This blog contains posts highlighting things everyone--not just powerful people, not just important or rich people--but everyone of us--can do to help limit the dynamics that lead to destructive and intractable conflicts.
Things You Can Do To Help Home | About | Follow | Join Discussions | All Posts
Things You Can Do To Help Blog
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Play a "Third Side Role"
"Third siders" are disputants and outsiders - united in a desire to transform conflicts for the better.
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Minimize the Use of Force
Exchange and respect are more powerful than force--they persuade without causing backlash.
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Seek Co-existence, Not Total Victory
The demand for total victory is a recipe for continuing and deepening strife--co-existence is essential for peace.
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Understand Your--and Others'--Fundamental Human Needs
Fundamental needs are common drivers of conflict. But they don't have to be.
Visit briefly, follow, or join our Conflict Frontiers Massive Open Online Seminar series (MOOS) to explore and discuss strategies for more constructively addressing the many challenges of the large-scale, complex, intractable conflicts that threaten contemporary society.
Frontiers Home | About | Seminar Series Syllabi | Follow | Constructive Confrontation | Massively Parallel Peacebuilding | Action List |
Read Discussions| Join Discussions
LATEST POSTS
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Conflict Frontiers Seminar 3 -- Introduction to Complexity and "Systems Thinking": Theoretical Antecedents
Nests, cycles, attractors, and paradigms -- new ways of thinking about conflict and its resolution.
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Conflict Frontiers Seminar 2 -- Pushing the Frontier: the Limits of Business-as-Usual Approaches
More of the same isn't enough--we need new approaches to successfully address intractable conflicts.
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Conflict Frontiers Seminar 1 -- Understanding the Intractable Conflict Problem
Destructive dynamics associated with intractable conflict are as big a threat as climate change. Find out why!
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Identify the Overlay Issues in Dispute
Factual and procedural disputes, framing, miscommunication, and escalation are “overlay problems” that make intractable conflicts even harder to resolve.
Brief readings and videos which highlight the conflict and peacebuilding field's fundamental building blocks – ideas which help address both "tractable" and intractable conflicts more effectively.
LATEST POSTS
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Channels of Communication
When channels of communication between hostile actors close, risks of destructive conflict raise substantially.
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Misunderstandings
Even if the misunderstandings do not cause conflict, they can escalate it rapidly once it starts.
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Interpersonal Communication
We take it for granted, but so much can go wrong with our communication. In conflict, care is essential!
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Cognitive Dissonance
Cognitive dissonance can escalate or de-escalate conflict depending on how it is used.
Beyond Intractability's efforts to promote more constructive approaches to conflict occur within the larger context of efforts to promote wise and equitable solutions to a broad range of social problems. This blog highlights readable news articles that help us understand the big picture.
Many other people are doing important and interesting things in an effort to move beyond intractability-in theory and in practice, in different locations and on different conflicts. Please share what you are doing here so we can all learn from each other.
LATEST POSTS
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Randy Butler's Peacemaker Podcast
While our world seems to be falling apart, peacebuilders worldwide are working to put the pieces back together.
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World Policy Journal Issue on Megalomania
Megalomania isn’t just a problem of a few bad leaders—it is far more ubiquitous and harmful.
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Ian Hughes on "Disordered Minds" and the Threat to Democracy
Only strong democracy, says Hughes, can stop dangerous personalities from wrecking havoc on world order and peace.
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The Sustainable Peace Project of AC4: The Advanced Consortium on Cooperation, Conflict, and Complexity at Columbia University
Introducing the many resources on complexity, conflict, and peace from the Sustainable Peace Project of AC4, Columbia University
