From the editorial office. Robert Adams, Professor at the University of San Diego in California, who for many years headed the Smithsonian Institution, one of the leading American historians, made the following statement in English during a meeting of scientists participating in a joint project of the Russian Academy of Sciences and the National Academy of Sciences of the United States, held in Washington on December 5-7, 2001 on the comparative study of ethnic problems and conflicts in multiethnic states. At the meetings of three working groups formed within the framework of the project: "Systematic comparative studies of conflicts "(ruk. Paul Stern and V. V. Naumkin); "Culture, Identity and conflict" (directed by A.M. Khazanov and Il. M. Drobizheva); "Collective violence" (directed by Charles Tilley and V. A. Tishkov), three reports were prepared describing the current state of identity conflicts research conducted in Russia. in the world, and determine the promising directions of future Russian-American cooperation in this area. In his short paper on "Defining Violence", Valery Tishkov offers a basic insight that is an important contribution to our discussions: "...the key to understanding violence and conflict is the concept of a context, which results from the recognitiion of the primary role of the specific social situation in the interpretation of the human behavior and institutions." But while I rarely find myself in disagreement with him, I am somewhat troubled by the word "specific" in that observation. It leads him to the further proposition that "violence can be better understood if viewed as a function of values and norms existing in the given society". While there is obviously much validity in this statement, and while it constitutes a virtually unanimous working assumption in our proceedings thus far, I want to remind you that it is also our responsibility as social scientists not to lose sight of still wider horizons that are a part of the idea of co ... Read more