Ethnic Conflict in the Fergana Valley: An Integrated Approach to Border Dynamics and Conflict Resolution

ABSTRACT This study examines ethnic conflicts in the Fergana Valley region (1989, 1990, 2010) through an integrated theoretical framework that connects border politics, identity formation, and conflict resolution approaches. Drawing on original fieldwork conducted between 2020 and 2023, including 47 semi‐structured interviews with local stakeholders and regional experts, this research identifies how Soviet‐era border demarcations continue to shape contemporary interethnic relations. Our analysis reveals that effective conflict resolution depends not on resource abundance but on the quality of resource management institutions and grassroots peacebuilding mechanisms. We analyze how territorial contestations interact with resource competition, demographic pressures, and governance challenges to produce recurrent conflict patterns, while demonstrating how local communities develop innovative “everyday peace” practices that offer alternatives to formal conflict resolution mechanisms. The findings suggest that effective conflict resolution requires targeted interventions at multiple scales—from local community‐based reconciliation processes to transboundary governance mechanisms. This research contributes to both theoretical understandings of ethnoterritorialism in post‐Soviet spaces and broader comparative insights for territorial dispute resolution, with implications for similar contexts in the former Soviet Union, post‐colonial Africa, and other regions characterized by contested borders and ethnic diversity.

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