Abstract
Most armies of multiethnic countries have experienced, to varying degrees, ethnic tension within their ranks, a problem that has been especially acute in developing countries. This article seeks to contribute to an understanding of the dynamics of such conflict through a comparative analysis of ethnic conflict in the armies of Nigeria and India, two of the most ethnically diverse nations in the developing world. Because both were colonies of Britain, they were similar in more ways than one. The most important was the system of ethnic recruitment favored by the British.
In 1966 and 1984, the Nigerian and Indian armies experienced serious mutinies that were direct results of the violent ethnic conflict prevalent in the two countries at the time. But, despite many similarities, the two mutinies resulted in radically different outcomes-civil war and secession in Nigeria, and swift suppression of the mutinies in India. The article explains how, despite superficial similarities, significant differences in the evolution and characteristics of the two armies were responsible for the different outcomes.
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