Because emany states are artificial states linking diverse people, ethnic conflict affects the state because any change threatens to disrupt the balance of power between often conflicting groups. You find examples of this in the Punjab of India, in East Timor, and in Ethiopia. Handleman defines a nationality as a population with its own language, cultural traditions, historical aspirations, and which claims sovereignty over a specific area. The sense of nationality is subjective and tends to emerge when an ethnic minority is concentrated in a particular region. He presents as an example the Hindu Tamils in Northeast Sri Lanka who want to create their own state of Eelam and are in armed conflict with the Bhuddist Sinhalese who control the rest of the Islan of Sri Lanka.
Tribe is a term foreigners use for ethnic groups usually in the African context.
In Burundi, conflict between the politically dominant minority of Tuti and the more numerous Hutu has claimed more than 500,000 lives since 1994. Religious particularisms such as Hindu Muslim conflict in India, the seeks who desire their own state of Khalistan in India, and Christian v. Shi'ites in Lebanon can also give rise to secessionist movements that threaten to undermine states. These leaders manipulate ethnicity to build a following and seek to acquire resources through ethnically-based parties and movements. Handleman offers a number of ways states can deal with comunalism or ethnic conflict. Handleman states that structural arrangements can be devised to reduce conflict.