Socio-Economic Inequality as a Source of Interethnic Tension and Conflict

The purpose of the article is to analyze the relationship between the existence of socio-economic problems in society and the emergence of interethnic tensions that escalate into conflicts. The research used general scientific methods – analysis, synthesis, generalization and classification, as well as elements of comparative political analysis. The approaches of Russian researchers to explaining the causes of interethnic conflicts, as well as the role that socio-economic contradictions play in them, were studied. It has been revealed that the socio-economic inequality of citizens in some cases causes the accumulation of interethnic tension, but its escalation into conflict situations occurs under the influence of a complex of factors, among which an important role can be played by external factors in relation to the situation.