DOI: 10.1126/science.1142819 , 1544 (2007); 317Science et al.Eric A. Ortlund,by Conformational EpistasisCrystal Structure of an Ancient Protein: Evolution www.sciencemag.org (this information is current as of December 11, 2007 ):The following resources related to this article are available online at http://www.sciencemag.org/cgi/content/full/317/5844/1544version of this article at: including high-resolution figures, can be found in the onlineUpdated information and services, http://www.sciencemag.org/cgi/content/full/1142819/DC1 can be found at: Supporting Online Materialfound at: can berelated to this articleA list of selected additional articles on the Science Web sites http://www.sciencemag.org/cgi/content/full/317/5844/1544#related-content http://www.sciencemag.org/cgi/content/full/317/5844/1544#otherarticles, 9 of which can be accessed for free: cites 26 articlesThis article 1 article(s) on the ISI Web of Science. cited byThis article has been http://www.sciencemag.org/cgi/content/full/317/5844/1544#otherarticles 1 articles hosted by HighWire Press; see: cited byThis article has been http://www.sciencemag.org/cgi/collection/evolutionEvolution : subject collectionsThis article appears in the following http://www.sciencemag.org/about/permissions.dtl in whole or in part can be found at: this articlepermission to reproduce of this article or about obtaining reprintsInformation about obtaining registered trademark of AAAS. is aScience2007 by the American Association for the Advancement of Science; all rights reserved. The title CopyrightAmerican Association for the Advancement of Science, 1200 New York Avenue NW, Washington, DC 20005. (print ISSN 0036-8075; online ISSN 1095-9203) is published weekly, except the last week in December, by theScience on December 11, 2007 www.sciencemag.orgDownloaded fromproaches have been and are being considered. Forexample, in Singapore, where 84% of the popu-lation lives in public hou sing (35), regulations thatexplicitly recognize the role of spatial segregation insectarianism specify the percentage of ethnic groupsto occupy housing block s (36). This legallycompels ethnic mixing at a scale finer than thatwhich our study finds likely to lead to violence.Given the natural t endency toward social separa-tion, maint aining such mixing requires a level ofauthoritarianism that might not be entertained inother locations. Still, despite social tensions (37),the current absence of violence provides somesupport to our analysis. The alternative approach—aiding in the separation process by establishingclear boundaries between cultural groups toprevent violence—has also gained recent atten-tion (38, 39). Although further studies areneeded, there exist assessments (39)oftheimpactof historical partitions in Ireland, Cyprus, theIndian subcontinent, and the Middle East thatmay be consistent with the understanding of typeseparation and a critical scale of mixing orseparation presented here.The insight provided by this study may helpinform policy debates by guiding our understandingof the consequences of policy alternatives. Thepurpose of this paper does not include promotingspecific policy options. Although our work re-inforces suggestions to consider separation, we arenot diminishing the relevance of concerns about thedesirability of separation or its process. Even whereseparation may be indicated as a way of preventingviolence, caution is warranted to ensure that thegoal of preventing violence does not become ajustification for violence. Moreover , even a peacefulprocess of separation is likely to be objectionable.There may be ways to positively motivateseparation using incentives, as well as to mitigatenegative aspects of separation that often includedisplacement of populations and mobility barriers.Our results for the range of filter diameters thatprovide good statistical agreement betweenreported and predicted violence in the formerYugoslavia and India suggest that regions of widthless than 10 km or greater than 100 km mayprovide sufficient mixing or isolation to reduce thechance of violence. These bounds may be affectedby a variety of secondary factors including socialand economic conditions; the simulation resolu-tion may limit the accuracy of the lower limit; andboundaries such as rivers, other physical barriers,or political divisions will surely play a role. Still,this may p rovide initial g uidance for strategicplann ing . Identify ing the nature of boundaries tobe established and the means for ensuring theirstability, however, must reflect local issues.Our approach does not consider the relativemerits of cultures, individual acts, or immediatecauses of violence, but rather the conditions that maypromote violence. It is worth considering whether , inplaces where cultural differentiation is taking place,conflict might be prevented or minimized by politicalacts that create appropriate boundaries suited to thecurrent geocultural regions rather than the existinghistorically based state boundaries. Such bounda-ries need not inhibit trade and commerce and neednot mark the boundaries of states, but should alloweach cultural group to adopt independent behav-iors in separate domains. Peaceful coexistenceneed not require complete integration.References and Notes1. M. White, Deaths by Mass Unpleasantness: EstimatedTotal for the Entire 20th Century, http://users.erols.com/mwhite28/warstat8.htm (September 2005).2. D. L. Horowitz, Ethnic Groups in Conflict (Univ. ofCalifornia Press, Berkeley and Los Angeles, ed. 2, 2000).3. B. Harff, T. R. Gurr, Ethnic Conflict in World Politics(Westview, Boulder, ed. 2, 2004).4. S. Huntington, The Clash of Civilizations and the Remaking ofWorld Order (Simon & Schuster, New York, 1996).5. D. Chirot, M. E. P. Seligman, Eds., Ethnopolitical Warfare:Causes, Consequences, and Pos sible Solutions (AmericanPsychological Association, Washington, DC, 2001).6. M. Reynal-Querol, J. Conflict Resolut. 46, 29 (2002).7. T. R. Gulden, Politics Life Sciences 21, 26 (2002).8. H. Buhaug, S. Gates, J. Peace Res. 39, 417 (2002).9. A. Varshney, Ethnic Conflict and Civic Life: Hindus andMuslims in India (Yale Univ. Press, New Haven, CT, 2003).10. M. D. Toft, The Geography of Ethnic Violence: Identity,Interests, and the Indivisibility of Territory (PrincetonUniv. Press, Princeton, NJ, 2003).11. J. Fox, Religion, Civilization, and Civil War: 1945 through theNew Millennium (Lexington Books, Lanham, MD, 2004).12. M. Mann, The Dark Side of
View Full Document
Unlocking...