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Introduction: Elise Boulding talks about the need for third parties to approach a situation as an "apprentice" rather than an expert.


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How to Approach a Peacemaking Situation
Elise Boulding
Professor Emeritus of Sociology at Dartmouth College and Former Secretary General of the International Peace Research Association
Interviewed by
Julian Portilla
2003

One thing that I feel very strongly about, especially since I see it being violated so often, is that for people who are taking on a role of a peacemaker or a mediator or a conflict resolver, they need to be an apprentice to any situation they go into. They really have to know where people are coming from, what is going on, what are the priorities, and so on, in order to apply what they know. But you see, it happens too often that the people who are trained in all of this set themselves up as outsider experts, and go in and say, "Here is what you need to do."

 
Now, I say to you today my friends, even though we face the difficulties of today and tomorrow, I still have a dream. It is a dream deeply rooted in the American dream. I have a dream that one day this nation will rise up and live out the true meaning of its creed: - 'We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal.' -- Martin Luther King, Jr.

Featured Links
Organizations Making Noteworthy Contributions to Efforts to Promote More Constructive Conflict
Centre for Conflict Resolution
Centre for Conflict Resolution


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Yitzhak Rabin
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Former Prime Minister of Israel, and 1994 Nobel Peace Laureate

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