Book description
Societies in all countries are split by major divisions - or
'faultlines' - caused by differences in race, religion, ethnicity,
wealth, class or power. Like geological faultlines, some are plainly
evident, whereas others are more concealed and can erupt with little
warning. Violence along faultlines within states, from Sudan to Iraq to
the Congo, is the spark of much contemporary conflict. It has cost
millions of lives in the past twenty years alone. In extreme cases, this
violence threatens to tear states apart. Yet some countries such as
Canada, South Africa and Northern Ireland, have largely succeeded in
managing their faultlines. On the Faultline is based on a unique
year-long project by some of the world's leading experts to examine the
nature of conflict around these divisions. In a world facing acute
environmental, migration and resource challenges that can only
exacerbate differences, it is an essential guide to understanding a
phenomenon that all countries must grapple with in the 21st century.
Dr Jeffrey Herbst is the President of Colgate University and an
accomplished scholar of international politics. Dr Greg Mills is
Director of the Brenthurst Foundation and one of South Africa's most
respected security and development experts. His most recent book is Why
Africa is Poor (Penguin). Dr Terence McNamee is Deputy-Director of the
Brenthurst Foundation and writer and historian of the acclaimed
photographic histories Century and Decade (Phaidon).
