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The article presents the author's views on the influence of religion on the intergroup relations. Various debates on the issue has stated that religion leads to conflicts between intergroup people on the basis of their incompatible values which further leads to mobilization of human and financial resources. Various countries that faced these conflicts includes Africa, Europe and the Middle East.

The assumption that civil conflicts cluster is widespread among scholars of conflict research. Previous studies have suggested that refugee flows are one mechanism that explains this diffusion effect. However, there exists no general agreement in the conflict literature as to why this is the case. Our study aims to unwind the mechanisms that link refugee flows and conflict. We argue that the refugee flow's ethnic composition and their ties with the host community are determinant factors for conflict diffusion. Using a first-ever compiled dataset on the ethnic composition of refugees covering the Horn of Africa and Eurasia from 1975 to 2009, we show that a refugee influx can cause conflict when refugees disrupt the ethnic power balance. Refugees sharing ethnic kinship with a politically marginalized group in their host country may support that group, thereby posing a threat to the group in power, possibly resulting in conflict. Our findings suggest that a disaggregated approach towards refugee flows is essential to understand the mechanism of refugee-related conflict. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

We examine a previously untapped dataset which quantifies NGO Capacity, or the ability of NGOs to formulate and implement their goals. We explore these data, and compare them with another little-used dataset - the mechanism donor states use to deliver their foreign aid to intended beneficiaries. Utilizing a sample selection model, we investigate how recipient governance and NGO Capacity affect donor states' aid allocation and channel of delivery decisions. We hypothesize that donors will choose non-state channels in recipients with poor governance, and that they will choose NGOs more often in recipients with high NGO Capacity. We find that while donors respond to poor recipient governance in the predicted way at a global level, they do not do so at a regional level in Central and Eastern Europe or in Africa. Furthermore, we find little evidence that donors take NGO Capacity into account when making aid allocation and channel of delivery decisions. Donors appear to either ignore NGO Capacity entirely or utilize NGOs more often in the recipients with the worst NGO Capacity. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]