to destroy, he gives to take away. As a mother of an adult struggling with addiction, my life was paralyzed. Every breath increased my pain of hopelessness and despair. I felt afraid, alone, and abandoned by God. God seemed distant, absent, silent, and unconcerned. I felt like running, but there was no place to hide. Was God punishing me? Where and how did I go wrong? Sharing my painful journey was not an easy step. I tried at all costs to hide this painful part of my life. It took years in my classroom of pain for my mind to be unshackled by the Teacher, the Holy Spirit. I no longer need to hide nor be ashamed of my challenges with my prodigal son. Nevertheless, breaking free from shame, stigma, and judgment is a process that took years. When we only let others see the beautiful parts of our stories, avoiding our broken painful chapters, we mislead people, and perhaps they envy us for what they falsely think are perfect lives. Worse, we misrepresent the power of the good news that reaches down into our broken souls, hearts, and lives to provide peace from our broken pieces. Dear waiting, praying, and expecting parents of struggling children, I believe God wants to usher you to your own breakthrough, healing, and freedom. You can learn to relinquish your child(ren) to God. Do not lose hope. Have faith. In his time, he will make all things beautiful for us! God wastes nothing, even our pain.

Why do ethnic groups adopt violent means? In the 1990's, ethnicity emerged as the principle source of organized violence around the world. Ethnic wars were no longer internal conflicts between substate actors; instead they challenged state sovereignty and taxed the international community's ability to respond. Efforts to understand ethnic conflict remain divorced from the study of systemic change and the declining authority, capacity, and legitimacy of weak multiethnic states. This work proposes that the phenomenon of ethnic violence must be understood through a multilevel approach and that finding a solution to ethnic violence is possible only if we have a clear understanding of the sources that spark such violence in the first place. The Three Images of Ethnic War identifies the causes of ethnic war at three levels of analysis — the group, the state, and the international. These are the three images of ethnic war. This book places the outbreak of violence within context of the state and the international system in which the violence unfolds. Hanlon examines three violent ethnic wars in Yugoslavia, Nagorno-Karabakh, and Iraq. Yugoslavia's violent ethnic wars, the war over Nagorno-Karabakh, and the violent conflict between Kurds and Arabs in Iraqi Kurdistan demonstrate that ethnic violence is a complex and multifaceted occurrence. Hanlon argues that the numerous reasons why groups adopt violent means can only be understood through a multilevel framework of the three images of ethnic war and the interrelationship among them.