Hindus against Muslims in Gujarat, India; Muslims against Christians in Bauchi, Nigeria; Chechen or Basque separatists against central governments in Moscow and Madrid - the co-existence of ethnic groups within a federation regularly leads to conflicts. A BICC research project funded by the German Foundation for Peace (DSF) studies the question of whether and how the state form of a federation influences ethnic conflicts - does co-existence in a federation aggravate the conflicts or does it contribute towards peaceful stabilization?