Intractable Conflicts

Efforts to limit the terrible destructiveness commonly associated with intractable conflicts ultimately depend on the ability of people in a full range of conflict roles to successfully play their part in a broad peacebuilding effort. Though each circumstance is, to some degree, unique, there is also much to be learned from others who have solved similar problems before. The goal of the Beyond Intractability (BI) system is to make such knowledge more widely and freely accessible, so people aren't forced to "reinvent the wheel." To the extent we can all contribute to a knowledge base on better ways of approaching and transforming intractable conflicts, the closer we can come to limiting the destructiveness of these situations around the world.

The project does not advocate or teach one particular approach. Rather, it provides access to information on many approaches which can then be adapted to many different situations. Our goal is to give people new ideas to think about and new hope. As a free Internet service, BI provides information that is much more affordable and accessible than traditional training programs or hard-to-find books. BI is also constantly growing and changing, making the breadth, depth, and potential of the peacebuilding field more clearly visible.

The Beyond Intractability Knowledge Base

Initially created by a team of more than 200 distinguished scholars and practitioners from around the world, the Beyond Intractability Knowledge Base is built around an online "encyclopedia" with easy-to-understand essays on almost 400 topics. These essays explain the many dynamics which determine the course of conflict along with available options for promoting more constructive approaches.

The "executive summary" level material provided with each essay is backed up by several thousand citations to recommended sources of more in-depth information from printed books and articles and other web pages. Over a hundred hours of online interviews with more than 70 leading conflict scholars and intermediaries are also available.

Topics Covered

Types of Conflict Discussed

This knowledge base examines very difficult, destructive, long-lasting conflicts. (For more detail see What Are Intractable Conflicts? We explore what makes these conflicts different from other conflicts, and more importantly what can be done to lessen their destructiveness (see for example costs) and make them more constructive. Many of the things that are discussed in this knowledge base also work on simpler, more readily-resolvable conflicts. So this website will be useful for people with "ordinary" conflicts or people interested in "normal" conflict resolution. But it was really written for people who are involved in or studying the really tough conflicts, such as racial and ethnic conflicts, nationalistic struggles, the controversies over homosexual rights, abortion, and the conflicts between the "North" and the "South" -- the developed countries and the developing countries, for example.

Levels of Conflict Discussed

Most of the essays currently in the system look at conflicts that take place between groups (ethnic, racial, religious, interest-based) or states. But conflicts between two or three people -- for instance, between husbands and wives or parents and children -- can be very intractable too. Thus, much of the material in the system will relate to people who are stuck in difficult personal relationships. The "checklists" for adversaries and intermediaries in interpersonal conflicts (family, workplace, or community) highlight materials that are likely to be especially useful to people involved in conflicts of this type. Many of these resources will also apply to "regular" or "tractable" conflicts as well as difficult or "intractable" ones.

Topics Discussed

The modules in this knowledge base are split between theoretical topics and practical topics. Among the theoretical essays are discussions of

• what we mean by the term "intractable," and
• what makes some conflicts intractable while others are not (basically, what causes intractability),
• what causes escalation (several essays),
• what identity groups are and why they matter,
• what is meant by the concept of "ripeness,"
• what is meant by justice and how it can be obtained (several essays), etc.

Among the practical topics are:

• Negotiation strategies and tactics (lots of essays!),
• Mediation of intractable conflicts (several essays on different approaches),
• Dialogue,
• Cultural considerations (5 essays),
• Peacekeeping,
• Peacemaking, and
• Peacebuilding strategies (lots of essays!), etc.

The full list of essays can be found in the Browse system.

Knowledge Base Access Options

The information in the Knowledge Base can be accessed in a variety of ways.

• If you know what you are looking for, there is a search system which can be used to search either the entire site, or portions thereof (for example, just articles, just interviews, just references).
• If you have some ideas of what you want, but aren't entirely sure, you can
  • browse "virtual bookshelves" which show all our materials in particular broad categories
  • use one of several "diagnostic checklists" that list things people in different situations should think about as they engage in a conflict situation
  • Look at one of our user guides or special editions, that highlight a subset of knowledge base materials that are particularly applicable to different user groups and/or situations. For example, we have a special edition for journalists, another for human rights workers, a third for religious leaders and peacebuilders, a fourth for "third siders." We also have special editions on particular topics, such as post-conflict peacebuilding and reconstruction, transitional justice, identity conflicts, and relationship conflicts.
• For users who want even more guidance, we have four formal online courses that are built off Beyond Intractability. One is not-for-credit; the other three are three semester hour, undergraduate, for-credit courses. All are self-paced, meaning you can start any time, and end anytime.
• For instructors: We also have a set of educational resources for instructors, including a module that allows you to build your own reader based on Beyond Intractability materials, several detailed conflict simulations, and a guide to discussing "hot topics" in the classroom. Power-point versions of many of the articles, usable for lectures, are forthcoming.

Audience

The Knowledge Base has several "levels" and "sections," which makes it interesting, understandable, and useful to a wide variety of users.

Types of Users:

The primary categories of users we expect to use the Knowledge Base are:

• Students at the college or graduate level who want to know more about this field or a particular aspect of it. The knowledge base has a wealth of information for students writing papers, theses, or dissertations, because it not only has the basic essays, but literature reviews as well.
• Teachers at the high school, college, and graduate level who want to use these materials for teaching. All of the essays list additional resources on the topic including websites, books and articles, and audio-video materials that can be obtained online, in bookstores, or in libraries Some have teaching materials and many more are to be added over the coming several months.
• Third party trainers who want to use this material as a supplement to their face-to-face training, because it is "always there," even when they are not, and it has the expertise of a large number of the field's top scholars and practitioners to draw on. (In addition to the essays there are over 100 hours of audio (and text) interviews with leading conflict resolvers from around the world.)
• Third party intervenors and "Third-Siders" who want to learn more about these kinds of conflicts and what they can do to be most helpful and effective. (See, particularly, the "Third-Side" Special Edition, and the "Intervenor Checklists" for third parties involved in peacebuilding or "post-conflict stabilization", public policy and environmental conflicts, workplace/organization, or interpersonal conflicts.)
• Disputants themselves who want to find a better way to approach their problems. The materials here are useful for "ordinary" or "everyday" people, as well as grassroots and mid-level leaders who want to engage in their conflict more constructively. (See, particularly, the checklists for people involved in large-scale international, national, and ethnic conflicts, environmental and public policy conflicts, workplace/organization, or interpersonal (family, workplace, or community) conflicts.
• Activists and advocates who want to better understand the conflicts they are involved in and ways to confront them more constructively. (See, particularly, the checklists for people involved in large-scale international, national, and ethnic conflicts, environmental and public policy conflicts,workplace/organization, or interpersonal (family, workplace, or community) conflicts.
• Journalists who want to get some background in this new and burgeoning field.

Levels:

The primary Knowledge Base essays are written at a "general audience" level, meaning we tried to make them understandable to people who do not have a background in this field, and as much as possible, to people who speak English as a second language. We urged authors to be sure that technical terms be avoided when possible, and when not, they are to be explained in the text.

The additional resources take users deeper. While some are still written at a "general audience level," others are more academic or scholarly, written for people with some background who want more depth.

But for those who prefer not to read much at all, we have insightful quotes, pictures, diagrams, and charts as well as over 100 hours worth of amazing interviews with the field's leaders. These interviews are available in their complete form, but smaller segments are also extracted and highlighted in particular interviews to which they relate.

Structure

What is a Knowledge Base Anyway?

In the past, knowledge base projects have been confined to survey texts, with their broad overviews of the "state of the field." At one level, this project can be seen as a continuation of that tradition, which is why we suggest, as a starting point: "think of it as a book." The big difference is that this project has, from the beginning, been designed for the Internet, with its vastly less expensive and more powerful information storage and retrieval capabilities. The core elements of this project are totally beyond the reach of conventional book publication. However, it is still helpful, as a starting point, to think of it as a book.

The Knowledge Base as a Book

Book Chapters

The book chapters correspond to the main topic headings in the Full Essay List or the top level "file folders" in the Browse by Categories List. These include:

• The Meaning of Intractability,
• The Costs and Benefits of Intractable Conflict,
• Underlying Causes of Intractable Conflict,
• Parties to Intractable Conflicts,
• Intermediary Roles,
• Culture and Conflict,
• Social Psychological Dimensions of Conflict,
• Interpersonal/Small-Scale Communication,
• Large-Scale Communication (The Media),
• Fact Finding,
• Escalation,
• Limiting Escalation/De-Escalation,
• Power,
• Principles of Justice and Fairness,
• Intermediary Processes (including extensive materials on negotiation, mediation, peacekeeping, peacemaking, and peacebuilding),
• Peace Agreements,
• Assessment and Evaluation,
• Theories of Learning and Change

Chapter Sections

Each chapter contains many "modules" on particular topics: some have 10, some have 50. Each module is comprised of:

• A core essay (2-12 pages long),
• Additional resources, including annotated Web- and print-based:
  • Conceptual materials,
  • Examples,
  • Case studies
• Audio-visual materials, including audio "essays" drawn from over 100 hours of interviews with the field's leaders talking about their experiences working on transforming difficult conflicts,
• Teaching materials,
• Links to other Knowledge Base essays,

More than a Book: User Guides and a Continuously Growing Set of Materials

The database structure employed by the project makes it easy for us -- and users -- to create dozens of different user guides, each focused upon the differing needs of people in particular conflict situations or interested in learning about particular problems or processes. There are guides focused on:

• Human Rights Workers
• Identity Conflicts
• Journalism
• Peacebuilding and Post-Conflict Reconstruction
• Relationship Conflicts
• Religious Leaders and Workers
• The "Third Side"
• Transitional Justice

While the materials in each guide overlap to some extent, each draws on a subset of the materials in the full Knowledge Base. Also, different guides use different examples, and/or links to different associated resources. Some guides will take a class- or textbook-based approach, with Knowledge Base elements sorted according to academic topic. Other guides will take a situational approach, in which links to Knowledge Base elements are placed within a case study narrative.

References

Each building block will have a list of references, broken into seven categories (there are also tabs for these categories at the top to make them easier to find).

• The first two categories are Web-based and print-based (books and articles) resources that examine the underlying theoretical idea(s) in more detail.
• The next two categories are Web and print-based resources that provide real-world examples of the concept being discussed. So for an essay on de-escalatory gestures, there will be several essays about gestures that have been made in various settings, what happened, and perhaps with an analysis of why.
• When available, the next category includes audio-video resources relating to the topic. These resources include both segments from the audio interviews we did specifically for this project, as well as links to other audio and video products available on the Web -- for instance, from National Public Radio's vast collection of excellent news stories, which are available online for free.
• Also when available, the next category contains links to teaching materials related to the topic.
• Finally, the last type of additional information is comments. We have not started to put comments in yet, but we have quite a few useful comments that came out of the two excellent conferences that were held in the process of developing this Knowledge Base. These will be put into the system in the coming weeks.
• We are also hoping to collect lots of comments from YOU, the users. Every page has a link at the top, which allows you to send us your comments on the article or on the system as a whole. Our dream, which we hope will occur, is that users around the world will post comments about how these essays do or do not relate well to their experiences. This could turn into a dialogue between the author and people from different places around the world. We hope you will help us make this happen!