State formation has been the driving force behind civil and interstate war -- a fact woefully missing from much of the popular debate about the violent conflicts of today.

It is not diversity, but political inequality, that breeds conflict.

Building more inclusionary power structures -- not necessarily through electoral democracy -- represents the most viable strategy for new states to prevent armed conflict. 

http://www.foreignaffairs.com/articles/140245/andreas-wimmer/states-of-war