Aborted state: A state that has experienced failure even before the process of state-formation was consolidated. (Gros 1992, cited by CIFP 1998: http://www.carleton.ca/~dcarment/cifp/)
Accelerators: Events that typically increase the level or significance of the most volatile of the background and intervening conditions; moreover, they often develop a momentum of their own capable of escalating a crisis. (Harff and Gurr 1997: http://www.bsos.umd.edu/cidcm/mar/pubs.htm)
Acculturation: Process by which continuous contact between two or more distinct societies causes cultural change. The beliefs and customs of the groups sometimes merge almost equally and result in a single culture. More often, however, one society completely absorbs the cultural patterns of another. This change often occurs because of political or military domination. (Microsoft Corporation 1997-1999: http://encarta.msn.com/)
Active discrimination: Deliberate state policies limiting a people’s access to political positions or economic opportunities, or pervasive social practice by dominant groups. (Gurr & Haxton, 1996: http://www.bsos.umd.edu/cidcm/mar/minrept1.htm)
Adjudication: Instrument of conflict management involving adversaries who have no influence in choosing the third party, only one party required for an intervention to occur, and a judge is the decision making authority. The focus of intervention is a binding, law-based result in the nature of a win-lose outcome. (Kleiboer, 1997; cited by Schmid 1998: http://www.fewer.org/pubs/thes.htm)
Adverse or disruptive regime transitions: Major, abrupt shifts in patterns of governance, including state collapse, periods of severe instability, and shifts toward authoritarian rule. They include collapse of central state authority for two or more years; transition toward autocratic rule by revolution or coup; abrupt transition toward autocratic rule by nonviolent means; and violent regime instability accompanied by revolution or coup, with no increase in autocracy. (Jaggers and Gurr 1995; cited by Esty et al 1995: 2)
Advocacy: Partial third-party entreaties usually on behalf of one party to the conflict (often the weaker one) to external decision makers and power brokers. Advocacy campaigns raise awareness about particular issues and conditions and aim to bring about policy changes. (Schmid 1998: http://www.fewer.org/pubs.thes.htm)
Affirmative action: The giving of preferential treatment in education or employment to disadvantaged groups in order to compensate for the effects of discrimination.
African Renaissance: A term given currency by South African President Thabo Mbeki, it is a metaphor for a series of positive events occurring in Africa -- in contrast to the horrors of Rwanda, Sierra Leone, and Somalia –such as the end of apartheid and economic and political renewal even in countries long– considered "basket cases" like Mozambique and Uganda. (Ottaway 1999: www.ceip.org/programs/democr/ThinkAgainAfrica.htm)
Aggravating factors: Factors that can add to the weight of mobilizing and/or pivotal factors. They can differ per phase of a conflict. They are often important with regard to the (de-)escalation of a conflict. For example, the uncontrolled proliferation of small arms in an unstable political system can tilt the balance toward violent solutions instead of political debate. Aggravating factors are often related to the policies of the governments or external actors involved. (Arias Foundation 1998: 8)
Aggression: Use of armed force by a state against the sovereignty, territory, integrity or political independence of another state, or in any manner inconsistent with the charter of the United Nations. (UN 1994)
Alienation: A process whereby an individual or group is estranged from larger social units, including family, community, or nation-state.
Amnesty: An act by which the state pardons political or other offenders, usually as a group. In 1977, for example, President Carter granted amnesty to all Vietnam draft evaders. Amnesties are often used as a gesture of political reconciliation. In 1990, the ruling Sandinistas in Nicaragua declared an amnesty for over a thousand political prisoners as a prelude to a general election. Amnesties also sometimes occur after a change of government or regime. (Fast Times 1999: http://www.fast-times.com/political.html)
Anarchic state: A state with no centralized government, where armed groups acting under orders from warlords fight it out for eventual control of a non-existing state. (Gros 1992, cited by CIFP 1998: http://www.carleton.ca/~dcarment/cifp/)
Anemic state: A state whose energies have been sapped by counter-insurgency groups seeking to take the place of the authority formally in power. (Gross 1992, cited by CIFP 1998: http://www.carleton.ca/~dcarment/cifp/)
Arbitration: Traditional method of dispute settlement whereby the conflicting parties voluntarily seek out a single arbiter or arbitration court to arrive at a final judgement. The arbiter is an authoritative and legitimate third party, superior in strength to the parties to the dispute. The recommendation reached by a (neutral) arbiter is considered binding. (Hamzeh n.d, Kleiboer 1997; cited by Schmid 1998: http://www.fewer.org/pubs/thes.htm)
A) Conflict between two or more parties, but usually between the state and an anti-state group or groups using weapons on a sustained basis.
B) Combat between forces that both possess weapons. Hostilities of a kind which breach, or threaten to breach, international peace and security, such as invasions, interventions, border clashes and incursions, and also civil strife with some external dimension. Most commonly, this dimension would involve either support from external patrons, or the threat of spillover effects in neighboring countries from refugee flows and the like. (Evans, 1993; cited by Schmid 1998: http://www.fewer.org/pubs/thes.htm)
Assimilation: The process by which individuals or groups are absorbed into and adopt the dominant culture and society of another group. Assimilation usually involves a gradual change and takes place in varying degrees; full assimilation occurs when new members of a society become indistinguishable from older members. (Microsoft Corporation 1997-1999: http://encarta.msn.com/)
Autocracy: A government that sharply restricts civil rights and political participation, concentrates most or all political power in the executive, and distributes and transfers political power within a small political elite. (Gurr and Harff 1994: 189)
Autonomy: A political arrangement in which an ethnic group has some control over its own territory, people, and resources but does not have independence as a sovereign state. The specifics of autonomy arrangements vary widely. (Gurr and Harff 1994: 189)