The Baloch Movement: a Study of Ethno-nationalist Conflict

The Baloch movement is a diffuse and splintered ethno-nationalist movement oriented against the Pakistani state and broadly aimed at attaining political autonomy for Baloch peoples. This project traces the history of the Baloch movement, assessing how key variables have played out at local, state and international levels and affected the movement's evolution. A complex Baloch ethnicity built on a fractious tribal social base, a fluctuating supply of resources, broader state and international politics and actors, and a colonial legacy that manifests through a power-centralizing Pakistani state are all key factors that have affected the evolution of the Baloch movement. This project contributes to literature on ethno-nationalist conflict by emphasizing how these factors must be dynamically assessed together at local, state, and international levels in order to explain how ethno-nationalist movements evolve.