Kashmir and Ontological Security: Re-evaluating the Role of Self-identities in a Multi- layered Conflict

Abstract

The majority of the literature on causes and sustenance of the Kashmir conflict has disregarded a vital factor—that the conflict is multi-layered, meaning it is both internal and external in nature. Contemporary conflicts are often explained by the dominating theories of international relations or the new wars theories that deal with internal conflicts. The dominating theories of international Relations, that is, realism and liberalism, assign significance to state-centrism and external threats by overshadowing internal and domestic causal factors of the conflict. On the other hand, prominent new wars theories such as the greed and grievance theories focus on domestic and internal factors of the conflict while shelving the external causal factors. On their own, both theories fail to explain multi-layered conflicts. This article intends to provide a synchronous explanation of the external and domestic causes of the multi-layered conflict in Kashmir by using the theory of ontological security, that is, security of self-identity.