Now, of course there is a certain degree of ethnic allegiance, but not entirely.

Geopolitical interests, religious sectarianism, and ethnicity thus form a dangerous mélange in the new Middle East.

Just like other forms of identity, ethnic identity is dynamic, it redefines and reinvents itself over time in order to stay alive.

I really don't understand why people tend to differentiate themselves using the stupid criterion of ethnicity, he writes.

Ethnic Cleansing in the Caribbean

A key ingredient of this simmering conflict is ethnicity, the salience of which became evident even before the election of President Evo Morales in 2005. The combination of highly mobilized and vocal indigenous groups (the Amerindians, mainly located in the western highlands of Bolivia, represent some 55 of the population) and the declining influence of traditional elites at a time of socio economic deterioration, has created a society in which there are more losers than winners.

A key ingredient of this simmering conflict is ethnicity, the salience of which became evident even before the election of President Evo Morales in 2005.

Ethnicity or language hardly seem to be a factor in the secessions (one recognized, the other not) of Eritrea from Ethiopia and the Republic of Somaliland'' from Somalia.

Race, too, is a factor.

But ethnicity as the main marker of nationality is a vague and dangerous concept, not least because it leaves all minorities out in the cold.

Both Ghani, who identifies as an ethnic Pashtun, and his erstwhile rivals for the presidency, took steps to build ethnically diverse coalitions in the run up to the vote earlier this year.

The result has been disastrous, as ethnic rivalries sharpened.

Ethnic Armenian, Tsopi, Georgia Onnik Krikorian

They disputed the ownership of the land for years.

I am three quarters ethnic Russian, one quarter ethnic Armenian who received a Soviet passport at the age of 16 and a Ukrainian one at the age 19.

The Wayúu are the largest indigenous group of Venezuela and Colombia.

An ethnic civil war has been raging for several decades in Myanmar.

Once again, the breeding ground for aggression is ethnic hatred.

Europe's indistinct legal identity has another deleterious impact.

It's going to depend if they're wealthy or impoverished.

But their nationality seems to have let them off the hook.

What is worrisome, however, is the putative ethnic purity of the database.

And what does gender, or for that matter, sex, have to do with the Arab Spring?

I CANNOT AND WILL NOT CHOOSE ONE IDENTITY.

The ethnic cleansing of many Baghdad neighborhoods in 2006 and 2007 was deplorable.

The warfare of the past centuries, in particular the bloody ethnic cleansings of the past decade, is not valid anymore.

The Rohingya are an ethnic group who are concentrated in Rakhine state, in Buddhist majority Myanmar.

Yet no one thought much about it when American presidents of different faiths swore their oath of office to God and country.

If gender is a proxy for diversity, then central banks fail a basic test of it.

In some countries, formal allegiance to religious faith was symbolized by gestures and rites.

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There is a lack of appreciation of how deeply entrenched are Iraq's sectarian, tribal, and ethnic loyalties.

The distinctive feature of this ethnic group is the high rate of albinos among its members.

A total of 91 political and ethnic parties participated in the election.

For Geremek, Polishness denoted neither a biological community nor a blood lineage.

Indeed, the protagonists of caste politics and caste based public policy simply cannot validate their assertions, offering only small sample surveys that can be grossly misleading in the context of a huge country characterized by monumental diversity.

Being a woman need not and should not be among the greatest challenges of life.

Whether caste is a good indicator of socioeconomic deprivation remains an unsettled issue.

The image shows a woman from a gang in El Salvador with the tattoos that identify gang members.

They assume that being tribal is inferior, says Pawan.

Race and ancestry In terms of race and ethnicity, the state was 80.1 White (74.2 non Hispanic White), 15.6 Black or African American, 0.9 American Indian and Alaska Native, 1.3 Asian, and 1.8 from Two or More Races.

By the time this ethnic cleansing was over, Pakistan s population was 95 Muslim.

Ethnic division combined with high levels of unemployment is a recipe for volatility.

Personal decisions, nutrition, income level, education, and religious affiliation all enter the mix.

One shudders to think of parliaments in which the main criterion of membership is to belong to a group in need of affirmative action.