peace and conflict essay

December 2, 2021

Peace Is More Than War’s Absence, and New Research Explains How to Build It

A new project measures ways to promote positive social relations among groups

By Peter T. Coleman , Allegra Chen-Carrel & Vincent Hans Michael Stueber

PeopleImages/Getty Images

Today, the misery of war is all too striking in places such as Syria, Yemen, Tigray, Myanmar and Ukraine. It can come as a surprise to learn that there are scores of sustainably peaceful societies around the world, ranging from indigenous people in the Xingu River Basin in Brazil to countries in the European Union. Learning from these societies, and identifying key drivers of harmony, is a vital process that can help promote world peace.

Unfortunately, our current ability to find these peaceful mechanisms is woefully inadequate. The Global Peace Index (GPI) and its complement the Positive Peace Index (PPI) rank 163 nations annually and are currently the leading measures of peacefulness. The GPI, launched in 2007 by the Institute for Economics and Peace (IEP), was designed to measure negative peace , or the absence of violence, destructive conflict, and war. But peace is more than not fighting. The PPI, launched in 2009, was supposed to recognize this and track positive peace , or the promotion of peacefulness through positive interactions like civility, cooperation and care.

Yet the PPI still has many serious drawbacks. To begin with, it continues to emphasize negative peace, despite its name. The components of the PPI were selected and are weighted based on existing national indicators that showed the “strongest correlation with the GPI,” suggesting they are in effect mostly an extension of the GPI. For example, the PPI currently includes measures of factors such as group grievances, dissemination of false information, hostility to foreigners, and bribes.

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The index also lacks an empirical understanding of positive peace. The PPI report claims that it focuses on “positive aspects that create the conditions for a society to flourish.” However, there is little indication of how these aspects were derived (other than their relationships with the GPI). For example, access to the internet is currently a heavily weighted indicator in the PPI. But peace existed long before the internet, so is the number of people who can go online really a valid measure of harmony?

The PPI has a strong probusiness bias, too. Its 2021 report posits that positive peace “is a cross-cutting facilitator of progress, making it easier for businesses to sell.” A prior analysis of the PPI found that almost half the indicators were directly related to the idea of a “Peace Industry,” with less of a focus on factors found to be central to positive peace such as gender inclusiveness, equity and harmony between identity groups.

A big problem is that the index is limited to a top-down, national-level approach. The PPI’s reliance on national-level metrics masks critical differences in community-level peacefulness within nations, and these provide a much more nuanced picture of societal peace . Aggregating peace data at the national level, such as focusing on overall levels of inequality rather than on disparities along specific group divides, can hide negative repercussions of the status quo for minority communities.

To fix these deficiencies, we and our colleagues have been developing an alternative approach under the umbrella of the Sustaining Peace Project . Our effort has various components , and these can provide a way to solve the problems in the current indices. Here are some of the elements:

Evidence-based factors that measure positive and negative peace. The peace project began with a comprehensive review of the empirical studies on peaceful societies, which resulted in identifying 72 variables associated with sustaining peace. Next, we conducted an analysis of ethnographic and case study data comparing “peace systems,” or clusters of societies that maintain peace with one another, with nonpeace systems. This allowed us to identify and measure a set of eight core drivers of peace. These include the prevalence of an overarching social identity among neighboring groups and societies; their interconnections such as through trade or intermarriage; the degree to which they are interdependent upon one another in terms of ecological, economic or security concerns; the extent to which their norms and core values support peace or war; the role that rituals, symbols and ceremonies play in either uniting or dividing societies; the degree to which superordinate institutions exist that span neighboring communities; whether intergroup mechanisms for conflict management and resolution exist; and the presence of political leadership for peace versus war.

A core theory of sustaining peace . We have also worked with a broad group of peace, conflict and sustainability scholars to conceptualize how these many variables operate as a complex system by mapping their relationships in a causal loop diagram and then mathematically modeling their core dynamics This has allowed us to gain a comprehensive understanding of how different constellations of factors can combine to affect the probabilities of sustaining peace.

Bottom-up and top-down assessments . Currently, the Sustaining Peace Project is applying techniques such as natural language processing and machine learning to study markers of peace and conflict speech in the news media. Our preliminary research suggests that linguistic features may be able to distinguish between more and less peaceful societies. These methods offer the potential for new metrics that can be used for more granular analyses than national surveys.

We have also been working with local researchers from peaceful societies to conduct interviews and focus groups to better understand the in situ dynamics they believe contribute to sustaining peace in their communities. For example in Mauritius , a highly multiethnic society that is today one of the most peaceful nations in Africa, we learned of the particular importance of factors like formally addressing legacies of slavery and indentured servitude, taboos against proselytizing outsiders about one’s religion, and conscious efforts by journalists to avoid divisive and inflammatory language in their reporting.

Today, global indices drive funding and program decisions that impact countless lives, making it critical to accurately measure what contributes to socially just, safe and thriving societies. These indices are widely reported in news outlets around the globe, and heads of state often reference them for their own purposes. For example, in 2017 , Honduran President Juan Orlando Hernandez, though he and his country were mired in corruption allegations, referenced his country’s positive increase on the GPI by stating, “Receiving such high praise from an institute that once named this country the most violent in the world is extremely significant.” Although a 2019 report on funding for peace-related projects shows an encouraging shift towards supporting positive peace and building resilient societies, many of these projects are really more about preventing harm, such as grants for bolstering national security and enhancing the rule of law.

The Sustaining Peace Project, in contrast, includes metrics for both positive and negative peace, is enhanced by local community expertise, and is conceptually coherent and based on empirical findings. It encourages policy makers and researchers to refocus attention and resources on initiatives that actually promote harmony, social health and positive reciprocity between groups. It moves away from indices that rank entire countries and instead focuses on identifying factors that, through their interaction, bolster or reduce the likelihood of sustaining peace. It is a holistic perspective.  

Tracking peacefulness across the globe is a highly challenging endeavor. But there is great potential in cooperation between peaceful communities, researchers and policy makers to produce better methods and metrics. Measuring peace is simply too important to get only half-right. 

United States Institute of Peace

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Practicing Peace and Conflict Diplomacy in a Complex World

What role can diplomacy play amid renewed great power competition and a weakening liberal international order?

By: Ashish Kumar Sen

Publication Type: Analysis

A combination of a weakening liberal international order, sharpening U.S.-China rivalry, growing transnational threats, shrinking space for civil society and rising nationalism and populism has complicated the practice of peace and conflict diplomacy. A new volume of essays examines approaches to such diplomacy in this complex environment.

“ Diplomacy and the Future of World Order ” explores the future of peace and conflict diplomacy in three arenas: managing great power competition and potential confrontation, managing others’ conflicts and managing threats to the international system, as is currently being posed by the COVID-19 pandemic, said Chester Crocker, James R. Schlesinger professor of strategic studies at Georgetown University and an editor of the book.

The book’s contributors — 20 experts from around the world — offer three broad scenarios for the future: a return to a Cold War-like situation, a return to a liberal rules-based order and variable geometry or a la carte multilateralism, said Crocker. Each scenario requires a different kind of diplomacy.

The first scenario would likely require transactional diplomacy; the second values-based, governance-based diplomacy; and the third “a concert depending on the issue” at the regional or functional levels that is based on specific challenges, said Crocker.

Crocker delivered remarks at a virtual event hosted by the U.S. Institute of Peace on June 10. George Moose, vice chair of USIP’s board of directors, moderated a panel discussion that included Fen Hampson, chancellor’s professor at Carleton University; Barbara Bodine, director of the Institute for the Study of Diplomacy; Solomon Dersso, founding director of Amani Africa and chairperson of the African Commission on Human and Peoples’ Rights; Jean-Marie Guéhenno, a distinguished fellow in the Foreign Policy program at the Brookings Institution; and See Seng Tan, a professor of international relations at S. Rajaratnam School of International Studies in Singapore. Dersso, Guéhenno and Tan contributed chapters to “Diplomacy and the Future of World Order.” Hampson and Pamela Aall, a senior adviser on conflict prevention and management at USIP, are the two other editors of the book.

A Changed and Complex Environment

International relations are no longer primarily about “managing threats to a well-understood balance of power,” said Lise Grande, USIP’s president and CEO. It is now also about “managing the realignment of power and addressing threats to the planet, ending humanitarian catastrophes including pandemics.” To meet these challenges, Grande recommended new methods of diplomatic collaboration.

Hampson described three kinds of diplomacy that characterize relations between states:

• Instrumental or competitive diplomacy : developing spheres of influence and managing alliances.
• Stabilization diplomacy : managing relations, de-escalating conflicts or preventing them from escalating.
• Governance diplomacy : developing new norms of state behavior.

The changed global environment has created obstacles to the practice of peace and conflict diplomacy. “Some would argue that we are moving into a world of much more competitive or instrumental diplomacy,” said Hampson. However, noting the enhanced risk of an escalation of great power conflict, he added: “It is fair to say that if we are going to manage great power relations, we’re going to need heavy doses of stabilization diplomacy.” This type of diplomacy includes confidence-building measures, reviving arms control and strengthening nonproliferation regimes.

On the other hand, Hampson predicted less demand for governance diplomacy — marked by democracy building and peacebuilding — which, he said, has become much harder to do because it faces a lot more pushback in the current environment. Hampson said that the book makes a strong case for concert diplomacy as the principal form of international cooperation in the third decade of the 21st century. Unlike, the 19th century version of concerts, the 21st century version will have a lot more variable geometry in terms of the participants who promote cooperative solutions to problems of global order and conflict management. They will work together in a pragmatic manner to promote new norms, rules of the road and approaches to global cooperation.

Biden’s Embrace of Diplomacy

President Joe Biden has championed the United States’ return to diplomacy and multilateralism. “Diplomacy is back at the center of our foreign policy,” he proclaimed at the State Department on February 4. Last week, the president was in the United Kingdom participating in the G-7 summit in Cornwall.

Bodine worries that many observers believe that by simply hitting the reset button the United States will return to a time when it saw itself as indispensable and irreplaceable on the world stage. Such thinking is flawed, she said.

Over the past four years, Bodine said, the world has moved on without the United States. “Our place in diplomacy and our place in multilateralism has changed,” she said.

“America is back at the table,” Biden declared at the end of the G-7 summit. But Bodine described nationalism as a major challenge, noting that many more countries are now defining their interests and deciding their tools in many cases irrespective of great powers. “We don’t get the daddy chair back,” she said.

The Case for Agile Diplomacy

Diplomacy has become far more complex. Bodine said diplomacy has become fragmented and layered, both horizontally — with more states engaged in diplomacy today — and vertically — with state as well as nonstate actors involved in diplomacy.

Bodine made the case for diplomacy that is agile, flexible and adaptive. Contending that most issues facing the world today are not amenable to military or hard power solutions, she said diplomacy is “going to have to be front and center.”

“The bottom line,” Crocker said, “diplomacy is going to be a central challenge and a central requirement for the age that we are now entering.” Like Bodine, he recommended diplomacy that is agile, networked laterally and builds consensus around issues. Such diplomacy requires working with a range of actors, both official and unofficial. Guéhenno said the most likely of the three scenarios mentioned in the book is the third one — practical cooperation in an ad hoc manner. “It’s not going to be big powers coming together and deciding what the future of the world is going to be. … That top-down approach is gone for good,” he said. Instead, he predicted a “horizontal approach” in which actors who care about a particular issue will come together to try and address it. Such cross-cutting alliances between different types of actors will make the world resilient, he said.

Caught in the Middle

As the rivalry between the United States and China, and to some extent Russia, has escalated countries around the world have found themselves caught in the middle.

Tan said the U.S.-China rivalry is a major challenge in Southeast Asia. It has “raised the prospect of the major powers becoming spoilers rather than providers and enablers of peace and security,” he said. It has also “compressed the strategic space” available to small nations to conduct diplomacy, he added.

Tan said Biden’s assurance that the United States will take seriously its role as a global leader is welcomed in Southeast Asia. “What the Biden administration has promised the region — that it will in the midst of strategic rivalry with China, nonetheless, seek ways to cooperate with China — is a message that the Asian region welcomes very, very strongly,” said Tan, adding that this approach creates an opportunity for regional actors to “nurture great power relations in ways that would move the region toward much more positive peaceful ends.”

Dersso said Africa, too, doesn’t want to be forced into choosing sides in a great power competition. Describing the interrelationship between regional and international architectures for peace and security, Dersso said that when great power competition paralyzes the United Nations Security Council on handling African issues, it also affects how these issues are handled in the African Union (AU), which relies on collaboration, coordination and support from the international system. Such a situation “can affect the effectiveness of an already struggling peace and security architecture that is trying to stand on its feet,” he added.

Moose suggested that peacekeeping is one area where the United States and China have a shared understanding. China also has major investments in Africa which it wants to protect and so there will be political support for some “transformed peacekeeping,” Guéhenno, a former UN under-secretary general for peacekeeping, said.

Ineffective Regional Organizations

Around the world, regional organizations are struggling with peace and conflict management.  In Southeast Asia, Tan said, the impact of the U.S.-China rivalry is evident on the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN), which has been hamstrung by its members’ national interests.   In Africa, Dersso said, the AU may find itself paralyzed because of a lack of consensus among its member states.  

In the Middle East, there is the Arab League, which Bodine, a former U.S. ambassador to Yemen, said is a “hollow organization.” She also noted that the Gulf Cooperation Council, which for a while served as a “default Arab League,” had until recently been riven by infighting. Describing the regional actors as the major source of conflict in the Middle East, Bodine said: “Looking to regional actors to help with conflict management — you’re asking the arsonist to come and put out the fire.”

Transnational criminal actors, including cyber criminals, have further complicated peacemaking around the world. The fundamental challenge posed by these actors is that they have no real interest in “full peace” or “full war” as both those situations hurt their business, said Guéhenno.

Unlike during the Cold War, when there was a “defining issue” and a “defining power,” now there is neither, said Guéhenno. “No power or group of powers has enough influence to really shape the world. And that really raises the question whether there can be any kind of international order without the existence of such a power. It is a question that really challenges the United Nations every day,” he added, describing this as a “sense of loss of control.”

Diplomacy as an Orchestra

In closing remarks, Aall emphasized the changing nature of diplomacy and the much more complex playing field. She said it is all the more important to create room for other actors, including NGOs, local civil society, business and others to have a voice in diplomacy.

Returning to the idea of concert diplomacy, Aall said making space for new actors will mean some chairs in the orchestra will need to move over and everyone will have to learn new pieces. Predicting that diplomacy is only going to get more complicated, Aall said: “But with good orchestration and perhaps co-conducting of several conductors, we may get to a point where peace and conflict diplomacy, which includes all these different actors, is in fact more effective than it has been in the past.”

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• > Peace and Conflict
• > Conflict Resolution and Peacebuilding: Ideas, Approaches and Debates

Book contents

• Frontmatter

Introduction

• 1 Conflict Resolution and Peacebuilding: Ideas, Approaches and Debates
• 2 Changing Perspectives on Peace Studies in South Asia
• 3 Peace Pedagogies in South Asia: Interreligious Understanding
• 4 Responses of Communities to Social Tension
• 5 Plurality of Peace, Non-violence and Peace Works in India
• 6 Education and Culture of Peace: Engaging with Gandhi
• 7 Structural Violence and Human Security: Gandhi's Visions
• 8 Women and the Peace Process in Nepal
• 9 Quest for Peace and Justice in Pakistan: Lawyers' Non-violent Resistance
• 10 Antinomies of Democracy and Peace in Nepal
• 11 Post-armed Conflict Trajectories in Sri Lanka
• 12 Environmental Security and Conflict in Bangladesh: Nature, Complexities and Policies
• Contributors
• Bibliography

1 - Conflict Resolution and Peacebuilding: Ideas, Approaches and Debates

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  05 October 2014

This chapter reviews key ideas and approaches within the field of peace research, from theories of conflict and its causes such as Johan Galtung's conflict triangle and Edward Azar's protracted social conflict, to models of conflict resolution such as John Paul Lederach's conflict transformation theory. Taking stock of major debates in peace research, the chapter also describes the development of a peacebuilding template which has accompanied increasing international and multilateral involvement in conflict resolution worldwide. Consisting of standardized procedures and remedies for post-conflict reconstruction, the peacebuilding template or ‘toolbox’ is built on the premise that conflict-prone societies must be fundamentally re-engineered so as to prevent their relapse into conflict. The chapter discusses debates on the ‘new interventionism’ and its basis in western liberal thinking, which typically advocates institutional reforms to promote ‘good governance’ as a key approach to peacebuilding. Critiques of the ‘Liberal Peace’ paradigm generally fall into one of two broad categories: targeting either problems of inefficiency and strategic deficits, or more fundamental problems with the ideological foundations of ‘liberal peacebuilding’. The peacebuilding efforts of the 1990s were commonly designed to produce measurable gains, favouring efficiency, while contemporary debates on peacebuilding focused on systemic issues such as how to achieve greater coherence and improve output. Scholars of peacebuilding later started to question ‘liberal peacebuilding’ more explicitly, examining the role of liberalization in fuelling conflict, the inherent problems of interventionism and the militarization of peacebuilding.

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• Conflict Resolution and Peacebuilding: Ideas, Approaches and Debates
• By Åshild Kolås , Peace Research Institute Oslo (PRIO)
• Edited by Priyankar Upadhyaya , UNESCO Professor and Director at Malaviya Centre for Peace Research, Banaras Hindu University, India , Samrat Schmiem Kumar , Research Fellow at the Department of Cultural Studies and Oriental Languages, University of Oslo, Norway
• Book: Peace and Conflict
• Online publication: 05 October 2014
• Chapter DOI: https://doi.org/10.1017/9789384463076.004

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Article contents

Conflict analysis and resolution as a field: core concepts and issues.

• Louis Kriesberg Louis Kriesberg Maxwell School of Citizenship and Public Affairs, Syracuse University
•  and  Joyce Neu Joyce Neu Facilitating Peace
• https://doi.org/10.1093/acrefore/9780190846626.013.512
• Published online: 20 November 2018

Core concepts of the interdisciplinary social science field of conflict analysis and resolution (CAR) are discussed. Work in the field is based on numerous generally accepted ideas about the nature of conflict and constructive approaches to conflict. These ideas include ways of waging conflicts constructively, tracing the interconnectedness of conflicts, and assessing the multiplicity of actors. Other important core concepts relate to stages of conflicts: emergence, escalation, de-escalation and settlement, and sustaining peace. Finally, current and future issues regarding CAR conceptualizations and their applications are examined.

• conflict management
• constructive conflicts
• de-escalation
• future work
• interaction
• interconnected conflict
• nonviolent struggle
• normative concerns
• stages of conflict

Introduction *

This article addresses core concepts of the interdisciplinary social science field of conflict analysis and resolution (CAR), primarily in terms of ideas, as expressed in the literature, about the ways in which conflicts can be done constructively. In focusing on the ideas that constitute the field, it looks at relevant theory and research, treating CAR as an interdisciplinary social science field, particularly as it relates to international relations. Additionally, it considers some relatively prescriptive writing when it derives from a degree of empirical evidence. Significantly, peace studies is one of the sources for the field, and it now overlaps with and contributes to the field (Kriesberg, 1991 ). Peace studies work helps to foster normative concerns about the goals sought in waging conflicts and the strategies for reaching them.

The contemporary CAR approach builds on academic research and theorizing, as well as on traditional and innovative practices. Scholars of the approach share a number of generally accepted ideas about the nature of conflicts and constructive approaches to resolving them. These ideas provide the foundation for analyzing conflicts, finding ways of waging conflicts constructively, tracing the interconnectedness of conflicts, and assessing the multiplicity of actors. The CAR approach tends to rely minimally, if at all, on the use of violence in waging and settling conflicts. It also tends to emphasize the role of external intermediaries in the ending of conflicts and in conflict processes that generate solutions yielding some mutual gains for the opposing sides. Another important foundational concept is stages of conflicts: emergence, escalation, de-escalation and settlement, and sustaining peace.

As CAR evolves, workers in the field debate the salience of various ideas and even the meaning of basic concepts in the field. This engagement has led to increased contributions to the CAR literature by scholar-practitioners. These contributions offer a view based on experiencing the realities of various conflicts. This section discusses these ideas and realities, noting some contemporary variations in their interpretation (Bercovitch, Kremenyuk, & Zartman, 2009 ; Coleman, Deutsch, & Marcus, 2014 ; Sandole, Byrne, Sandole-Staroste, & Senehi, 2009 ; see also the companion article by Neu and Kriesberg, “Conflict Analysis and Resolution: Development of the Field of Scholarship (forthcoming),” in this encyclopedia.)

This article has three main sections. The first, “ Constructive Approaches to Conflict ,” explores the generally accepted ideas about the nature of conflict and about constructive approaches to conflict and how they play out in the scholarship on analyzing conflicts, finding ways of waging conflicts constructively, tracing the interconnectedness of conflicts, and assessing the multiplicity of actors. The second, “Conflict Stages,” addresses stages of conflicts: emergence, escalation, de-escalation and settlement, and sustaining peace. The third, “Current and Future Issues,” discusses concepts that are likely to become more controversial as the social-political context becomes less supportive of the CAR approach.

Constructive Approaches to Conflict

There is general consensus within the conflict analysis and resolution (CAR) community on some core ideas about social conflicts. First, social conflicts are universal and potentially beneficial, providing opportunities to achieve desired change. Second, social conflicts are waged with different degrees of destructiveness, and the parties in conflict determine how constructively or destructively they will conduct the conflict. Third, social conflicts entail contested social constructions; each party has its own view of what the fighting is about and who its opponents are. Fourth, social conflicts can be transformed; no matter how entrenched the conflict, outside actors or the parties themselves can take positive steps to move toward peaceful transformation. Fifth, social conflicts are dynamic and tend to move through stages; these stages reflect the constantly changing nature of the conflict and therefore may not always be linear (Kriesberg & Dayton, 2017 ).

Social constructions . Each party interprets its own and its adversaries’ identities, as well as which issues are at stake, from its own vantage point. Differences between parties’ interpretations, therefore, often are contentious.

Heterogeneity of adversaries . Within each party, there are different interests and goals—notably, among and between its leaders and their constituencies others. As relationships within the party change, a shift in the direction of the conflict may be feasible.

Variety of inducements in waging conflict . These include coercive sanctions to force change, positive inducements to reward constructive change, and the use of persuasion to appeal to the other’s best interests and values.

Interconnectedness . Conflicts are interrelated and overlap in time and social space. A conflict is not a closed system and so may be amenable to the intervention of external intermediaries who can help transform the conflict.

Consideration of others . Establishing long-term legitimate relations among adversaries by considering the opponents’ concerns and interests as well as the long-term interests of their own people may be the most difficult challenge for everyone, but it often brings mutual benefits (Kriesberg, 2015 ).

Mediation . Third-party intervention to assist de-escalation and negotiations among adversaries can help to transform and settle conflicts.

Dynamism . Conflicts move through stages during which parties can act with greater or lesser constructiveness to advance positive conflict transformation.

Analyzing Conflicts

There is long-standing general agreement that the initial step in engaging in or studying a conflict is to analyze it (Schirch, 2013 ; U.S. Department of State, 2008 ; Wehr 1979 ). This includes identifying the parties in the conflict and the issues in contention, as the parties perceive them. In any large-scale conflict, each party is highly differentiated, and there will be some variation among different groups within each entity, even regarding what is in contention. Moreover, many other parties have an indirect interest in the conflict and are affected by its course, and they therefore may become directly engaged in the conflict or withdraw from engagement in the future. Thus, the parties and intermediaries in a conflict are likely to be affected by both the possible and the actual interventions of external actors. All parties ought to reflectively analyze a conflict before acting in it.

The perspectives of the analysts influence their analyses. Generally, people who are engaged in a conflict, whether as partisans or as interveners, tend to focus on the explicit positions of the parties in the conflict and how they are acting in the conflict. Those who are less directly engaged tend to place more emphasis on the structure of the relationship among the adversaries and the social context of the conflict. The former kinds of analyses tend to emphasize factors that are amenable to change in the short term; the latter kinds of analyses tend to emphasize structural factors that are less malleable in the short term.

The methods of engagement that people employ influence their analyses. Those who rely heavily on military methods often tend to see conflict as framed by military force; whereas CAR practitioners, who engage in training, workshops, and dialogue work, may emphasize the role of opposing narratives and misunderstandings when analyzing conflicts. Theoretical and ideological inclinations also influence analyses. Greater recognition of these different circumstances may help foster more comprehensive analyses and better synthesizing and sequencing of strategies.

Asymmetry between adversaries in a conflict greatly affects the course the conflict and how it is waged and ended. Members of the CAR field stress the multidimensional character of asymmetry and its fluidity, since they vary with different issues (Mitchell, 1995 ). Reducing certain asymmetries, then, is not necessarily conducive to transforming a conflict and settling it constructively. That depends in good measure on the direction in which a particular asymmetry is reduced. Thus, if one side has greater solidarity and cohesion than the other, asymmetry that is reduced by increasing the other side’s ability to effectively change policies would be conducive to mutual conflict transformation. By the same token, if one side has greater commitment to the issue in contention, asymmetry that is reduced by that side softening its unyielding position would be conducive to bringing about a mutually acceptable conflict transformation.

The changing character of power differences and other kinds of asymmetry are crucial in choosing the appropriate interventions. For example, if equitable accommodations are sought, certain kinds of mediation may not be advisable when the asymmetry in resources between the adversaries is very great.

Recognizing the complexity of this kind of conflict analysis, CAR scholars have produced a broad array of frameworks for conflict analysis (Fund for Peace, 2014 ; Goodhand, Vaux, & Walker, 2002 ; Mason & Rychard, 2005 ; Samarasinghe, Donaldson, & McGinn, 2001 ; U.S. Department of State, 2008 ), together with more in-depth examinations of conflict analyses (Levinger, 2013 ; Schirch, 2013 ).

Methods of Waging Conflicts

A cardinal tenet of CAR is that social conflicts are inevitable and often necessary to improve peoples’ rights. The critical matter in this regard is the way the conflict is conducted and the methods each adversary applies. Conflicts are commonly defined as struggles in which each side tries to hurt the other to advance toward its goals. A basic CAR insight, however, is that efforts to achieve a contested goal are not only coercive, involving only negative sanctions (Boulding, 1989 ; Kriesberg, & Dayton, 2017 ). Positive sanctions can be a second powerful kind of inducement to obtain desired goals. A third kind of inducement is to use persuasive appeals and arguments, relying on shared values and identities. These three kinds of inducements are combined in many ways to constitute a particular strategy at a given time.

Interestingly, this idea has been articulated by leading public figures who are not identified as practitioners in the CAR field. Joseph S. Nye ( 2004 ), for example, has influentially written about the importance of “soft power” in world politics, referring to the many noncoercive inducements that the United States can and does effectively deploy in foreign affairs. Armitage and Nye ( 2007 ) further elaborated on combining “soft power” and “hard power,” particularly military power, which would constitute “smart power.” Hillary Clinton, at her January 2009 confirmation hearings for secretary of state, spoke clearly about the importance of using smart power and not relying solely on military power.

As the field has expanded to address how adversaries may be brought to the negotiating table, more thought has been given to noncoercive inducements and also to applying coercive force that tends to avoid destructive escalation. One strategic method that has been increasingly examined and employed is nonviolent action (Chenoweth & Stephan, 2011 ; Schock, 2005 ; Sharp, 2005 ). Imposing nonviolent sanctions can avoid dehumanizing the enemy and holds out the promise of future mutual benefits.

Interconnectedness of Conflicts

One important reason for conflict fluidity is that each conflict is interconnected with many others (Dahrendorf, 1959 ). Many conflicts are nested in larger conflicts and also encompass smaller ones. Conflicts are generally also linked sequentially, each arising from a previous one. And each party in a large-scale conflict experiences numerous internal conflicts that arise among different factions, ranks, and identity groups (Colaresi, 2005 ). Furthermore, each party is simultaneously engaged in numerous conflicts with a variety of adversaries.

As the salience of one conflict increases, it tends to reduce the salience of the other conflicts. Enemy number one may slip to being enemy number two, making de-escalation in that secondary conflict easier and likelier. Partisans and intermediaries may choose strategies that are intended to alter the salience of a conflict and speed its peaceful resolution.

Multiplicity of Actors

Workers in the CAR field are sensitive to the reality that conflicts are rarely between two homogeneous, unitary entities. Rather, many parties are involved directly or indirectly in every conflict (Crocker, Hampson, & Aall, 1999 ; Touval & Zartman, 2001 ). Even when there appear to be only two sides, in actuality, each side has some characteristics of a coalition. Divisions among the members of each party in a conflict, particularly among leaders and other groups, significantly affect the course of a conflict. External conflict can strengthen internal solidarity, but not always and not forever (Wilkenfeld, 1973 ).

As a conflict de-escalates and moves toward resolution, some factions or allied groups may resist the movement or even reject a signed agreement. They are spoilers, unsatisfied with the terms of the accommodation with the adversary or with their portion in that accommodation (Goren & Elman, 2012 ; Stedman, Rothchild, & Cousens, 2002 ). The parties making the agreement then may try to placate and co-opt the rejectionists or to isolate, marginalize, and overwhelm them. If the parties have not dealt with their spoilers by the time the peace talks begin, then it falls to the third party to decide the best course of action for the talks—either talking to the spoilers or sidelining them. In varying degrees, spoilers are a widespread phenomenon. Attention to them is often critical in undertaking de-escalation and in constructing and sustaining an equitable accommodation.

Actors who are not directly engaged in a conflict can also affect its course (Ury, 2000 ). They are potential or actual intermediaries, allies, and antagonists. The actions of those who are directly engaged in a conflict are affected by concerns about the potential interventions of external actors. In the CAR field, the possible effects of a mediator in facilitating and hastening a negotiated end to a conflict is a major topic of study.

The demand for official Track I mediation to resolve armed conflict has increased and with it, the number of organizations and individuals interested in meeting this demand. There are multiple mediators in peace processes, who may have different skill levels, understandings of the conflict and parties, and conflicting interests. This may allow the parties to play one mediator off the other to the detriment of the process. One idea to minimize competition between potential mediating organizations was suggested by the African Union: to have the most local of the intergovernmental organizations take the lead mediation role (de Coning, 2015 ; Nathan, 2016b ). But considering the meager organizational resources of many regional and subregional organizations, this is not a plausible solution. Nathan ( 2016b ) has suggested that partnerships at the decision-making level of intergovernmental organizations would be more powerful in securing cooperation and coordination in peace processes. Recognizing the problem of multiple mediators, the United Nations issued guidelines emphasizing the critical need for “coherence, coordination and complementarity of mediation efforts” (United Nations, 2012 ).

Other international actors take part in peace processes as “friends of” the mediation or as interested states. They may not be directly involved in the talks, but they can have a positive influence if they support the goals of the peace process (Whitfield, 2010 ). Finally, representatives of civil society, women, and youth from the conflict areas will be present as participants in the talks, observers, or advisers to the parties or the mediation team or both.

Conflict Stages

A central tenet of the CAR approach is that conflicts are not immutable and that even highly intractable conflicts decline in intractability as policies and circumstances change. This happens as conditions change within the adversaries, in their relationships, and in their social contexts. This understanding is manifested in the recognition that conflicts move through a series of general stages. There is little consensus about the names for the stages, but they may be identified by terms such as emergence , escalation , de-escalation , termination , and recovery (Kriesberg, 1982 ; Pruitt & Rubin, 1986 ). In 1992 , the UN secretary-general, Boutros-Ghali, issued his “Agenda for Peace,” bringing attention to the different phases of peacemaking and peacebuilding (Boutros-Ghali, 1992 ). The stages are not clearly bounded or always linear; past stages may recur. Furthermore, groups engaged in the conflict may not participate at the same pace in all the stages. Nevertheless, it is analytically useful to distinguish between the different stages to highlight the relevant CAR factors and processes at each stage.

The field of CAR initially focused on negotiating the end of conflicts, sometimes using mediation. Soon, concern about the prior and later stages of the conflict increased. Greater attention was directed at getting adversaries to the negotiating table and on the quality and sustainability of agreements that are reached. With the increase in outside intervention in internal societal wars and attention to nonstate actors, the field expanded to include giving greater attention to preventing the outbreak of warfare and to recovering from past violent outbreaks. The field presently incorporates the full range of conflict stages, and practitioners often specialize in particular stages of conflict. The ideas and practices that are particularly important at each stage are discussed next.

Conflict Emergence

Conflict emergence draws attention to the underlying conditions that precede an overt conflict. Thus the conditions of structural violence, of unsatisfied human needs, and of exploitation are often pointed to as crucial in characterizing a latent conflict preceding the outbreak of a manifest conflict (Burton, 1990 ; Dahrendorf, 1959 ). In actuality, conflicts often break out not because of the actions of the most oppressed, but because of the actions of the more powerful. The oppressed may have reason to fight, but they often do not believe that some particular group is responsible for their poor circumstances or that they can change those others in a way that will improve their conditions. The more powerful, however, have reason to believe that they can readily get more of what they want from the weaker party. Acting on this belief, they may provoke resistance and a violent conflict.

Adversaries’ beliefs about collective identities, the perceived capabilities of each side, judgments about what is fair and just, and the chance of achieving sought-for goals determine if and when a conflict becomes manifested in deeds. This is why the ideologies that are constructed and adopted by members of a collectivity are critical in conflict emergence. Political, religious, military, and intellectual leaders can utilize a suitable ideology to arouse and mobilize supporters against an enemy and influence the means to be used in the struggle against that enemy. This also is highly relevant for conflicts that stress ethnic differences or differences in religious or political systems of thought.

Conflict Escalation

How a conflict emerges influences how quickly and destructively it escalates. Often, a burst of violence at the initial manifestation of a conflict results in a rapid and sustained escalation, which can entrap the adversaries, who will want to keep fighting in order to justify the losses they have already experienced (Brockner & Rubin, 1985 ). A careful, proportional, tit-for-tat series of exchanges, however, can often contain the scale of the escalation and result in cooperation (Axelrod, 1984 ). The way adversaries interact is the basic determinant of the duration and destructiveness of a conflict’s escalation (Dayton & Kriesberg, 2009 ). Attention to the growing role of nonviolent action and to transforming feelings and thought via social media has increased attention about constructive escalation (Kriesberg & Dayton, 2017 ).

External interventions, often in the form of mediation and consultation by, for example, representatives of the Organization for Security and Co-operation in Europe and other international governmental organizations, helped prevent destructive escalation in Eastern Europe after the dissolution of the Soviet Union (McMahon, 2007 ; Möller, 2006 ). External actions or the threat of them can also help to contain a conflict, inhibiting wide-ranging violent attacks. They can also help channel the means of the struggle to electoral politics or nonviolent actions. Unofficial Track Two conflict resolution training and the facilitation of workshops can contribute to such channeling.

Conflict De-escalation and Settlement

Before the emergence of the CAR approach, research and theorizing about de-escalation were relatively neglected topics. Now there is considerable work on the factors and processes that contribute to de-escalation, conflict settlement, and, particularly, negotiating agreements.

Processes and factors that are internal to each adversary, pertain to their relationships, and are components of the external context can contribute to turning an escalating conflict around. Internally, some groups come to believe that the burdens of continuing to fight to achieve some contested goals are costlier than those goals are worth. The relationship between adversaries may change as conciliatory gestures by one side are convincingly made (Mitchell, 2000 ). Changes in the global system’s power relations or salient norms can help shift a conflict toward de-escalation.

The transition from confrontation to de-escalation is a matter of great interest in the field. The idea that a turning point is reached when the adversaries are locked in a hurting stalemate is an influential one (Touval & Zartman, 1985 ). Indeed, members of the opposing sides often come to believe that neither side can impose the settlement it would like, and they begin to search for a settlement they can accept. The discovery or construction of a new option may then appear highly attractive. An interplay between the conflict conditions at a given time and the possible new options marks the suitable time for a particular solution to be proposed and accepted.

Sustaining Peace

There has been a growing literature since the 1990s about the content of peace agreements, recovering from violent societal conflicts, reconciliation, building legitimate institutions of governance, and other matters pertinent to fashioning an enduring and equitable peace (Bar-Siman-Tov, 2003 ; Pouligny, Chesterman, & Schnabel, 2007 ). Peace agreements are difficult to obtain and to sustain. Of 121 armed conflicts between 1990 and 2005 , only one third were concluded by peace agreements (Harbom, Hogbladh, & Wallensteen, 2006 ). Yet since the 1990s, negotiated settlements have become the preferred way to end wars (DeRouen et al., 2010 ).

Walter ( 2002 ) defines the success of a peace agreement in terms of duration: if there is no violence for at least five years after the agreement is signed and the parties make efforts to implement the terms of the agreement, then it is successful. Hampson ( 1996 ) suggests that a “partial success” would be when the parties observe the terms of the agreement they have signed. A more complete success would entail putting in place structures and institutions that discourage the parties from going back to war. Westendorf ( 2015 ) posits that a minimalist view of success would be physical security and the absence of war—that is, a negative peace. A maximalist view would be establishing a positive peace—which would require a deeper and longer term commitment to making the changes needed to establish conditions that are popularly viewed as equitable and legitimate institutions that can address potential conflicts.

Durable peace agreements are characterized by (a) adequate state capacity to implement the agreement (DeRouen et al., 2010 ), (b) third-party intervention during the peace process and post-agreement implementation (DeRouen et al., 2010 ; Hampson 1996 ; Walter 2002 ), (c) inclusion of a mechanism that foresees and addresses problems that may arise during implementation; and (d) participation of civil society and women in the peace process and in post-agreement implementation (Nilsson, 2012 ; O’Reilly, Ó Súilleabháin, & Paffenholz, 2015 ; Wanis-St. John & Kew, 2008 ).

Some of the reasons given for the fragility of peace are that civil society is not always in a position to provide the space and resources for peacemaking, that ongoing violence is socially and politically destabilizing, and that most peace processes have a narrow focus on governance reform (Brewer, 2010 , p. 30).

Current and Future Issues

Given the diversity of CAR’s sources, the changing topics of inquiry, and the increasing domains of work, it is to be expected that many contentious issues are currently matters of disagreement and dialogue. Consideration of seven such matters follows.

Universal or Cultural

An enduring controversy relates to the universality of particular ideas in the CAR approach. As in the case of conflict emergence, some in the field emphasize a particular set of universal human needs, which, when unsatisfied, result in conflicts. Others stress that ways of negotiating, forms of mediation, styles of confrontation, and many other aspects of conducting and settling conflicts vary among different national cultures, religious traditions, social classes, gender, and many other social groupings (Abu-Nimer, 2003 ; Cohen, 1997 ; Faure, 2005 ). Moreover, within each of these groups are subgroupings and personal variations. The differences between groups are matters of central tendencies, and there is a great overlapping of similarities. More needs to be known about the effects of situational as well as cultural effects and about the ease with which people learn new ways of contending and settling fights. The UN declarations and conventions on human rights offer CAR analysts and practitioners standards that can guide CAR practice and yield equitable and enduring settlements (Hayner, 2009 ).

Discipline or General Approach

A major internal issue in the CAR field concerns the extent to which CAR is and should be a focused discipline, a collection of loosely related arenas of research and practice, or a shared broad general approach. In the 1950s, the vision of many workers in the field was of a new comprehensive, interdisciplinary, research-grounded theory, but that was not realized.

Considerable agreement does exist about particular conflict processes and empirical generalizations. Without a comprehensive theory, however, inconsistencies among various generalizations and propositions are not reconciled. Moreover, without a comprehensive theory or theories of the middle range, it is difficult to know under what conditions a particular social process or empirical generalization is or is not operative, and to apply such knowledge to practice. On the other hand, the more general and necessarily abstract perspective about social conflicts lacks the precision needed to make reliable applications. Despite these considerations, empirical generalizations and knowledge of relevant conflict processes can be useful guides to effective actions that minimize the destructiveness of conflicts if used in conjunction with good information about a particular conflict.

Complicating the CAR approach are the differing places occupied by theory and practice. Each has varied in prominence within the field, and both are, in principle, regarded as important. In actuality, however, theory and practice have not always been well integrated. Theory has rarely sought to specify or assess major theoretical premises or propositions. Often, it is largely descriptive of patterns of actions. And though more research on assessing practice is being done, it has been focused on particular interventions, executed and assessed within a short time frame. Although in some spheres, there is a strong interplay between theory and practice, notably regarding negotiation, mediation, nonviolent action, and problem-solving workshops, additional work is needed to integrate other realms.

Nonviolence or Limited Violence

Another contentious issue relates to the use of violence in waging conflicts. There is widespread agreement among CAR analysts and practitioners that violence is wrong, particularly when it is used to serve internal needs rather than for its effects on an adversary. The presumed internal needs may be psychological, status- or power-based, or economic in nature and situated within individuals, organizations, or larger collectivities. Adherents of CAR generally agree that violence is morally and practically wrong when violence is used in a broad, imprecise manner and when it is not used in conjunction with other means to achieve constructive goals. The increasing use of “smart bombs” and missiles from drones pose moral and practical problems about what is good policy regarding the recourse to such allegedly targeted killing. From its origins, some workers in the CAR field have opposed resorting to the use of violence in any conflict, whereas others have believed that limited violence is necessary and effective in some circumstances, as, for example, is articulated in just war theory.

These differences in values and beliefs are becoming more important with the increased use of military intervention to stop destructive and escalating domestic and international conflicts and gross violations of human rights. The challenges are made greater by the increased cooperation of CAR adherents with governments. Much more analysis is needed about how specific violent and nonviolent policies are combined and with what consequences for the various parties under particular conditions. More specificity is needed beyond the generalization that great reliance on naked violence often fails. When violence is undertaken, in desperation, against a mightier antagonist, it most likely fails.

Neutral Process or Good Result

A long-standing issue in the CAR field is whether the emphasis should be on the process by which a conflict is settled or on the justice and consequences of the settlement. If the process is emphasized, the value of the neutrality of the intermediary is stressed and less attention is directed at the nature of the conflict to be settled. This matter is particularly acute in considering when and how mediation is best undertaken (Laue, 1982 ). Some practitioners in the field stress mediator neutrality and the mediator’s focus on the process to reach an agreement. Others argue that a mediator either should avoid mediating when the parties are so unequal that equity is unlikely to be achieved or should act in ways that will help the parties reach a balanced and just outcome (Nader, 1991 ).

Internal Affairs

As is no doubt the case in any field, research findings and best practices have not always been applied internally within the CAR field. Gender bias, for example, remains a challenge. There is notable progress, in many CAR programs in universities, women now appear to be in the majority. According to the ISA’s Committee on the Status of Women in the Profession, women earned 58% of doctoral degrees in the social sciences, and 42% of those in political science. Yet the committee found that women constituted only 12.3% of full professors compared to 23.5% for men (Hancock, Baum, & Breuning, 2013 ). With the rise of contingent workers at universities, women faculty members are disproportionately employed in part-time positions (Curtis, 2013 ). Women and men faculty express the same preference for research and share the opinion that service is an imposition, yet women spend significantly more time teaching, mentoring, and providing service to the university than do their male counterparts (Chenoweth et al., 2016 ; Misra, Lundquist, Holmes, & Agiomavritis, 2011 ).

Gender bias extends to whose research gets taught and whose work is cited. Consistent with numbers in the top international relations journals, 82% of the assigned reading in international relations proseminars was written by male authors. Work by women and mixed-gender teams made up the remaining 18% (Colgan, 2015 ). Other research shows that international relations articles written by women were cited less than those by men and that even when a research article by a woman is published in a top journal, it receives significantly fewer citations than had that article been written by a man (Maliniak, Powers, & Walter, 2013 ).

External Relations

The way CAR relates to other fields and to its social context raises several issues. As the number and variety of would-be intermediaries in large-scale conflicts increase, the relations among CAR-associated organizations and other kinds of governmental and nongovernmental actors becomes more problematic. The engagement of many organizations allows for specialized and complementary programs but also produces problems of competition, redundancy, and confusion. Adversaries may try to co-opt intermediary organizations or exploit differences among them. For example, human rights organizations and conflict resolution organizations can complement each other; but they may also interfere with each other’s work (Babbitt & Lutz, 2009 ).

To enhance the possible benefits and minimize the difficulties of relations among many intervening organizations, coordination of some sort can be helpful. Research indicates that a variety of measures may be undertaken, ranging from informal ad hoc exchanges of information to regular meetings among organizations in the field and having one organization be the “lead” agency (Kriesberg, 1996 ; Nan, 2008 ). The Applied Conflict Resolution Organizations Network (ACRON) was founded in the late 1990s to promote collaboration among conflict resolution organizations to become “a true force for peace” (Applied Conflict Resolution Organizations Network, 2000 ). ACRON went through a name change in 2003 , finally becoming, in 2006 , the Alliance for Peacebuilding (AfP). The AfP brings together 125 organizations and 1,000 individuals engaged in peacemaking and peacebuilding work. Although coordination will always remain a work in progress, the AfP has succeeded in providing global linkages that have strengthened peacebuilding efforts.

The funding for CAR work usually comes from external sources, which raises another set of issues. The Hewlett Foundation ended its 20-year program of support for conflict resolution programs in 2004 , and no comparable source for sustaining programs of theory, research, and applications has since appeared. Tuition charges help support education and training; service fees help sustain nongovernmental organizations doing applied work; and government agencies and various foundations provide funds for research and service projects. All this keeps the work relevant for immediate use. However, the small scale and short duration of this kind of funding hamper the making of long-term and large-scale research assessments and the theory building that are needed for creative new growth and appropriate applications.

Autonomy or Dependence

Finally, issues relating to autonomy and professional independence deserve attention. CAR analysts and practitioners may tailor their work to the preferences, as they perceive them, of their funders and clients. This diminishes the goals that in their best judgment they might otherwise advance. These risks are enhanced when tasks are contracted out by autocratic or highly ideological entities. Furthermore, as more nongovernmentals are financially dependent on funding by national governments and international organizations, issues regarding autonomy and co-optation grow.

On the other hand, CAR ideas are increasingly picked up by people who do not consider themselves as being in the CAR field. For example, the evidence that countries with democratic political systems do not fight wars with each other has been used as a reason to try to make countries democratic, even by warfare. Obviously, officials and other actors who do not accept the CAR approach as a whole may selectively use elements of it. Such usage sometimes appears to be misusing the approach and making it ineffective. Nevertheless, as people who do not think of themselves as being in the CAR field adopt particular methods and ideas of the field, those methods and ideas are diffusing into society and gaining + credibility.

On the Future

Undoubtedly, the sociopolitical context in the United States and in many other countries in the 21st century has become less conducive to the rise and acceptance of the CAR approach. As discussed in Neu and Kriesberg, “Conflict Analysis and Resolution: Development of the Field of Scholarship (forthcoming),” the sociopolitical context in earlier decades supported the emergence and institutionalization of the CAR approach. Several recent developments have contributed to the deterioration of this support. Notably, in the United States, political parties have become highly polarized with a high level of mutual hostility (Dionne, Ornstein, & Mann, 2017 ). Growing economic inequality, stagnating wages for many, and increasing wealth for a few generated grievances among the nonrich. Some of the rich used their resources to further enrich themselves—by denying inconvenient scientific facts, disregarding democratic civility, weakening trade unions, and denigrating opponents of these actions. Republican Party leaders often joined in promoting such practices. Moreover, Democratic Party leaders failed to deal with the growing public dissatisfaction with these developments (Frank, 2016 ).

Many other broad, external changes contributed to the foregoing changes. These include technological changes relating to the evolving social media that reduced previously widely shared views of reality. Conversely, technological developments have also contributed to the growing integration of the world, with accompanying economic effects. Following the U.S.-led invasion of Iraq in 2003 , a surge of wars prompted waves of refugees entering Europe. Terrorist attacks added fears, gave rise to anti-Muslim feelings, aroused ethnonationalist sentiments, and contributed to authoritarian tendencies in many countries around the world. In the United States, the election of Donald J. Trump to the presidency of the United States is a symptom of and promotes views and behaviors that are antithetical to the CAR approach. This is illustrated by his bullying style, lack of empathy, and discounting of empirical evidence.

Many aspects of the reaction to these developments in the United States and elsewhere, however, are consistent with and lend support to the CAR approach. A reliance on many aspects of nonviolent action has been evident in massive demonstrations and acts of solidarity with people threatened by the policies of the Trump administration. Resistance has taken many forms, including forming broad coalitions and creating new social organizations, notably in the national Indivisible movement (Dionne, Ornstein, & Mann, 2017 ). Moreover, many of the persuasive efforts convey empathy for and propose alternative policies to alleviate the grievances that drove some people to vote for Trump. Generally, the persuasive efforts foster mutual regard for all people and attention to evidence-based understandings of reality.

The new circumstances should be met with new adaptations among workers in the CAR field. Broadly, this would include giving more attention to enhancing human rights and satisfying human needs in the ways conflicts are waged and transformed. Attention to such matters would extend to sustainable peacebuilding. This could include work on the ways governmental officials and nongovernmental organizations work together constructively (Gerard & Kriesberg, 2018 ). Humans, over many thousands of years, have gradually come to live together with declining rates of violence (Pinker, 2011 ). Work in the CAR field can contribute to continuing that progress, despite setbacks.

Links to Digital Materials

Note : The following list is not intended to be comprehensive; it is, however, illustrative of the diversity of CAR resources. Many of the descriptions are from the organizations’ websites.

ACCORD: The African Centre for the Constructive Resolution of Disputes (Durban, South Africa). ACCORD is a South Africa–based civil society organization working throughout Africa to bring creative African solutions to the challenges posed by conflict on the continent. ACCORD publishes the African Journal on Conflict Resolution , Conflict Trends , and Policy and Practice Brief .

Alliance for Peacebuilding (Washington, DC). The Alliance for Peacebuilding (AfP) leads a community of more than 100 organizations building peaceful and just societies around the world. In this integrated field, the AfP amplifies the strengths of its members through collaboration, tackling a spectrum of issues too large for any one organization to address alone.

Berghof Foundation (Berlin, Germany). The Berghof Foundation is an independent nongovernmental organization that supports efforts to prevent political and social violence and to achieve sustainable peace through conflict transformation. The foundation publishes the Berghof Handbook for Conflict Transformation .

Beyond Intractability (Boulder, CO). Created by a team of more than 400 distinguished scholars and practitioners from around the world, the Beyond Intractability/CRInfo Knowledge Base is built around an online “encyclopedia” with easy-to-understand essays on almost 400 topics. The essays explain the many dynamics that determine the course of conflict along with the available options for promoting more constructive approaches.

The Carter Center (Atlanta, GA). The Carter Center, a nonprofit organization in partnership with Emory University, is guided by a fundamental commitment to human rights and the alleviation of human suffering. It seeks to prevent and resolve conflicts, enhance freedom and democracy, and improve health.

Centre for Conflict Resolution (Cape Town, South Africa). The center aims to contribute to a just and sustainable peace in Africa by promoting constructive, creative, and cooperative approaches to the resolution of conflict through training, policy development, research, and capacity building. The center produces a wide range of publications including seminar reports , policy briefs , books , and occasional reports .

HD: The Centre for Humanitarian Dialogue (Geneva, Switzerland). The Centre for Humanitarian Dialogue (HD) is a Swiss-based private diplomacy organization founded on the principles of humanity, impartiality, and independence. Its mission is to help prevent, mitigate, and resolve armed conflict through dialogue and mediation. The center publishes reports on the conflicts and issues in which it is involved.

Centre for Mediation in Africa (Hatfield, South Africa). The center strives to make mediation efforts throughout Africa more effective by offering academic and practical courses in mediation, researching new and current best practices, and supporting organizations such as the United Nations, the African Union, and those African governments involved in the mediation process. The center produces research on mediation best practices.

Conflict Management Initiative (CMI) (Helsinki, Finland). The Conflict Management Initiative (CMI) works closely with all conflicting parties in some of the world’s most intractable conflicts to forge lasting peace through informal dialogue and mediation. CMI was founded in 2000 by Nobel Peace laureate and former president of Finland Martti Ahtisaari.

Conflict Resolution Information (Boulder, CO). A free online clearinghouse, indexing peace- and conflict-resolution-related webpages, books, articles, audiovisual materials, organizational profiles, events, and current news articles.

Conciliation Resources (London, UK). The mission of Conciliation Resources is to provide practical support to help people affected by violent conflict achieve lasting peace. It draws on shared experiences to improve peacebuilding policies and practice worldwide. Conciliation Resources publishes the Accord series.

Crisis Group (Brussels, Belgium). An independent, nonprofit nongovernmental organization committed to preventing and resolving deadly conflict, Crisis Group conducts analyses of major current conflicts based on fieldwork and makes policy suggestions. It publishes alerts, reports, and briefings on the various conflicts it works on.

European Institute of Peace (Brussels, Belgium). The European Institute of Peace (EIP), launched in May 2014, is an independent partner to the European Union and Europe, augmenting its global peace agenda through mediation and informal dialogue. The EIP pursues multitrack diplomacy and acts as a flexible external tool in support of EU mediation efforts where the EU has limited freedom to act. It also serves as an operational hub, connecting existing expertise and sharing knowledge and lessons on European mediation.

Institute for Peace and Security Studies (Addis Ababa, Ethiopia). The Institute for Peace and Security Studies (IPSS) at the Addis Ababa University is the premiere institute for education, research, and policy dialogues on peace and security in Africa. The IPSS produces two types of policy periodicals, the IPSS Policy Analysis and the IPSS Policy Brief to provide comprehensive policy options in the areas of peace, security, and governance.

INCORE: International Conflict Research Institute (Ulster, UK). INCORE is a joint project of the United Nations University and the University of Ulster. It provides a Conflict Data Service and a comprehensive database and resource guide to conflict-prone regions and countries.

Kofi Annan International Peacekeeping Training Centre (Accra, South Africa). The Kofi Annan International Peacekeeping Training Centre (KAIPTC) is one of three institutions designated by the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS) as a regional Centre of Excellence for the delivery of training and research in the areas of conflict prevention, management, and peacebuilding.

Nairobi Peace Initiative–Africa (Nairobi, Kenya). The Nairobi Peace Initiative–Africa (NPI-Africa) is a continental peace resource organization, engaged in a broad range of peacebuilding and conflict transformation initiatives in Africa.

Peace and Collaborative Development Network (Washington, DC). Created by Dr. Craig Zelizer in 2007, the Peace and Collaborative Development Network (PCDN) is the go-to hub for the global change-making community. The PCDN is a rapidly growing social enterprise that gathers over 35,500 professionals, organizations, and students engaged in social change, peacebuilding, social entrepreneurship, development, and related fields.

Peace Research Institute of Oslo (Oslo, Norway). Peace Research Institute of Oslo (PRIO) conducts research on the conditions for peaceful relations between states, groups, and people. It publishes the journal Security Dialogue and the Journal of Peace Research .

Stockholm International Peace and Research Institute (Stockholm, Sweden). The Stockholm International Peace and Research Institute (SIPRI) is an independent international institute dedicated to research into conflict, armaments, arms control, and disarmament. SIPRI provides data, analyses, and recommendations based on open sources to policymakers, researchers, media, and the interested public. SIPRI produces the annual SIPRI Yearbook .

United States Institute of Peace (Washington, DC). An independent, nonpartisan institution established and funded by the U.S. Congress. Its goals are to help prevent and resolve violent international conflicts; promote postconflict stability and development; and increase conflict-management capacity, tools, and intellectual capital worldwide. The USIP offers online and on-site courses, and the United States Institute of Peace Press has been publishing books on CAR since 1991.

UN Peacemaker (New York, NY). UN Peacemaker is the online mediation support tool developed by the United Nations Department of Political Affairs. Intended for peacemaking professionals, it includes an extensive database of peace agreements, guidance material, and information on United Nations mediation support services. UN Peacemaker is part of the United Nation’s overall efforts to support UN and non-UN mediation initiatives.

West Africa Network for Peacebuilding (Accra, South Africa). The West Africa Network for Peacebuilding (WANEP) is a leading regional peacebuilding organization founded in 1998 in response to civil wars that plagued West Africa in the 1990s. Over the years, WANEP has succeeded in establishing strong national networks in every member state of the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS) and has over 500 member organizations across West Africa.

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A comprehensive peace based on the two-state solution is still achievable

With its recent advisory opinion, ICJ drew a clear pathway for peace, justice and security for all in Israel-Palestine.

The landmark ruling of the International Court of Justice (ICJ) on July 19 calls for the immediate end of Israel’s illegal occupation and apartheid rule. This ruling reinforces a clear pathway to peace – based on a sovereign State of Palestine in the context of the two-state solution.

According to the ICJ, Israel must withdraw from all of the occupied Palestinian territory, cease all settlement activities, evacuate all settlers and pay damages.

Keep reading

The us is no longer the senior partner in the us-israel relationship, children among those killed after israel bombs two schools in gaza, israeli attacks kill 40 palestinians in gaza in past 24 hours, israel’s gamble: a wider war in the middle east.

Ending the illegal occupation is not conditional upon a bilateral peace process between Israel and Palestine. In his declaration, ICJ President Nawaf Salam stated: “[Israeli] withdrawal cannot be conditional on the success of negotiations whose outcome will depend on Israel’s approval. In particular, Israel cannot invoke the need for a prior agreement on its security claims for such a condition may lead to perpetuating its unlawful occupation.”

The ICJ ruling is a vindication of the rights of the Palestinian people, who have endured decades of oppression. It is also a rejection of the position of the United States, which insists on Israel’s agreement on a political settlement as a condition for ending the occupation.

The sovereignty of Palestine, based on the two-state solution and the borders of June 4, 1967, cannot be held hostage to Israel’s apartheid policies. The two-state solution is a matter of international law, not of Israel’s domestic politics, much less its extremism. Diplomatic negotiations, under the auspices of the United Nations, can and should focus on the implementation of Israel’s withdrawal from occupied territory and mutual security arrangements of the two states living side by side.

The US has been a decades-long proponent of a cynical “peace process” between Israel and Palestine that is designed to fail. The obvious truth is that the occupying power, Israel, and the people under occupation, Palestine, will never be on a fair footing in negotiations. Palestinians have been forced to negotiate under extreme duress while Israel has continued its blatant violations of international law.

Yet the inequality of bargaining power has been far worse than the gross inequality of power between the occupier and the occupied. The US has held the cards for decades and has consistently been a dishonest broker. The US political elite is pro-Zionist to the hilt as it is notoriously financed by the Israel lobby (the American Israel Public Affairs Committee, or AIPAC, and others) and deeply entwined with Israel’s military and security apparatus, especially CIA-Mossad links.

The US blames Palestine for every failure in negotiations, even when Israel’s intransigence and opposition to the two-state solution are the obvious, indeed blatant, obstacles to peace.  Most recently, the Israeli Knesset voted to reject the two-state solution .

The latest display of the US politics was the reception given to Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu by the US Congress. Despite – or more accurately because of – the call by the ICC prosecutor for Netanyahu’s arrest for war crimes, Congress received Netanyahu’s lies with repeated ovations.

The obeisance of Congress to the Israel lobby was especially vile given that the UN , the ICJ and the International Criminal Court have all recently concluded that the Israeli military is systematically targeting civilians, starving them, inflicting collective punishment and deliberately destroying the infrastructure of Gaza.

A devastating regional war is just around the corner unless the international community acts quickly and decisively to secure the two-state solution. In Lebanon, cross-border hostilities between Hezbollah and Israel have intensified. The conflict also grows with attacks between Israel and Yemen’s Houthis. The US could end the war now if it chose. Without American financial and military support, Israel does not have the means to fight a war on multiple fronts.

After rejecting multiple ceasefire proposals, even US-backed ones, it is clear that the Israeli government is not interested in ending the war. Israel’s extremist government wants a wider conflict that lures the US into an open war with Iran. The latest outrage is Israel’s assassination of Hamas’s political chief, Ismail Haniyeh, in Tehran. This is a dangerous escalation, on foreign soil, that deliberately and flagrantly undermines negotiation efforts and a peaceful diplomatic resolution to the conflict.

While Congress cheered Netanyahu’s lies, the more important story of US politics was occurring outside Congress on the streets of Washington (and the campuses across the nation). The American people, especially America’s young people, are tired of the US government’s complicity in Israel’s genocide. By March, a majority of Americans had turned against Israel’s actions in Gaza . They want the war to stop, not to expand.

The world’s governments are rallying on the side of justice as in the UN General Assembly’s  overwhelming support for Palestine to become the 194th UN member state.  Palestinian political factions have also joined together, supported by Chinese diplomacy , to form a national unity government. The world community has broadly welcomed the ICJ’s decision to end Israel’s illegal occupation.

A comprehensive peace based on the two-state solution is achievable and within reach. According to the recent decision of the ICJ and the votes of the UN General Assembly and the UN Security Council (but for the US veto), the path to peace is clear: Palestine should immediately be welcomed as a UN member state with the borders of June 4, 1967, and with its capital in East Jerusalem.

Peace, in short, is much closer than it may seem, built on the unity of the people of Palestine; the strong and repeated backing of the Arab and Islamic states for the two-state solution; the goodwill of almost all of the world community, including the American people; and the support of international law and the United Nations.

The views expressed in this article are the author’s own and do not necessarily reflect Al Jazeera’s editorial stance.

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The United Nations was created in 1945, following the devastation of the Second World War, with one central mission: the maintenance of international peace and security. The UN accomplishes this by working to prevent conflict, helping parties in conflict make peace, deploying peacekeepers , and creating the conditions to allow peace to hold and flourish. These activities often overlap and should reinforce one another, to be effective.

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United Nations peacebuilding activities are aimed at assisting countries emerging from conflict, reducing the risk of relapsing into conflict and laying the foundation for sustainable peace and development.

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The Peacebuilding Support Office assists and supports the Peacebuilding Commission with strategic advice and policy guidance, administers the Peacebuilding Fund and serves the Secretary-General in coordinating United Nations agencies in their peacebuilding efforts.

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The United Nations is being increasingly called upon to coordinate the global fight against terrorism . Eighteen universal instruments against international terrorism have been elaborated within the framework of the United Nations system relating to specific terrorist activities. In September 2006, UN Member States adopted the United Nations Global Counter-Terrorism Strategy . This was the first time that Member States agreed to a common strategic and operational framework against terrorism.

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The General Assembly and other bodies of the United Nations, supported by the Office for Disarmament Affairs , work to advance international peace and security through the pursuit of the elimination of nuclear weapons and other weapons of mass destruction and the regulation of conventional arms.

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Beyond Intractability

The Hyper-Polarization Challenge to the Conflict Resolution Field We invite you to participate in an online exploration of what those with conflict and peacebuilding expertise can do to help defend liberal democracies and encourage them live up to their ideals.

Follow BI and the Hyper-Polarization Discussion on BI's New Substack Newsletter .

Hyper-Polarization, COVID, Racism, and the Constructive Conflict Initiative Read about (and contribute to) the  Constructive Conflict Initiative  and its associated Blog —our effort to assemble what we collectively know about how to move beyond our hyperpolarized politics and start solving society's problems. 

By Michelle Maiese

September 2003  

What it Means to Build a Lasting Peace

It should be noted at the outset that there are two distinct ways to understand peacebuilding. According the United Nations (UN) document An Agenda for Peace [1], peacebuilding consists of a wide range of activities associated with capacity building, reconciliation , and societal transformation . Peacebuilding is a long-term process that occurs after violent conflict has slowed down or come to a halt. Thus, it is the phase of the peace process that takes place after peacemaking and peacekeeping.

Many non-governmental organizations (NGOs), on the other hand, understand peacebuilding as an umbrella concept that encompasses not only long-term transformative efforts, but also peacemaking and peacekeeping . In this view, peacebuilding includes early warning and response efforts, violence prevention , advocacy work, civilian and military peacekeeping , military intervention , humanitarian assistance , ceasefire agreements , and the establishment of peace zones.

In the interests of keeping these essays a reasonable length, this essay primarily focuses on the narrower use of the term "peacebuilding."  For more information about other phases of the peace process, readers should refer to the knowledge base essays about violence prevention , peacemaking and peacekeeping , as well as the essay on peace processes  which is what we use as our "umbrella" term.

In this narrower sense, peacebuilding is a process that facilitates the establishment of durable peace and tries to prevent the recurrence of violence by addressing root causes and effects of conflict through reconciliation , institution building, and political as well as economic transformation.[1] This consists of a set of physical, social, and structural initiatives that are often an integral part of post-conflict reconstruction and rehabilitation.

It is generally agreed that the central task of peacebuilding is to create positive peace, a "stable social equilibrium in which the surfacing of new disputes does not escalate into violence and war."[2] Sustainable peace is characterized by the absence of physical and structural violence , the elimination of discrimination, and self-sustainability.[3] Moving towards this sort of environment goes beyond problem solving or conflict management. Peacebuilding initiatives try to fix the core problems that underlie the conflict and change the patterns of interaction of the involved parties.[4] They aim to move a given population from a condition of extreme vulnerability and dependency to one of self-sufficiency and well-being.[5]

To further understand the notion of peacebuilding, many contrast it with the more traditional strategies of peacemaking and peacekeeping. Peacemaking is the diplomatic effort to end the violence between the conflicting parties, move them towards nonviolent dialogue, and eventually reach a peace agreement. Peacekeeping , on the other hand, is a third-party intervention (often, but not always done by military forces) to assist parties in transitioning from violent conflict to peace by separating the fighting parties and keeping them apart. These peacekeeping operations not only provide security, but also facilitate other non-military initiatives.[6]

Some draw a distinction between post-conflict peacebuilding and long-term peacebuilding. Post-conflict peacebuilding is connected to peacekeeping, and often involves demobilization and reintegration programs, as well as immediate reconstruction needs.[7] Meeting immediate needs and handling crises is no doubt crucial. But while peacemaking and peacekeeping processes are an important part of peace transitions, they are not enough in and of themselves to meet longer-term needs and build a lasting peace.

Long-term peacebuilding techniques are designed to fill this gap, and to address the underlying substantive issues that brought about conflict. Various transformation techniques aim to move parties away from confrontation and violence, and towards political and economic participation, peaceful relationships, and social harmony.[8]

This longer-term perspective is crucial to future violence prevention and the promotion of a more peaceful future. Thinking about the future involves articulating desirable structural, systemic, and relationship goals. These might include sustainable economic development, self-sufficiency, equitable social structures that meet human needs, and building positive relationships.[9]

Peacebuilding measures also aim to prevent conflict from reemerging. Through the creation of mechanisms that enhance cooperation and dialogue among different identity groups , these measures can help parties manage their conflict of interests through peaceful means. This might include building institutions that provide procedures and mechanisms for effectively handling and resolving conflict.[10] For example, societies can build fair courts, capacities for labor negotiation, systems of civil society reconciliation, and a stable electoral process.[11] Such designing of new dispute resolution systems is an important part of creating a lasting peace.

In short, parties must replace the spiral of violence and destruction with a spiral of peace and development, and create an environment conducive to self-sustaining and durable peace.[12] The creation of such an environment has three central dimensions: addressing the underlying causes of conflict, repairing damaged relationships and dealing with psychological trauma at the individual level. Each of these dimensions relies on different strategies and techniques.

The Structural Dimension: Addressing Root Causes

The structural dimension of peacebuilding focuses on the social conditions that foster violent conflict. Many note that stable peace must be built on social, economic, and political foundations that serve the needs of the populace.[13] In many cases, crises arise out of systemic roots. These root causes are typically complex, but include skewed land distribution, environmental degradation, and unequal political representation.[14] If these social problems are not addressed, there can be no lasting peace.

Thus, in order to establish durable peace, parties must analyze the structural causes of the conflict and initiate social structural change. The promotion of substantive and procedural justice through structural means typically involves institution building and the strengthening of civil society .

Avenues of political and economic transformation include social structural change to remedy political or economic injustice, reconstruction programs designed to help communities ravaged by conflict revitalize their economies, and the institution of effective and legitimate restorative justice systems.[15] Peacebuilding initiatives aim to promote nonviolent mechanisms that eliminate violence, foster structures that meet basic human needs , and maximize public participation .[16]

To provide fundamental services to its citizens, a state needs strong executive, legislative, and judicial institutions.[17] Many point to democratization as a key way to create these sorts of peace-enhancing structures. Democratization seeks to establish legitimate and stable political institutions and civil liberties that allow for meaningful competition for political power and broad participation in the selection of leaders and policies.[18] It is important for governments to adhere to principles of transparency and predictability, and for laws to be adopted through an open and public process.[19] For the purpose of post-conflict peacebuilding, the democratization process should be part of a comprehensive project to rebuild society's institutions.

Political structural changes focus on political development, state building , and the establishment of effective government institutions. This often involves election reform, judicial reform, power-sharing initiatives, and constitutional reform. It also includes building political parties, creating institutions that provide procedures and mechanisms for effectively handling and resolving conflict, and establishing mechanisms to monitor and protect human rights . Such institution building and infrastructure development typically requires the dismantling, strengthening, or reformation of old institutions in order to make them more effective.

It is crucial to establish and maintain rule of law, and to implement rules and procedures that constrain the powers of all parties and hold them accountable for their actions.[20] This can help to ease tension, create stability, and lessen the likelihood of further conflict. For example, an independent judiciary can serve as a forum for the peaceful resolution of disputes and post-war grievances.[21]

In addition, societies need a system of criminal justice that deters and punishes banditry and acts of violence.[22] Fair police mechanisms must be established and government officials and members of the police force must be trained to observe basic rights in the execution of their duties.[23] In addition, legislation protecting minorities and laws securing gender equality should be advanced. Courts and police forces must be free of corruption and discrimination.

But structural change can also be economic. Many note that economic development is integral to preventing future conflict and avoiding a relapse into violence.[24] Economic factors that put societies at risk include lack of employment opportunities, food scarcity, and lack of access to natural resources or land. A variety of social structural changes aim to eliminate the structural violence that arises out of a society's economic system. These economic and social reforms include economic development programs, health care assistance, land reform, social safety nets, and programs to promote agricultural productivity.[25]

Economic peacebuilding targets both the micro- and macro-level and aims to create economic opportunities and ensure that the basic needs of the population are met. On the microeconomic level, societies should establish micro-credit institutions to increase economic activity and investment at the local level, promote inter-communal trade and an equitable distribution of land, and expand school enrollment and job training.[26] On the macroeconomic level, the post-conflict government should be assisted in its efforts to secure the economic foundations and infrastructure necessary for a transition to peace.[27]

The Relational Dimension

A second integral part of building peace is reducing the effects of war-related hostility through the repair and transformation of damaged relationships. The relational dimension of peacebuilding centers on reconciliation , forgiveness , trust building , and future imagining . It seeks to minimize poorly functioning communication and maximize mutual understanding.[28]

Many believe that reconciliation is one of the most effective and durable ways to transform relationships and prevent destructive conflicts.[29] The essence of reconciliation is the voluntary initiative of the conflicting parties to acknowledge their responsibility and guilt. Parties reflect upon their own role and behavior in the conflict, and acknowledge and accept responsibility for the part they have played. As parties share their experiences, they learn new perspectives and change their perception of their "enemies." There is recognition of the difficulties faced by the opposing side and of their legitimate grievances, and a sense of empathy begins to develop. Each side expresses sincere regret and remorse, and is prepared to apologize for what has transpired. The parties make a commitment to let go of anger , and to refrain from repeating the injury. Finally, there is a sincere effort to redress past grievances and compensate for the damage done. This process often relies on interactive negotiation and allows the parties to enter into a new mutually enriching relationship.[30]

One of the essential requirements for the transformation of conflicts is effective communication and negotiation at both the elite and grassroots levels . Through both high- and community-level dialogues , parties can increase their awareness of their own role in the conflict and develop a more accurate perception of both their own and the other group's identity .[31] As each group shares its unique history, traditions, and culture, the parties may come to understand each other better. International exchange programs and problem-solving workshops are two techniques that can help to change perceptions, build trust , open communication , and increase empathy .[32] For example, over the course of the Israeli-Palestinian conflict, the main antagonists have sometimes been able to build trust through meeting outside their areas , not for formal negotiations, but simply to better understand each other.[33]

If these sorts of bridge-building communication systems are in place, relations between the parties can improve and any peace agreements they reach will more likely be self-sustaining.[34] (The Israeli-Palestinian situation illustrates that there are no guarantees, however.) Various mass communication and education measures, such as peace radio and TV , peace-education projects , and conflict-resolution training , can help parties to reach such agreements.[35] And dialogue between people of various ethnicities or opposing groups can lead to deepened understanding and help to change the demonic image of the enemy group.[36] It can also help parties to overcome grief, fear, and mistrust and enhance their sense of security.

A crucial component of such dialogue is future imaging , whereby parties form a vision of the commonly shared future they are trying to build. Conflicting parties often have more in common in terms of their visions of the future than they do in terms of their shared and violent past.[37] The thought is that if they know where they are trying to go, it will be easier to get there.

Another way for the parties to build a future together is to pursue joint projects that are unrelated to the conflict's core issues and center on shared interests. This can benefit the parties' relationship. Leaders who project a clear and hopeful vision of the future and the ways and means to get there can play a crucial role here.

But in addition to looking towards the future, parties must deal with their painful past. Reconciliation not only envisions a common, connected future, but also recognizes the need to redress past wrongdoing.[38] If the parties are to renew their relationship and build an interdependent future, what has happened must be exposed and then forgiven .

Indeed, a crucial part of peacebuilding is addressing past wrongdoing while at the same time promoting healing and rule of law.[39] Part of repairing damaged relationships is responding to past human rights violations and genocide through the establishment of truth commissions , fact-finding missions, and war crimes tribunals .[40] These processes attempt to deal with the complex legal and emotional issues associated with human rights abuses and ensure that justice is served. It is commonly thought that past injustice must be recognized, and the perpetrators punished if parties wish to achieve reconciliation.

However, many note that the retributive justice advanced by Western legal systems often ignores the needs of victims and exacerbates wounds.[41] Many note that to advance healing between the conflicting parties, justice must be more reparative in focus. Central to restorative justice is its future-orientation and its emphasis on the relationship between victims and offenders. It seeks to engage both victims and offenders in dialogue and make things right by identifying their needs and obligations.[42] Having community-based restorative justice processes in place can help to build a sustainable peace.

The Personal Dimension

The personal dimension of peacebuilding centers on desired changes at the individual level. If individuals are not able to undergo a process of healing, there will be broader social, political, and economic repercussions.[43] The destructive effects of social conflict must be minimized, and its potential for personal growth must be maximized.[44] Reconstruction and peacebuilding efforts must prioritize treating mental health problems and integrate these efforts into peace plans and rehabilitation efforts.

In traumatic situations, a person is rendered powerless and faces the threat of death and injury. Traumatic events might include a serious threat or harm to one's family or friends, sudden destruction of one's home or community, and a threat to one's own physical being.[45] Such events overwhelm an individual's coping resources, making it difficult for the individual to function effectively in society.[46] Typical emotional effects include depression and post-traumatic stress disorder. After prolonged and extensive trauma, a person is often left with intense feelings that negatively influence his/her psychological well-being. After an experience of violence, an individual is likely to feel vulnerable, helpless, and out of control in a world that is unpredictable.[47]

Building peace requires attention to these psychological and emotional layers of the conflict. The social fabric that has been destroyed by war must be repaired, and trauma must be dealt with on the national, community, and individual levels.[48] At the national level, parties can accomplish widespread personal healing through truth and reconciliation commissions that seek to uncover the truth and deal with perpetrators. At the community level, parties can pay tribute to the suffering of the past through various rituals or ceremonies, or build memorials to commemorate the pain and suffering that has been endured.[49] Strong family units that can rebuild community structures and moral environments are also crucial.

At the individual level, one-on-one counseling has obvious limitations when large numbers of people have been traumatized and there are insufficient resources to address their needs. Peacebuilding initiatives must therefore provide support for mental health infrastructure and ensure that mental health professionals receive adequate training. Mental health programs should be adapted to suit the local context, and draw from traditional and communal practice and customs wherever possible.[50] Participating in counseling and dialogue can help individuals to develop coping mechanisms and to rebuild their trust in others.[51]

If it is taken that psychology drives individuals' attitudes and behaviors, then new emphasis must be placed on understanding the social psychology of conflict and its consequences. If ignored, certain victims of past violence are at risk for becoming perpetrators of future violence.[52] Victim empowerment and support can help to break this cycle.

Peacebuilding Agents

Peacebuilding measures should integrate civil society in all efforts and include all levels of society in the post-conflict strategy. All society members, from those in elite leadership positions, to religious leaders, to those at the grassroots level, have a role to play in building a lasting peace. Many apply John Paul Lederach's model of hierarchical intervention levels to make sense of the various levels at which peacebuilding efforts occur.[53]

Because peace-building measures involve all levels of society and target all aspects of the state structure, they require a wide variety of agents for their implementation. These agents advance peace-building efforts by addressing functional and emotional dimensions in specified target areas, including civil society and legal institutions.[54] While external agents can facilitate and support peacebuilding, ultimately it must be driven by internal forces. It cannot be imposed from the outside.

Various internal actors play an integral role in peacebuilding and reconstruction efforts. The government of the affected country is not only the object of peacebuilding, but also the subject. While peacebuilding aims to transform various government structures, the government typically oversees and engages in this reconstruction process. A variety of the community specialists, including lawyers, economists, scholars, educators, and teachers, contribute their expertise to help carry out peacebuilding projects. Finally, a society's religious networks can play an important role in establishing social and moral norms.[55]

Nevertheless, outside parties typically play a crucial role in advancing such peacebuilding efforts. Few peacebuilding plans work unless regional neighbors and other significant international actors support peace through economic development aid and humanitarian relief .[56] At the request of the affected country, international organizations can intervene at the government level to transform established structures.[57] They not only provide monetary support to post-conflict governments, but also assist in the restoration of financial and political institutions. Because their efforts carry the legitimacy of the international community, they can be quite effective.

Various institutions provide the necessary funding for peacebuilding projects. While international institutions are the largest donors, private foundations contribute a great deal through project-based financing.[58] In addition, regional organizations often help to both fund and implement peacebuilding strategies. Finally, nongovernmental organizations (NGOs) often carry out small-scale projects to strengthen countries at the grassroots level. Not only traditional NGOs but also the business and academic community and various grassroots organizations work to further these peace-building efforts. All of the groups help to address "the limits imposed on governmental action by limited resources, lack of consensus, or insufficient political will."[59]

Some suggest that governments, NGOs, and intergovernmental agencies need to create categories of funding related to conflict transformation and peacebuilding.[60] Funds are often difficult to secure when they are intended to finance preventive action. And middle-range initiatives, infrastructure building, and grassroots projects do not typically attract significant funding, even though these sorts of projects may have the greatest potential to sustain long-term conflict transformation.[61] Those providing resources for peacebuilding initiatives must look to fill these gaps. In addition, external actors must think through the broader ramifications of their programs.[62] They must ensure that funds are used to advance genuine peacebuilding initiatives rather than be swallowed up by corrupt leaders or channeled into armed conflict.

But as already noted, higher-order peace, connected to improving local capacities, is not possible simply through third-party intervention.[63] And while top-down approaches are important, peace must also be built from the bottom up. Many top-down agreements collapse because the ground below has not been prepared. Top-down approaches must therefore be buttressed, and relationships built.

Thus, an important task in sustaining peace is to build a peace constituency within the conflict setting. Middle-range actors form the core of a peace constituency. They are more flexible than top-level leaders, and less vulnerable in terms of daily survival than those at the grassroots level.[64] Middle-range actors who strive to build bridges to their counterparts across the lines of conflict are the ones best positioned to sustain conflict transformation. This is because they have an understanding of the nuances of the conflict setting, as well as access to the elite leadership .

Many believe that the greatest resource for sustaining peace in the long term is always rooted in the local people and their culture.[65] Parties should strive to understand the cultural dimension of conflict, and identify the mechanisms for handling conflict that exist within that cultural setting. Building on cultural resources and utilizing local mechanisms for handling disputes can be quite effective in resolving conflicts and transforming relationships. Initiatives that incorporate citizen-based peacebuilding include community peace projects in schools and villages, local peace commissions and problem-solving workshops , and a variety of other grassroots initiatives .

Effective peacebuilding also requires public-private partnerships in addressing conflict and greater coordination among the various actors.[66] International governmental organizations, national governments, bilateral donors, and international and local NGOs need to coordinate to ensure that every dollar invested in peacebuilding is spent wisely.[67] To accomplish this, advanced planning and intervention coordination is needed.

There are various ways to attempt to coordinate peace-building efforts. One way is to develop a peace inventory to keep track of which agents are doing various peace-building activities. A second is to develop clearer channels of communication and more points of contact between the elite and middle ranges. In addition, a coordination committee should be instituted so that agreements reached at the top level are actually capable of being implemented.[68] A third way to better coordinate peace-building efforts is to create peace-donor conferences that bring together representatives from humanitarian organizations, NGOs, and the concerned governments. It is often noted that "peacebuilding would greatly benefit from cross-fertilization of ideas and expertise and the bringing together of people working in relief, development, conflict resolution, arms control, diplomacy, and peacekeeping."[69] Lastly, there should be efforts to link internal and external actors. Any external initiatives must also enhance the capacity of internal resources to build peace-enhancing structures that support reconciliation efforts throughout a society.[70] In other words, the international role must be designed to fit each case.

[1] Boutros-Ghali, Boutros. An Agenda for Peace. New York: United Nations 1995 .

[1a] SAIS, "The Conflict Management Toolkit: Approaches," The Conflict Management Program, Johns Hopkins University [available at: http://www.sais-jhu.edu/resources/middle-east-studies/conflict-management-toolkit

[2] Henning Haugerudbraaten, "Peacebuilding: Six Dimensions and Two Concepts," Institute For Security Studies. [available at: http://www.iss.co.za/Pubs/ASR/7No6/Peacebuilding.html ]

[3] Luc Reychler, "From Conflict to Sustainable Peacebuilding: Concepts and Analytical Tools," in Peacebuilding: A Field Guide , Luc Reychler and Thania Paffenholz, eds. (Boulder, Colorado: Lynne Rienner Publishers, Inc., 2001), 12.

[4] Reychler, 12.

[5] John Paul Lederach, Building Peace: Sustainable Reconciliation in Divided Societies . (Washington, D.C., United States Institute of Peace, 1997), 75.

[6] SAIS, [available at: http://www.sais-jhu.edu/resources/middle-east-studies/conflict-management-toolkit ]

[7] Michael Doyle and Nicholas Sambanis. "Building Peace: Challenges and Strategies After Civil War," The World Bank Group. [available at: http://www.chs.ubc.ca/srilanka/PDFs/Building%20peace--challenges%20and%20strategies.pdf ] 3.

[8] Doyle and Sambanis, 2

[9] Lederach, 77.

[11] Doyle and Sambanis, 5.

[13] Haugerudbraaten

[14] Haugerudbraaten

[16] Lederach, 83.

[19] Neil J. Kritz, "The Rule of Law in the Post-Conflict Phase: Building a Stable Peace," in Managing Global Chaos: Sources or and Responses to International Conflict , eds. Chester A. Crocker and Fen Osler Hampson with Pamela Aall. (Washington, D.C.: United States Institute of Peace Press, 1996), 593.

[20] Kritz, 588.

[21] Kritz, 591.

[22] Kritz, 591.

[25] Michael Lund, "A Toolbox for Responding to Conflicts and Building Peace," In Peacebuilding: A Field Guide , Luc Reychler and Thania Paffenholz, eds. (Boulder, Colorado: Lynne Reinner Publishers, Inc., 2001), 18.

[27] These issues are discussed in detail in the set of essays on development in this knowledge base.

[28] Lederach, 82.

[29] Hizkias Assefa, "Reconciliation," in Peacebuilding: A Field Guide , Luc Reychler and Thania Paffenholz, eds. (Boulder, Colorado: Lynne Reinner Publishers, Inc., 2001), 342.

[30] Assefa, 340.

[33] Kathleen Stephens, "Building Peace in Deeply Rooted Conflicts: Exploring New Ideas to Shape the Future" INCORE, 1997.

[34] Reychler, 13.

[35] Lund, 18.

[37] Lederach, 77.

[38] Lederach, 31.

[39] Howard Zehr, "Restorative Justice," In Peacebuilding: A Field Guide , Luc Reychler and Thania Paffenholz, eds. (Boulder, Colorado: Lynne Reinner Publishers, Inc., 2001), 330.

[41] Zehr, 330.

[42] Zehr, 331.

[44] Lederach, 82.

[45] Hugo van der Merwe and Tracy Vienings, "Coping with Trauma," in Peacebuilding: A Field Guide, Luc Reychler and Thania Paffenholz, eds. (Boulder, Colorado: Lynne Reinner Publishers, Inc., 2001), 343.

[46] van der Merwe, 343.

[47] van der Merwe, 345.

[48] van der Merwe, 343.

[49] van der Merwe, 344.

[51] van der Merwe, 347.

[52] van der Merwe, 344.

[53] John Paul Lederach, Building Peace: Sustainable Reconciliation in Divided Societies, Chapter 4.

[56] Doyle and Sambanis, 18.

[59] Stephens.

[60] Lederach, 89.

[61] Lederach, 92.

[62] Lederach, 91.

[63] Doyle and Sambanis, 25.

[64] Lederach, 94.

[65] Lederach, 94.

[66] Stephens.

[67] Doyle and Sambanis, 23.

[68] Lederach, 100.

[69] Lederach, 101.

[70] Lederach, 103.

Use the following to cite this article: Maiese, Michelle. "Peacebuilding." Beyond Intractability . Eds. Guy Burgess and Heidi Burgess. Conflict Information Consortium, University of Colorado, Boulder. Posted: September 2003 < http://www.beyondintractability.org/essay/peacebuilding >.

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622 Conflict Essay Topics & Examples

Interested in exploring diversity conflicts in a workplace, communication issues, or fear of leadership? Check these conflict topics collected by our team !

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• ❓ Essay Questions About Conflict
• “Borders” Short Story by Thomas King Analysis: Conflict, Themes, and More Being a person of Cherokee origin, the author is concerned with discussing the problems of the First Nations, paying focused attention to cultural heritage, and the disadvantages of total assimilation.
• Conflict Management Essay The process of conflict management in organizations requires determination and participation of two parties, employees and the management. Furthermore, the employer should be empathetic to the employees and should be concerned of any problem with […]
• Interpersonal Conflict: Management, Economics and Industrial Organization A healthy and effective interaction strengthens the relationship of the people involved, and information is easily conveyed. Communication is the foundation of every interpersonal interaction, and it is crucial to a long-lasting and healthy relationship.
• Gaza-Israel Conflict: History and Portents The Gaza-Israel conflict took a new dimension following the election of the Hamas Party in 2005. The topic “History of the Gaza-Israel Conflict” will focus on the issues surrounding the conflict experienced in Gaza.
• How to Resolve Conflict in Workplace Essay In fact, one of the roles of management in an organisation is to ensure peaceful environment that is characterised by workforce collaboration in the effort to meet the goals, mission, and aims of an organisation.
• Structural-Functional vs. Social-Conflict Theory However, the conflict theory says that the probability of change is embedded in the basic structures and relations among the classes of our society.
• Coronavirus: The Conflict Theory Consequently, in analyzing and explaining the issue of the new coronavirus, a Conflict Theorist would focus on the inequalities that contribute to the problem and shape its effect on the people.
• Types of Conflicts and Ways to Resolve Them In addition, the paper will examine the advantages and disadvantages that are related to conflict in the workplace, and effective ways of managing conflict.
• Conflict in ‘The Most Dangerous Game’ by Connell Rainsford went through an internal conflict when he was in the ocean and had to keep stay focused by not panicking and realizing that his clothes were not helping his strokes and he ‘wrestled out […]
• Domestic Violence and Conflict Theory in Society The Conflict Theory explains remarkable events in history and the changing patterns of race and gender relations and also emphasizes the struggles to explain the impact of technological development on society and the changes to […]
• Israel Palestine Conflict The next phase of the conflict ranged from the year 1948 to the year 1967-a phase that was marked by the time the state of Israel was declared and the time the six days war […]
• The Time Machine Conflict of Class . Wells’ Book Analysis The Morlock live in the underworld and only to appear during the daytime to hunt for the Eloi and feed on them.
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• Functionalism, Conflict and Interactionism in Sociological Theories According to the views of the conflict theory, the main purpose of education in the society is maintaining social inequality as well as the power of those who rule in the society.
• Sikh-Muslim Conflict and Guru Nanak’s Philosophy Many Sikhs and Muslim are oblivious of the fact that Guru Nanak sole aim was to promote friendly relationships between the Hindu and the Muslim people. The violent nature of Sikh-Muslim relationship is a manifestation […]
• Non-Violence Approach to Conflicts The rarity of success of non-violence approach to conflicts is a clear indicator that there is the need for further analysis of both the failure and success of non-violent movements.
• Peace and Conflict Resolution: External Intervention This is mainly due to the root cause of the conflict in reference to internal and external factors and the possible consequences of the intervention to the parties involved, citizen and the world as a […]
• John Updike’s “A&P”: Themes & Conflicts Analysis Essay The main character of the story is Sammy, a teenager who tries to rebel against the system and structure of social norms represented in the text in the form of rules and standards typical for […]
• Achilles and Agamemnon’s Conflict and Its Reasons The conflict between Achilles and Agamemnon is one of the major plotlines in the Iliad. However, Achilles was blinded by the revenge and refused to fight for the Achaeans.
• Functionalist, Conflict, and Interpretive Theories The overview of the mass society theory connotes the influence of industrialization on independence, the deterioration of religious principles, and the significance of propaganda.
• Theory Definition, Building, and Conflict with Practice The theory forms the interface of systematic investigation, including analysis of data and interpretation, and the cognitive ability of researchers. The problem with most theories is that many researchers find it a problem to make […]
• The Political and Social Conflicts Between the French and the English The differences in the value that the English and the French attached to land and industry also contributed partly to the conflicts.
• Experience of Interpersonal Conflicts I believe that my case is closely related to the course materials and scholarly articles because the newly obtained knowledge might be beneficial for determining the appropriate model of communication with my parents and coping […]
• Conflict Between Aristotle and Copernicus Copernicus continued his research and developed a new model of the universe which contradicted Aristotle’s paradigm since the Earth was not the centre, but one of the planets moving around the Sun.
• Youth Crime According to Conflict Theory The second one is that the youth might engage in criminal activities and violence due to misappropriation of resources, lack of jobs, and inadequate strategies to meet their social needs.
• Arab-Israeli Conflict At the time, Palestine was still under the Ottoman Empire and the success of the Jews settled in the area was determined largely on the policies of the empire.
• A Brief History of the Conflict Between India and Pakistan This essay gives a brief history of the conflict between India and Pakistan, with special coverage on the genesis of the conflict, historical wars and efforts, which have been witnessed in finding a lasting solution […]
• Amazon Labor Union: Conflict Description Before the formation of the union, Amazon was not as open to negotiations as the workers, which is why the union was formed.
• Conflict in the Public Sector: Management and Resolution This occurs due to the varying attitudes of people and understanding among the different clients; considering all these facts, the public sector needs to design strategies that would prove to be helpful in dealing with […]
• Oscar Wilde’s “The Importance of Being Earnest”: Function of Conflict Through the external conflicts between Jack and Algernon’s opposing beliefs of love and honesty, their continuous disagreements about marriage and romance, and the fixation of the name Earnest between the men and their love interests, […]
• Conflict of Gender Roles in Munro’s “Boys and Girls” Munro’s “Boys and Girls” is a story about a puzzled girl who struggles to find the balance between the battles of her inner female-housewife side, like her mother, and a boyish character who likes to […]
• Socialization Process and Conflict Resolution This study aims to understand the process of socialization as well as find out how I deal with conflicts arising from the various agents of socialization The process of socialization starts in the family as […]
• Karl Marx’s Sociology and Conflict Theory Thus, in Marx’s opinion, Capitalism causes the alienation of the masses and the constantly growing indignation of the proletariat for being exploited by the bourgeois.
• Educational Administration: Conflict Management and Resolution Therefore, it will take the energy of a strong character to sort out the conflict between people. This also makes the other person in conflict to perceive the conflict as imaginary and of no consequence.
• Conflicts in the “Finding Forrester” Movie In his opinion, Jamal wants to help the other student and he hints to the students to say his name as the answer to the question asked by the teacher.
• The Conflict-Positive Organization: It Depends Upon Us Therefore, the integration of the conflict management into the organizational culture can provoke the improvement of the business performance and increase the competitive advantages of the company.
• The Israeli – Palestinian Conflict The purpose of this study is to establish the causes and the consequences of the Israeli Palestinian conflict. The question which this study seeks to address include what is the relationship between the conflict and […]
• The Conflict Between Behaviourism and Rationalism in Linguistics The theory regards as areal’ the various aspects of language that are addressed in the quest made by the theory. The nature of mind is closely related to that of the language.
• Conflict Theory Applied to Technology-Related Issues Examples are personal choices and social forces: while the former contributes to one’s personality and psychology, the latter is connected with social norms and influences of other people.
• Conflict Analysis and Resolution Procedures This essay explores the conflict phenomenon with a specific focus on the analysis and application of the conflict resolution procedures that exist in the conflict ethos to real life.
• Schneider National Inc.’s Conflict Management Lofgren believes that task conflict will help the company in mediating the points of conflict in the company by making sound decisions that help in the growth of the business.
• Conflict of Interest Trying to define the problem of the conflict of interests within the professional of a chemical researcher, the specific examples are going to be considered with the possible ways of solving those situations.
• Industrial Relations: Conflict and Cooperation State regulations: the state play an important role in the determination of the management control strategy to be adopted by an organization.
• Organizational Behavior: Conflicts and Negotiations If negotiation is based on a personal conflict, the differences between people are at the base of the problem and have a direct influence on its solution. In every type, personal differences can stall the […]
• Hamlet’s Renaissance Culture Conflict The death of Hamlet as the play ends indicates that though he was the definite answer to all the questions before him as he faced death, he was not in any position to give any […]
• Durkheim’s Functionalism and Marx’s Conflict Theory According to Durkheim, there is vital interconnectivity of all the elements of any society that share common ideas and principles, and the sum of these elements is not as great as the society itself.
• Singapore Airlines Conflict Management and Negotiation The study will entail analysis of the policies used by Singapore Airlines to manage conflicts among employees, the ethical dilemma facing the HR staff, and the alternative solutions.
• Inequality in Society: Conflict and Functionalism Theories Functionalism theory views inequality as unavoidable and important to the society while conflict theory considers inequality to result from conflict and coercion in the social system.
• Constructive Conflict Management in Tesco Tesco’s internal conflict with its employees has so far been dealt inappropriately resulting in the escalation of tension and the company’s perception by both employees and consumers has suffered.
• Conflict Communication in Family Relationships People in conflict have to be ready to analyze their situations and problems to achieve the goals and come to a certain conclusion.
• Personal Conflict Resolving Skills To my knowledge one needs to have the capabilities to understand his or her situation and the kind of problems they are faced with and then the ultimate impact of them on their lives and […]
• Conflicts and Disagreements Between Co-Workers Encouraging employees to work as a team reduces the chances of conflicts. One should approach conflicts like any other challenge expected in the job environment to promote peaceful relations among the employees.
• Managing Conflict Situations in Nursing In this case, it is necessary to use a collaborative conflict management style that is said to be one of the most useful variants.
• Empathy in Conflict Resolution In this case, one is sensitive to the feelings and experiences of another person at a particular point in time. This is because it ensures that the persons who are in conflict are able to […]
• Law Obedience and Moral Obligation Conflict This means that the duty to obey the law applies to all the individuals that exist within the jurisdiction of the law.
• Israel and Palestinian Conflict The Israel and Palestinian conflict is mainly a misunderstanding between the Jews referring to themselves as “Israelis” due to their background, and the Arab population of Palestine, popularly “Palestinians” following the remaining by the Roman […]
• Interpersonal Conflict: Definition and Analysis Therefore, the notion of a conflict encompasses a rather broad range of issues in personal interactions, from a misunderstanding to the feeling of mutual resentment. Typically, conflicts occur as a result of a mismatch in […]
• Impact of Online Social Media in Conflict Situations A study commissioned by The George Washington University indicates that determining the actual effects of the new media in conflict situations is cumbersome due to methodological challenges and the newness of the subject. The use […]
• Youth Crime in Functionalism and Conflict Theories The analysis will focus on determining factors contributing to youth engagement in criminal acts, examining the types of delinquencies they are likely to commit, and establishing the socio-psychological facets associated with the teenagers in the […]
• Religious Conflict in the History: The Key Causes of Conflicts Another factor that led to the partitioning of the countries was the strong ideological divide that existed between Muslims and Hindus in India.
• Conflicts in the UAE’s Governmental Organizations Being devoted to the principles of conflict management and DSD, the paper adds to the existing knowledge on the topic by analyzing the situation at the chosen organization and reflecting on improvement opportunities.
• Competitiveness and Intercultural Conflict in Qatar With a clear knowledge concerning different cultures and the way they apply in partnerships, the paper also shows why Saran and other women of her caliber can be effective in Qatar and other parts of […]
• Sources of Conflict Between Parents and Teenagers One of the recurrent themes linked to dress codes and the conflict between parents and adolescents is the adherence to cultural norms.
• Interracial Conflict in “Dutchman” by LeRoi Jones The choice of the focus on acting as the primary means of conveying the essential message of the story becomes evident as the author emphasizes the double consciousness of the character.
• Battle of the Holy Land: The Israeli-Palestinian Conflict This essay documents the chronology of the current Israeli-Palestinian conflict through an overview of the major events that led to the feud. The scope of the essay also examines the justification of the rationales for […]
• Dealing With Political Conflicts: Strengths and Weaknesses The international organizations depend on the efforts of member nations to help affected nations to deal with conflicts, but over the past several decades, the international community has failed in solving conflicts in various nations.
• Intergroup Conflicts in Organisations In using a political approach, the management has to understand the different kinds of power, the sources of power and the impact they have on the employees.
• Work-Study Conflict in University Life This research objectives include: to observe the extent to which students of property and construction are devastated from burnout; to establish a model of the work-study connection, describing the relationship between time commitment to paid […]
• Conflict and Social Change The primary differences of views between Weber, Durkheim, and Marx are based on the sources and approaches regarding social change and conflict.
• Ivan Turgenev: Intergenerational Conflict in “Fathers and Sons” In the first half of the novel, Turgenev demonstrates father son dynamic which exhibits the separation between the son and his father’s world views.
• Israel and Palestine: Conflict Resolution This essay will discuss the perceptions that both the Arab and the Israel people have towards conflict, how they have tried to solve it, the barriers that they have encountered and what can be done […]
• Conflict Management in Nursing Decision-Making The key objective of this work is to assess conflict management styles as the basic mechanisms for resolving controversial situations in the decision-making process in nursing communities.
• Organisational Conflict: Unitarist vs. Pluralist Views Ethical issues and the need to adhere to the ethical code of the company may lead to the intrapersonal conflict. The supervisor can be the mediator who guides and improves the communication that leads to […]
• Racial and Ethnic Conflicts in “The Help” Film The theories developed by the researchers help individuals to better understand the complex nature of the environment they live in. The phenomena will be analyzed in the context of the movie “The Help”.
• Family Conflicts Assessment Regarding role playing, the mother is longer a house wife in the sense that she is expected to undertake the affairs of the home while the father provides for the family.
• Can Culture Be a Hurdle to Conflict Resolution? In the process of resolving conflicts, it is important for the involved parties such as the negotiators to understand the prevailing culture.
• Social Theories in Conflict and Examples of Application The needs and problems of the people involved in conflicts have to be understood and addressed so that the issues that preoccupy the groups and people lose significance and therefore conflict can be resolved.
• Overview of Conflict Management In order to understand the significance and role of conflict in organizational management, as well as the causes of disagreements in the employed environment, conflict definitions should be identified.
• Conflict: Theories and Examples The needs and problems of individuals in a society have to be understood and addressed so that the issues that preoccupy the groups and people lose significance and therefore conflict can be resolved.
• Conflict Resolution Among Children It is essential to ensure that the children understand the meaning of conflict. It is essential to discuss the techniques involved in the fair settlement of disagreements.
• Internal Conflict in the “King of the Bingo Game” For the protagonist to win the jackpot, he has to press a key linked to a spinning wheel. As the protagonist is standing on the stage, forcing the wheel to continue spinning, he discovers that […]
• Person vs. Society Conflict in Atwood’s “The Handmaid’s Tale” This is the best description of the person vs.society conflict; it allows the reader to understand, analyze the handmaid’s feelings and emotions, and come to a logical definition of the subject of this confrontation.
• Culture Lag and Conflict Theory of Change One of the prominent examples of cultural lag is a refusal of older generations to accept freedom of self-expression in social media.
• Interpersonal Conflicts in the Workplace The resolution of the conflict was ensured by the actions of one of the managers who proposed using digital solutions to involve everyone in the discussion.
• Psychology of Conflict Communication One of the most pressing issues today is the search for conflict resolution mechanisms in the organizational environment of the conflict, since the conflict has a critical impact on the organizational behavior of any organization […]
• Conflicts Between Ethics and the Law in Healthcare The other emotive situation in as far as the aspect of conflict between the law and ethics is concerned is public sector strike by the nurses.
• Applying Constructive Conflict Management to a Conflict The prelude phase describes the situation that made the conflict possible, taking into account its participants, their relationship, and the environment where the conflict takes place.
• Conflict and Its Resolution Within the U.S. Military and Department of Defense Hence, the aim of the paper is to regard the key types of conflicts that appear within the organization, define how does the government manages these conflicts, and what can be made for resolving these […]
• Intragroup Conflict in a Nursing Environment The misbehavior continued to affect the morale of the workers in the institution. However, the leader of the team began to ignore the needs and expectations of his followers.
• Walt Disney Company’ Conflict This situation also strained the relationship between the CEO and the company’s stakeholders. This dispute between the CEO and the two members of the board also affected the company’s performance.
• Life Conflict: “Anna Karenina” by Leo Tolstoy The problem of non-adherence to the conventional role of a married woman becomes a paradigm for the analysis of the problems that are created in interrelated patterns.
• Conflict at Hotel Fortina The aim of this paper is to discuss the conflicts that are likely to arise within and between the departments of Hotel Fortina.
• Managing Conflict in People in Organizations The sources of conflicts include cultural differences, organizational structure and the personality orientations of the employees. In conclusion, personal conflicts can be attributed to personality orientation, goal incongruence and the expected level of performance.
• Conflicts at Work Places and Conflict Resolution The definition according to an organizational context is that conflict is a leakage or a disruption in the standard channels of making decisions in the organization which hinders the choice of alternative options by either […]
• Significance of Psychodynamics in Conflict Analysis In this paper, through relating psychodynamics with all the other factors, I want to show that all the other factors are important; however, I believe psychodynamics are central because they determine the personality of the […]
• Culture Clash as a Great Conflict The way of life of people is a measure of their level of civilization. That is the reason as to why there is a big disparity on the issue of abortion.
• Thanatos, Eros and Oedipal Conflict in the Story “Rapunzel” by Grimm Brothers This indicates that the life of the two is a mixture of both the feelings of eros and Thanatos at the same time.
• Human-Wildlife Conflict: Vehicle Collisions With Animals The issue of collisions between wildlife and motor vehicles is a major challenge in most countries owing to the unpredictability of the animals’ closing in correspondence to the vast sizes of the parks and lands […]
• Male-Female Conflict in Education System Many people claim that girls outperform boys due to the feminization of the system where such masculine attributes as competition and assertiveness are the subject of debates.
• Engineering Ethics and Conflict of Interests The engineer is responsible for achieving the goals of the organization he works for, as well as, answering the concerns of the public safety.
• Customer Service Conflict Management Strategies The key difficulty is, therefore, to find out what type of customer the support is dealing with and, thus, to choose the appropriate strategy to calm him/her down.
• Conflict Resolution: Causes, Factors, and Strategies In this case a proper knowledge of the protocols to follow is essential to reduce the amount of conflict and increase the performance of the worker.
• Relationship Advice on Conflicts Between Romantic Partners In an article on the conflict management in romantic relationship, Gilbert argued that conflicts are occurrences in any relationship particularly between the couples.
• Interpersonal Conflict: Causes, Outcomes, and Resolutions Conflicts are caused by various reasons and can differ on the basis of severity, the groups affected and the event that triggered it.
• Medical Care Crisis From Conflict Perspective The ways that these diseases are managed by the healthcare systems across the board, such as quarantine and social distancing measures, result in the deteriorated mental health state of the patients.
• Intrapersonal and Interpersonal Conflict and Its Consequences The last two changes are conflict mitigation and conflict resolution. Group conflict is one of the most common forms of interpersonal dispute in the workplace.
• “King of the Bingo Game”: Internal Conflict The first paragraphs introduce the conflict between the Northern and Southern parts of the country, between black and white people, between the rich and the poor.
• Workplace Conflicts and Resolution in Nursing The solution to emerging problems leads to the fact that conflicts between the nurse and the patient arise more and more often.
• Third Party Intervention in Conflict Third-party intervention is a direction in conflict resolution where the parties involved refer to a third party, i.e, a person or group, to help the parties solve the conflict.
• Cultural Property and Its Protection in Armed Conflicts The response of the international community to the mass destruction of cultural property in the Middle East was immediate, and many governments referred to the goals and principles of the 1954 Hague Convention as well […]
• Stages of History, Capitalism, Class Conflict, and Labor Theory in Adam Smith’s Writings The stages of history in Adam Smith’s writing, as reiterated by Paganelli, are the age of hunters, the age of shepherds, the age of agriculture, and the age of commerce.
• The Conflict Between Two Key Employees In is the duty of the manager to keep the employees in the know about the course the company is taking.
• Responding to Conflict Creatively When there is a no proper mechanism to resolve the conflict, there is a possibility of the development of stress and tensions within the people involved.
• Internal Managerial Conflicts: Jones and Shephard Accountants, Inc. The success of projects will to a large extent rely on the interests, support, and commitment of the senior management. A deep analysis of the organizational structure of Jones and Shephard Accountants, Inc.is prone to […]
• Kenya and Brazil: Comparing Environmental Conflict This loss of habitat has contributed to the species loss already aggravated by illegal hunting and open armed conflict in the region.
• The Iranian Revolution: Conflicts Between Leaders To many of us Iranian Revolution defines the epoch that released Iran from the monarchial hands of Shah Mohammad Raza Pehelvi to Ayatollah Khomeini.
• Conflict in a Multicultural Context From the perspective of the Co-Cultural Theory, the specified phenomenon can be seen as a result of the elements of a dominant culture affecting the quality of the conversation. The representatives of the dominant culture […]
• Conflict Resolution Style: Thomas-Kilmann Assessment On the example of one of the recent conflicts that occurred in the workplace, it is possible to describe the importance of leadership measures with regard to the problem discussed.
• Etisalat Company’s Conflict Management Practices Conflict management serves as a vital component of modern management to achieve the prosperity and success of a company. This dimension is most applicable for the selection and application of a relevant organizational conflict management […]
• Justice and Conflict & Cooperation and Competition Interdependence on the goals of the parties involved in conflicts perhaps aids in understating the nature of the conflicts. On the other hand, in practical scenarios where the parties involved in conflicts have similar goals […]
• The United States Preparing to Future Conflicts The degree of technological development in the United States encourages obvious and hidden adversaries to attack the country in the realm of cyberspace to disrupt the operations of financial institutions, government websites, or law enforcement […]
• Man-Animal Conflict: “To Build a Fire” by Jack London Out of a variety of the elements depicted in the story, the greatest impression is made by the conflict between the man and his wolf dog.
• Family Conflict in Unigwe’s, Kwa’s, Gebbie’s Stories Coincidentally, “The kettle on the boat” seems to communicate the same theme that Dipita illustrates in the “honor of a woman”.
• Conflict Management: Importance and Implications First of all, the author perceives the concept of conflict and conflict management from the perspective of positive conflict resolution, addressing the root causes of conflicts.
• Ethnic Conflicts in “A Different Mirror” by Takaki In his book A Different Mirror, Ronald Takaki examines the narratives of the British settlers and their attitude toward Native Americans and Africans.
• The Police Agency’ Conflict Management In the police agency, parties may use the collaboration strategy involving information sharing, openness, and elucidation of the various conflicting issues not only to reach a common ground that is satisfactory to the conflicting parties […]
• The Usefulness of the Concept of Structural Violence in Analyzing and Understanding International Conflicts The comprehension of the influence of structural conflict has a rationale of enhancing the analysis, as well the comprehension of the scope of the international conflict.
• Conflict between India, Pakistan, China and Kashmir According to the Indian government, the instrument of Accession of Jammu and Kashmir to the union of India was legitimate according to the Indian laws and international law and therefore cannot be revoked.
• Peace and Conflict Resolution in “The Fog of War” Movie Through the interaction between the director, McNamara, and a series of events like numerous phone calls during the interview describing events during the war, the audience is able to get a clear view of the […]
• Negotiation Process and Conflict Resolution A goal is defined as a known or presumed commercial or personal interest of all or some of the parties to the negotiation and it is these goals that set the grounds for the negotiation […]
• NIKE – Channel Conflict The success of the proposed solutions can be evaluated through analyzing the behavioral performance of the channels and distinguishing forewarning signs of unacceptable performance within the channels.
• The Rules of Engagement and the Laws of Armed Conflict The rules of engagement and the laws of armed conflict are aimed at reducing the risk of such events. The thing is that they were not required to act in such a way by the […]
• Organizational Behavior: Family/Work Conflict However, this strategy will require the support of the organization where a person works since without the support of the organization, the boundaries set by the employee will not be respected and the whole strategy […]
• The Effect of Family Conflict Resolution on Children’s Classroom Behavior This qualitative study seeks to establish whether family conflict resolution plays a role in the development of certain behavior in the classroom.
• Conflict Management: Enhancing a Peaceful Coexistence By the right attitude, it means that employees work harder to benefit the organization so that they benefit from the productivity, and not working harder in order to compete with their colleagues.
• Stages of the Conflicts Resolving The importance of confrontation, confirmation, and comprehension can be discussed with references to the case of Trayvon Martin and George Zimmerman. The concept of comprehension can also be actively applied to the conflict between Martin […]
• Power, Conflict, and Coalition The cycle of forming a coalition, emergence of conflicts, and later prevailing of power is often witnessed in decision making processes.
• Religions as a Prime Root of Conflicts The peace meeting between Muslim and Jewish leaders has demonstrated that religion play a significant role in the resolution of the conflict in Israel and Palestine The religious conflict between the Jews and Palestinians is […]
• Mediation of Family Conflicts To be effective, the process of mediating family conflicts as a kind of intervention in a dispute should depend on such principles as the voluntary nature of the parties’ cooperation with mediators and the readiness […]
• Contact and Comparison of Types of Conflicts in White’s Charlotte’s Web and Munsch’s The Paper Bag Princess The conflict can be identified at the beginning or in the middle of the story, and it is usually solved at the end. The actions and thoughts of the main characters lead to the resolution […]
• Global Conflict Likelihood The world is changing rapidly and the changes are likely to lead to a global conflict in the future. The awareness will rekindle the animosities that existed between the civilizations in the past and each […]
• Conflict Resolution Plan Draft and Strengthening the Team Thus, the principal purpose of this paper is to present recommendations on how to manage the Medical Informatics conflict and strengthen the team.
• Ethnicity and Religion as Sources of Conflict Race and ethnicity can also lead to internal conflict in a country. In conclusion, race and religion can easily lead to internal conflict in a country.
• Conflict Perspective of the Immigrants Most of the immigrants are required to learn new languages or culture and these requirements are too tasking for some of the immigrants and they prefer to stay in foreign lands only for a particular […]
• Southwest Airline Company: Unresolved Conflict The purpose of this report is to explore unresolved conflict at Southwest Airlines Company and provide an alternative creative solution to resolve the conflict.
• Sri Lankan Tamils and Sinhalese Ethnic Groups: Ethnic Conflict The conflict between the Sinhalese and the Sri Lankan Tamil people The Sinhalese are a majority ethnic group, native to the island of Sri Lanka where they constitute more than 70% of the population.
• Death of a Salesman Conflicts and Themes It is a significant confusion that Willy has thought that for one to be successful, he has to be well-liked by people.
• Social Worker Profession and Conflict Theory I find social work fascinating because it requires me to be stress-tolerant and motivated to help those in need, and my work data is based on reading a journal of articles written by experts in […]
• Perceptions of Parties in Conflict Individual perceptions can only be addressed during conflict management by listening to the concerns and issues raised by conflicting parties. Individual perceptions can be addressed during the conflict management process by actively listening to involved […]
• Causes and Conflict of the Peloponnesian Wars While each of the four issues deserves attention, the desire of Athens to control all the other states of Greece seems to have served as the major impetus for the Peloponnesian Wars outbreak.
• Event Management and Evaluation With Conflict Theory As such, the event and the performance of the staff and the managerial team worked in accordance to appropriately provide for them.
• Religious Impact on Cultural Conflicts Numerous conflicts in the modern world include a religious component. The conflict between the colonists and the natives resulted as a result.
• Thrive Skilled Pediatric Care: The Nurse Manager’s Conflict The example of the conflict situation was related to the relationships between the clinician and nurse. It was vital for the manager to be ready to persuade both sides to show respect and readiness to […]
• Colonialism in the Case of Conflict Between Wet’Suwet’en and Coastal GasLink The example of the conflict between Wet’suwet’en and Coastal GasLink is indicative of the ongoing colonization of indigenous settlements in Canada.
• Managing a Sexual Harassment Conflict at Sony In Sony, as in any other company, conflicts also occur, and managers strive to establish a common language between all sides involved, though the result of the conflict may be disappointing for one of the […]
• Conflict of Interest vs. Code of Ethics A code of ethics differs from a conflict of interest because it is a set of guidelines established to regulate professional conduct. The commission acts as the representative of public interests in overseeing and implementing […]
• Workplace Conflicts of Interest The alignment of interest increases the chance of accurate perception, and conflict of interest raises the probability of erroneous perception. Evidently, the interest of a buyer, in this case, is to purchase the goods that […]
• Culture and Individualism: The Conflict Analysis The described stance is supported by a range of philosophical and cultural perspectives, including the notions of multiculturalism, cultural relativism, and the theory of rational choice, to name just a few. Therefore, active cross-cultural communication […]
• Conflicts in the Workplace: The Role of Leaders Leaders should know how they handle conflicts, foster a collaborative workplace culture, and take conflict resolution courses. Training leaders is essential for corporate culture by boosting staff motivation, raising participation and output, lower employee burnout, […]
• The Kashmir Conflict Between India and Pakistan
• Workplace Conflict Gap Analysis
• The Balfour Declaration of 1917: Beginning of the Israel-Palestine Conflict
• The Gender Conflict Theory and Martineau’s Approach to Social Analysis
• Interpersonal Conflict Among AGC Corp.’s Employees
• Uses of Stand4 App in the Peace and Conflict Resolution Field
• Sociology and Theory of Conflict
• Counseling for Family Conflicts Resolution
• Gender-Based Conflicts in Relationships
• Colonial Style and Post-Colonial Ethnic Conflict in Africa
• The Human Body as a Site of Active Conflict
• Pediatric Operating Room: Conflict Management Strategies
• Post-Conflict State Building in Sierra Leone
• IT Systems Theories: Conflict Resolution in the Workplace
• Arab-Israeli Conflict’s Cultural and Political Context
• Researching of Conflict Styles
• Addressing Interprofessional Team Conflict
• The Role of Workplace Mediation in Conflicts
• Intergroup Conflict at Primerica Company
• State-Building, Expansion and Conflict
• How to Handle a Conflict in the Workplace
• The Ongoing Ukrainian Conflict: Historical Context and International Response
• Discussion: Managing Conflict of Interest
• Conflict and Reconciliation in South Sudan
• The US, Russia, and China Cybersecurity Conflict
• Women and Girls in Armed Conflicts
• The Conflicts in Organizations: Experiences in the Kindergartens
• The Specific Expectation: Adopting a Problem-Solving Approach to Conflict
• The Sarah Celeb vs. Star Weekly Conflict Statement
• Russo-Japanese War and American-Japanese Conflicts in the Pacific
• Conflict Resolution at Workplace
• Five Conflict Management Styles
• Analysts, Securities Firms, and Conflicts of Interest
• Communication Skills for Conflict Resolution
• Post-Conflict State-Building: Approaches and Strategies
• Cultural Differences and Origins of Conflict
• Conflict Management in the Healthcare Workplace
• The Business Conflict: Red-Holdings Case
• Conflict Resolution for the Helping Professions
• Discussion of Conflict Capability
• Impact of Conflict Resolution for Best Conversations
• Transformative Mediation: Conflict Management
• The Moral Conflict in Antigone: The Familial Values Against the Law
• Resolution of Conflicts of Heirs to an Estate
• Machiavelli’s Views on Free Will and Class Conflict
• The Work Conflict and Its Influence on the Future Reactions to Conflicts
• Contrast, Conflict and Tension in The Glass Menagerie by Tennessee Williams
• Resolving Conflicts in the Healthcare Setting
• Conflicts in the Workplace: Solving and Decision-Making
• Conflicts in Social Work Depicted in Movies
• Communication Conflict and Climate in Relationships
• Free Speech vs. Anti-Discrimination Practices Conflict
• Win-Win Solutions in a Potential Conflict Scenario
• Withdrawal as Conflict Solving Technique
• Racial Conflict in Ferguson
• Sociological Perspectives: Functional, Conflict, or Symbolic Interaction
• Theories in Have a Nice Conflict by Scudder et al.
• Criminal Justice Inequality in Conflict Theory
• The Palestinian-Israeli Conflict
• Age Diversity and Conflicts in the Workplace
• Culture and Conflict Reflection Essay
• Organizational Behavior: Employees Conflict
• COVID-19 Pandemic and Conflict Theory
• Exploring Workplace Problems, Issues, or Conflicts: Managing Complex Healthcare Systems
• Conflict Theory: The Basic Principles
• Fundamental Analysis of Regional Conflicts on Dubai Financial Markets
• Conflict Management as a Study Subject Reflection
• How Climate Change Affects Conflict and Peace
• Successful Negotiation in Conflict
• The Nature of Power in Conflict
• Communication and Moderating Conflict
• Communication and Conflict Styles
• Deviances Viewed by Labeling, Conflict, and Merton’s Strain Theories
• Conflict of Interests at the Workplace
• Cross-Functional Teams Conflicts
• Charting a Course for Conflict Resolution – “It’s a Policy”
• Manifestation of Strategic Cultures in Cyber Conflict
• The Karabakh Conflict: True Causes and the Role of Mediation
• Irregular Warfare: Asymmetric Conflicts in Recent Years
• Conflict: The Cutting Edge of Change in a Medical Team
• Conflict and Change in Medical Teams
• Edwards Engineering Inc. and Kiel A.G. Conflict
• Conflict as a Result of an Ineffective Leadership Style
• Social Networks: Functional Analysis and Conflict Theory
• Consulting Service-Client Problematic Cooperation: Communication & Conflict
• Conflict Management in Human Services
• Conflicts of Police Officers With the Members of the Minority Groups
• Emotional Intelligence and Conflict-Handling Styles in Nurses
• Ethical Conflict in Nursing
• Negotiation Strategies: Investor-Government Conflicts
• Conflict Management: Styles, Strategies, and Their Effect
• Conflicts Between Nursing Ethics and Law
• Principles of Conflict Resolution
• Conflict Scripts and Styles Learnt in Childhood
• Conflict Between Research and Ethics
• Factortame Litigation: Conflict Over Fishing Waters Legislation
• Aerial Experiment Association & Wright Brothers Conflict
• Adverse Drug Reactions Reporting Conflict
• Effects of Conflicts in a Country
• Effectiveness of European Regime Vs English Common Law System in Conflict of Law
• European Regime Approach to Jurisdiction in Conflict of Laws
• Conflict Management Efficiency in Team Leaders
• Cultural Diversity and Conflict in the Health Care Workplace
• Researching Conflict of Laws
• Study-Work Conflict and the Risk of Burnout
• The Conflict Between Banks and Financial Speculation
• Communication and Conflict Management
• Conflicts That Nurses Encounter in Their Practice
• “Revisiting America: Readings in Race, Culture, and Conflict” by S. Wyle
• Activities Coordinator and a Conflict of Interest Situation at Cooinda Nursing Home
• The Parallel Between Crime and Conflicts in Africa, Asia and Latin America
• Conflict and and Crisis in the Neovida Research Hospital
• Theories and Styles of Conflict Resolution
• Assessing the Role of Conflict in the Health Care Environment
• Humor Application in Conflict Management: Facilitating and Regulating Communication
• Methods of Conflict Resolution: Solving the Disagreements
• The Israel and Palestine Conflict: One Land Two Claimants
• Peace and Conflict in Film Adaptation of Book “Hungry Games” by Collins
• Major Conflict Between Britain & Their US Colonies
• Environment and Land Conflict in Brazil
• Syrian Conflict and Women Rights: Way to Equality or Another Discrimination
• Internal Conflicts Within the Ottoman Empire During the Era of Decline
• Mediation and Arbitration: Ways of Resolving Conflicts
• Communication Techniques as a Way to Resolve Conflicts
• The Impact of Improper Conflict Resolution
• The Impact of Global and Regional Conflicts on Infrastructure in the US
• Effective Business Meetings and Conflict Management
• Opening Scene of a Play: Conflict, Intrigue, Suspense
• International Journal of Conflict Management Critique
• Using Conflict in Organizations Written by C.K.W De Dreu and E.V. De Vliert
• The Conflict Within “Incident” by Countee Cullen
• Conflicts of Interest in Governmental Contracting
• Gulf War Deterrence. The Most Viable Way of Dealing With Conflicts
• Israeli-Palestinian Conflict: Key Issues at Stake
• Teamwork Dynamics, Motivation, Conflict Resolution, and Leadership
• “The Final Failure” and “Crisis and Conflict”: Credibility of the Sources and Contents
• Inter-Jurisdictional Conflict Management
• Conflict Management Concepts Implementation and Outcomes
• Intergroup Conflict and Its Management
• Causes of Conflict and Its Resolution
• PSDM Model Usage in Solving Family Conflicts
• Orbit Limited: Conflict Resolution
• Conflict Resolution: Definition of Problem, Criteria for Effective Solution, Root Causes
• Collective Bargaining and Conflict
• Eros, Thanatos, and the Oedipal Conflict, Adam and Eve Themes or Patterns
• Conflict in Breaking Smith’s Quarter Horse: The Story Full of Chaos, Unrest, and Deceit
• Identity Based Conflict: Zamri and Gordon
• Rwandan Conflict as a Deep-Rooted and Identity-Based Conflict
• How Did the Movie “Life as We Know It” Demonstrate the Conflict in a Family Institution?
• Civil Peace as Absence of War or Physical Conflict
• The Conflict Between Fate and Free
• Culture War in Australia: Conflict Between the Conservatives and Liberals
• Personal Conflict of King Lear in Play by Shakespeare
• Child Soldiers Use in an Armed Conflict Is Justified
• Natural Resources and Conflicts in Asian Countries
• Understanding Conflict Management
• Conflict and Collaboration: Workforce Investment Act
• Conflict Resolution Strategies and Relationships
• Conflict Management in Japanese Culture
• Conflict and Culture, Based on Articles’ Analysis
• Conflict and Marriage Satisfaction
• Conflict in ‘The Yellow Wallpaper’ by C. Perkins Gilman
• The Profound Social Conflict and Social Forces in USA
• Matters of Social Conflicts
• Conflict Theory: Gender Differences in Cultural Capital and Educational Opportunities
• The Right Side in the Palestinian-Israeli Conflict
• Israeli-Palestine Conflict and US-China Relationship
• Communication at Work: Discussion, Relational Development, Conflict
• Conflict Management in Empyrean Company
• Diversity and Conflicts in Education in Idaho
• Conflict of Poor and Wealth From Two Perspectives
• Strategies to Handle Conflict
• Conflict Management and Negotiations
• Culture and Conflict: Yanomami Conflict
• The Israel-Lebanon Conflict: Media Opinion
• Conflict Management: Teambuilding and Dynamics
• The Northern Ireland Conflict or “The Troubles”
• Interracial Conflicts: Issue Histrory
• A Conflict Theory: Term Definition
• HRM Skills of Communication and Conflict Resolution
• Conflict Resolution Tactics and Bullying
• Science and Technology Conflict Between the United States and Japan in the Late 1980s
• The Wars of Weak and Strong: Asymmetrical Conflict
• Workplace Overview Conflict Between Two Engineers
• Conflict Between Lobby Groups and UK Retailer
• Human Communication and Conflict Management in Family
• Conflict Theory: Racial Profiling
• Indigenous Groups and Ethnic Conflicts as Social Problems
• Psychology: Conflict Resolution and Leadership
• Conflict Resolution and Cross-Cultural Negotiation
• Internal Conflict in Business: Greenway Industries
• Conflict Management Challenges in Trade Unions
• Mass Communications: History and Review of the Profit vs. Duty Conflict
• Israelis and Palestinians Ethical Conflict
• Geography. Australia’s and New Zealand’s Conflicts
• Conflicts in European History: Relations Between the Individual and the Government
• Culture and Its Effects on Ethnic Conflict: Theoretical Comparisons
• Israeli-Palestinian Conflict: Policy Recommendation
• Enron vs. Andersen: Ethical Issues and Conflicts of Interests.
• Conflicts of the 20th Century: Roles of Civilizations
• Implications of Religious Conflicts in Present World
• The Role of the USA in the Israeli-Palestinian Conflict
• Chechnya and Russia: A History of Conflict
• Ethnic Conflict in Somalia Analysis
• The Conflict Between Individualism and Community in Andersen’s “Hands”
• The Israeli-Palestinian Conflict: Origins and Evolution
• Final Take Home Exam: The Arab-Israeli Conflict
• Orientalism and East and West Conflicts
• Conflict as an Aspect of Managing People
• Sociology of Ethnic Conflict Analysis
• Covert Conflicts in Business Organizations
• Yugoslav Wars: Ethnic Conflicts and the Collapse of Power
• Do the Structures of Global Governance Deal With the Drivers of Conflict in Fragile States?
• Mergers, Acquisitions, and Cultural Dilemmas
• World Political Science Discussion: Conflict Analysis
• Conflicts Between Japanese Americans and Chinese Americans During the 1920s-1940s Period
• Military Conflicts at the Civil War
• Diversity and Conflict: Working Approaches
• Conflict Management Styles Applied in Healthcare
• Co-Development and Racial Conflict in “Kindred” by Butler
• Conflict Management: Gender Pay Gap in Hollywood
• Conflict, Negotiation, and Group Behavior
• Theater Stage Manager’s Conflict Resolution
• Overt vs. Covert Conflict
• Conflicts and Disputes at Workplace, and Their Resolution
• Parental Responsibilities and Related Conflicts
• Organizational Behavior: Conflicts in the Workplace
• Hate Speech in “The Office”: Mitigating Conflicts
• Workplace Conflicts and Their Sources
• Managing Organizational Conflict: Rahim’s Meta Model
• Post-Soviet Eurasia’s Conflicts and Reconciliation
• “Nash in Najaf”: Game Theory in Iraqi Conflict
• Conflict & Crime Control vs. Consensus & Due Process Model
• Negotiation, Pricing and Conflict Resolution
• Ethical Issues and Conflicts of Interest in the Company
• The Class on Cross Cultural and Conflict
• Containing Violence Conflict: Peacekeeping
• The Scholarship Coordination Office: Conflict and Leadership
• Teams and Conflict at Riordan Manufacturing
• Ethnic Conflicts According to Humanistic Theory
• Cultural Differences and Conflicts
• Interpersonal Communication: Relationship Climate and Conflict
• Leader’s Mood Impact on Conflict Resolution
• Workplace Conflicts and Effective Communication
• Conflict in the “Wanda’s Visit” Play by Durang
• Martyrdom Culture in Israeli-Palestinian Conflict
• The Rwandan Conflict and Social Network Approaches
• Personal Communication and Conflict Styles
• Custom Chip Inc.’s Management Issues and Conflicts
• Conflict Analysis: Suitable Negotiation Process
• Donaldson’s Type 1 Conflict and Its Resolution
• Employee Empowerment and Conflict Resolution
• Interpersonal Conflict Resolution at the Workplace
• Intergenerational Conflict at the Workplace
• Tucker Company’s Restructuring for Conflict Resolution
• African Union Military Force in Darfur Conflict
• Motivation and Conflict: Analysis and Design Methods
• Concourse Equity Inc.’s Conflict Management
• Cultural Conflicts in Fadiman’s “The Spirit Catches You and You Fall Down”
• Abu Dhabi Department of Culture and Tourism’s Conflict Management
• Masdar City Project and Conflict Management
• Anxiety and Cultural Models in the Conflict
• Conflict of Interest and Ethical Administration
• Inner Conflicts in Twain’s “Adventures of Huckleberry Finn”
• Conflicts of Interest in the Financial Services Sector
• Personality Conflicts in Professional Relationships
• Arab National Identity in Israeli-Palestinian Conflict
• Religious Conflicts in Rational Choice Theory
• Hybrid Channel Conflict in the Business
• Mergers and Acquisitions: Cultural Concerns
• International Court Punishing Rape in Armed Conflict
• The Israeli-Palestinian Conflict: Theory and Analysis
• Incentive Conflicts Caused by Communication Disruption
• Geographic Factors of Civil Conflicts’ Duration
• Teacher Shooting as an Organizational Conflict
• Stress, Conflict and Misunderstandings in the Workplace
• The 1994 Major League Baseball Strike and Conflict
• Functional Conflict, Its Sources and Resolution Styles
• Empire and Democracy Conflict by Thucydides
• Sunni–Shia Religious Conflict in Iraq
• Principal’s Conflict Defusing Technique
• History of Yemen Conflict
• The Current Conflict Between Sunni and Shia
• Qatar and GCC Countries Conflict
• Benchmarking and Creativity’s Conflict
• Gender and Conflict in Prisons
• Conflict in Hobbes’, Marx’s, Rousseau’s, Plato’s Works
• The Arab-Israeli Conflict Analysis
• Marbles Construction Company’s Conflict Management
• Unnecessary Conflict in the Workplace: NDC Company
• Employee Conflict Sources and Resolution Approach
• Multicultural Conflict in the Engineering Setting
• American Involvement in African and Eastern Conflicts
• Interweaving Conflict in “Star Wars” Series’ Plot
• Adolescent Development, Changes and Conflicts
• Nile River Conflict Between Egypt, Ethiopia, Sudan
• Newlywed Conflict on Expectations and Duties
• Complementary Conflict Patterns in Families
• Internal Conflicts in Congo and Yemen
• Conflicts and Negotiations in the Real World
• Middle Eastern Conflicts and Regional Factors
• International Business Conflicts Resolution
• Native Americans and Colonists’ Conflict
• Conflict Theory and Politics in Criminology
• Conflict Criminology and Crime Causation Theories
• Western Media Portrayal of the Arab‐Israeli Conflict
• Conflict in South Sudan and Its Influence
• Conflict in Teams: Leveraging Differences
• Business Protocols and Personal Values Conflict
• General Hospital’s Conflict Resolution
• SEC vs BlackRock: Conflict of Interest Case
• Ancient Rome: Visigoths’ and Rome’s Conflict
• Sudan Conflict: Historical Stages and Events
• The Balfour Declaration: Israel Creation and Palestinian Conflict
• Common Conflict Areas in Marital and Couple Relationships
• The Spratly Islands and Maritime Conflict
• The UAE’s Reaction to Yemeni Political Conflict
• Indians and Colonists Relations and Conflicts
• Organizational Conflict: Pros, Cons, Prevention
• Cultures in Conflict and Modernity
• Group Conflicts in Business Organizations
• Middle East’s Conflicts and History: What Went Wrong?
• Conflict of The Beatles and the Religious Far Right
• The South Sudanese Inter-Ethnic Conflicts
• War and Conflict in North Africa and Southwest Asia
• Israeli-Palestinian Conflict: Optimistic Prognosis
• Conflict Resolution in Management Teams
• Conflicts in Anglophone and Francophone Africa
• Social Conflicts in “Animal Farm” by George Orwell
• Conflict in Syria: Jihadi and Western Views
• Wal-Mart’s 2005 Channel Conflict and Resolution
• Conflict Resolution Theory in Arab-Israeli Issue
• Arab League and US in Israel-Palestine Conflict
• Uppsala Conflict Data Program’s Report for 2012
• Asia Pacific Regional Cooperation and Conflicts
• Project Success and Interpersonal Conflicts
• Maritime Conflict: Offshore Political Geography
• Ethnicity Significance in the Post-World War Conflicts
• Conflict Management in “The Avengers” Movie
• The Israeli-Palestinian Conflict: History and Concept
• Race Conflict in London: Mark Duggan Case
• The Conception of Conflict Between Iran and the US
• Global Conflict and Poverty Crisis
• Class Conflict: Karl Marx and Mikhail Bakunin Ideas
• “Divine Intervention” Film: The Palestinian-Israeli Conflict
• Bahrain Conflict: Historical and Analytical Study
• Conflict and Anxiety by Psychoanalysts and Behaviourists
• Ethnic Conflicts and Misrepresentation of Rwandan Hutus
• Water Related Conflicts in Africa
• Basic Conflict in Antigone by Sophocle
• Hutus and Tutsis Ethnic Groups Conflict
• Early Scholars’ Views on the Internet
• When Ethics and Euthanasia Conflict?
• Employee Motivation, Conflict and Personnel Management
• Prejudice, Aggression and Social Conflict
• Climate and Conflicts: Security Risks of Global Warming
• Communication: Negotiations, Pricing, and Conflict Resolution
• Conflict Theory as a Tool to Study Social Situations
• Human Security in International Conflicts
• Conflict Over Human Rights
• Ethno-Religious Nationalisms in Conflict in Bosnia
• India Political Conflicts in the XVII Century
• Organisational Conflict Resolution
• Conflict and Racial Hostility
• Riordan Manufacturing: Diversity and Conflict Management
• Effective Leadership: Coaching and Conflict
• Role of Coaching in Conflict Management
• Structural Functionalism and Social Conflict Theories
• Managing Conflicts: U.S. Harvest Scandal
• Charter Team Work: Goals and Conflict Resolution
• Asian Studies: The Palestine-Israel Conflict Origin
• The US and Britain Role in the Middle East Conflict
• Conflicts in the South China Sea
• Cultural Differences and Conflicts in the Workplace
• Conflict Between Palestine and Israel
• ‘Guidelines for Resolving Conflict as a Counselor’
• Conflict Management in the Healthcare Sector
• Religious and Cultural Conflicts in Syria
• Sisters of Gion: A Conflict of Value Systems
• ALM Unlimited and the Trump Organization. Business Conflict
• Middle East Conflicts
• Conflict in Cyprus and in Northern Ireland
• Conflict and Resolution Concepts
• The Conflicts and Complexities in the Early Christianity
• Common and Distinct Characteristics of the Abkhaz-Georgian Conflict
• Political and Social Conflicts and Ling-Ling’s Perception of Life in Shanghai
• Why Has the Arab-Israeli Conflict Over the Gaza Blockade Gone on for So Long?
• Prime Suspect: The Peculiarities of the Conflicts
• Three Major Sources of Interpersonal and Intergroup Conflict
• Kosovo Conflict: Richard Holbrooke’s “To End a War”
• Workplace Group Problems: Conflict Management and Dynamics
• Rondell Data Corporation Growth and Conflict
• Social World Conflicts and Its Resolution Styles
• Conflicts in the Business Communication
• Selina Lo’s Conflict Management in Ruckus Wireless Company
• Conflict Prevention in Project Management
• Dick Spenser’s Sources of Conflict
• Approaches to Resolving Conflicts
• Global Marketing’s Legal Conflicts
• Conflict at Walt Disney Company: A Distant Memory?
• Cause of Conflict in Organisation
• Conflict in Syria: Opportunity for Future Democratisation?
• Conflicts in Syria Present No Opportunity for Future Democratization
• The Conflict Between Boston Charter Schools and School Districts
• Effectiveness of Various Conflict Management Practices
• Conflict Resolution in the Workplace
• Conflict Management in Organizational Teams
• Moving Beyond Simple Conflict of Interest
• China’s Media Regulations and Its Political Right to Enforce: Conflict With Foreign Correspondents
• Change Management and Conflict Resolution in Communities
• Organizational Conflict and Its Reasons
• Market Research and Value Conflict
• CIA. Operations and Intelligence: A Potential for Conflict?
• Identifying and Resolving Workplace Conflicts
• Resolving Interpersonal Conflicts Within the Organization
• Childhood Assumptions in Conflict Resolution
• Literature Review on Intergroup Conflicts in Organisations
• Diplomatic and Military Fronts: 1948 Arab-Israeli Conflict
• Bosnia and Herzegovina: Civil War or Religious Conflict and the Role of Women
• Interpersonal Conflict in the Workplace
• Conflict in The Age of Innocence and Manhattan Transfer
• Managing Conflict: Decision-Making Process in Organizations
• Conflict, Decision Making and Organizational Design
• Conflict Resolution in a Team Building
• Law-Ethics Conflict: Jaffee vs. Redmond
• Conflicts and Their Effects on Group Performance
• International Relations Theories: The Conflict between Macedonia and Greece
• Tesco PLC Constructive Conflict Management
• Negotiation and Conflict Resolution
• Managing Internal and External Conflicts
• Organizational Behavior, Motivation and Conflict Management
• Organizational Conflict
• The Personal Conflict Resolution
• Effective Conflict Management in Planning

❓ Essay Questions on Conflict

• Are Science and Religion in Conflict?
• Can the Functional and Conflict Theories Help Us Understand Change?
• Does Ideology Cause Conflict or Is It Just an Exacerbating Factor?
• Does Nationalism Inevitably Breed Rivalry and Conflict?
• Does Nuclear Deterrence Work in Preventing Conflict?
• How Does Class Conflict Affect Society and What Are Its Consequences?
• How Does Lloyd Jones Present the Setting, and Use It to Develop Conflict?
• How Does Lofgren Manage Conflict?
• How Modern and Ancient Military Conflict Differs?
• What Are the Five Main Causes for Conflict?
• How the London Docklands Conflict With Its Current Development?
• How Would Conflict Theory Explain Homelessness?
• What Are Conflict and Functionalist Perspectives?
• What Are Some Types and Sources of Channel Conflict?
• What Are the Causes of Ethnic Conflict?
• What Are the Factors That Caused the Northern Ireland Conflict?
• What Causes Conflict in History?
• What Are the Historic and Current Factors Contributing to the Palestinian Conflict?
• What Causes Conflict Between Adolescents and Their Parents?
• When Does Ethnic Diversity Turn Into Ethnic Conflict?
• Why Have Nuclear Weapons Not Been Used in Conflict since 1945?
• What Was the Greatest Conflict in History?
• What Is Ideology Conflict?
• Which Two Ideology Were Involved in a Conflict during the Cold War?
• What Conflicts Is the US Currently Involved In?
• What Is the Biggest Conflict Right Now?
• What Are the Causes of Conflict in Europe?
• What Are the Major Conflicts in Africa?
• Public Relations Titles
• Ethical Dilemma Titles
• Cultural Psychology Ideas
• Family Relationships Research Ideas
• Forgiveness Essay Ideas
• Problem Solving Essay Ideas
• Sociological Perspectives Titles
• Team Management Paper Topics
• Chicago (A-D)
• Chicago (N-B)

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• DOI: 10.1080/09592318.2024.2382380
• Corpus ID: 271629469

Roles of gender in addressing structural inequality: assessment of Borana women’s endogenous institutional agents of gender amelioration in peace, conflict, and post-conflict settings

• Tesfaye Gudeta Gerba , Gutema Imana Keno , +1 author F. Tufa
• Published in Small Wars &amp; Insurgencies 30 July 2024
• Political Science, Sociology
• Small Wars &amp; Insurgencies

47 References

Building peace by peaceful approach: the role of oromo gadaa system in peace-building, addressing structural racism and inequities in depression care., socio-economic profile of arid and semi-arid agropastoral region of borana rangeland southern, ethiopia, the dynamics of gender relations under recurrent drought conditions: a study of borana pastoralists in southern ethiopia, borana women’s indigenous social network-marro in building household food security: case study from ethiopia, women’s participation in peace negotiations and the durability of peace, colonial and post-colonial changes and impact on pastoral women’s roles and status, blessing the route, striving for peace and success - borana-arbore ritual gift exchange, local peace committees in africa: the unseen role in conflict resolution and peacebuilding, dynamics in pastoral resource management and conflict in the borana rangelands of southern ethiopia, related papers.

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