The role of religion in fomenting conflict in the late twentieth century period is the focus of a new dissertation by Mark Yeisley:
Yeisley, Mark Owen. The End of Civilizations: The Role of Religion in the Evolution of Subnational Conflict, 1946-2007. PhD diss.: Duke University, 2010. PDF: D_Yeisley_Mark_a_201005.pdf.
It examines the idea that the ‘clash of civilizations’ reflects a global “identify shift away from more traditional nationalist views and towards more primordial religious identities” (p.2). Eventually Yeisley makes the important observation that
…many of the longest cases of subnational conflict since WWII involve Buddhist governments and/or minorities. (2010:143)
No doubt. Still, what is ‘Buddhist’? Major sectarian and doctrinal differences within religions should not be discounted.