Recent BI and Substack Posts

Citizens' assemblies are an ancient form of governance, used by the Athenians in the 5th Century B.C., whose time has come again. Daniel Stid reports on their increasing use and benefits around the world, including in the U.S.

Sorting out "real facts" from "fake facts" gets more difficult all the time. But there are ways to do it. And it matters. Because facts can "bite you," even if you don't believe they are true.

This second half of our update on BI's Constructive Conflict Initiative looks at additional steps that we could take to strengthen our field's ability to promote more constructive approaches to conflict and build healthier democracies.

More insightful articles from colleagues and journalists from around the world.

Colleagues ask power-with and power-over whom, for what purpose, and when? All good questions--and starts of answers.

Dialogue has no fixed goal or predetermined agenda. The emphasis is not on resolving disputes, but rather on improving the way in which people with significant differences relate to each other. 

"Pro-democracy" efforts have little consensus on what democracy is, or how it should be "saved." Our failure to reconcile these competing views is a big part of the reason why democracy is in so much trouble.

In this interview, Jay Rothman continues to reflect on strategies for scaling up small group processes in ways that enable whole communities to develop "both-and" solutions the common problems.

More interesting and important ideas from our conflict resolution/peacebuilding colleagues and others in allied fields.

How loneliness and isolation are contributing to our political malaise--and four ideas for changing that.

Polarization is hurting both sides, and both sides should be concerned about reducing it if they want to achieve any of the high-priority goals.

Another set of links to interesting articles from our colleagues in conflict resolution, journalism, and allied fields.

Empathic (active) listening and I-message are two very powerful communication strategies that work at the societal as well as interpersonal levels.

Most of us have unrealistic images of "the other side." If we talk with, and most importantly really listen to, some of those people, we will usually find out they are not nearly as different from us as we think.

More of our weekly links to informative and provocative readings from colleagues and others in allied fields.

More of our weekly links to informative and provocative readings from colleagues and others in allied fields.

A reflection on the role and choices we all make that will influence not only ourselves, but our society and planet as well.

Our weekly suggested readings from colleagues within and outside of the conflict resolution field relating to polarization, democracy and other issues of importance.

Our weekly suggested readings from colleagues within and outside of the conflict resolution field relating to polarization, democracy and other issues of importance.

A look at the forces, including our own cognitive preferences, that produce a biased information environment and thoughts about what to do about it.

Our regular colleague and context posts showing what are people are doing and thinking about intractable conflicts and democracy.

Highly polarized conflicts are typically systems problems, and they need system-based solutions to be successfully addressed. Here's an example where that was done very well.

Nonviolence can be a profound resource for addressing injustice, repairing torn relationships, and creating healthy civic life. And it is something we all can do, everyday.

Our normal weekly links to interesting reading about democracy in the U.S. and around the world.

New civil rights mediator interviews provide a fascinating then-and-now comparison with earlier interviews conducted in 1999-2001. So much has changed--AND--so much has stayed the same!