Expand Networks

6. Civic Knowledge and Skills

This introductory article was written by ChatGPT at the direction of Heidi Burgess, who reviewed, edited, and approved the final content.
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June 24, 2026

In simple conflicts, it may seem enough to identify the opposing parties and try to work out an agreement between them. In complex conflicts, that is seldom adequate. There are usually many people, groups, and organizations involved. Some are visible and vocal. Others are quiet, but important. Some oppose change, some support it, and many are uncertain, conflicted, or only indirectly involved. Expanding networks is the practice of reaching beyond one's familiar circle to learn who else is connected to the conflict, what they care about, what influence they have, and where cooperation may be possible.

This matters because narrow networks produce narrow understanding and low power. People who talk only with close allies often become more certain, more angry, and less able to see the whole conflict system. They may miss potential partners, misunderstand opponents, or assume that everyone outside their group is hostile.

Broader networks make it possible to hear different accounts of the problem, identify overlooked harms, and discover resources that no single organization controls. The Guide page on strengthening relationships emphasizes the importance of bridging social capital: relationships that connect people across social, political, cultural, or institutional divides. These bridges are especially valuable when a conflict has hardened into separate camps.

Expanding networks does not mean trying to recruit everyone to one's own side. That kind of outreach is often experienced as manipulation. A more constructive approach begins with curiosity. Who is affected by the problem? Who understands parts of it that we do not? Who has credibility with people we cannot reach? Who has resources, technical knowledge, local legitimacy, or convening power? Who might be willing to cooperate on a limited goal, even if we still disagree on larger issues? John Paul Lederach's work on the moral imagination stresses the importance of seeing webs of relationship and finding unexpected connections. In many conflicts, breakthroughs come not from persuading enemies all at once, but from building enough cross-cutting relationships to open new possibilities.

Networks also increase practical capacity. One group may have legal expertise, another community trust, another access to public officials, another research skills, and another the ability to communicate with a hard-to-reach audience. When these capacities are connected, they can accomplish more than they could separately. This is the logic behind cross-sector collaboration and collective impact, which argue that large-scale social problems require coordination across organizations and sectors, rather than isolated efforts. In conflict settings, such coordination must be handled carefully. Partnerships need clear purposes, realistic expectations, respect for differences, and attention to power imbalances. Otherwise, network-building can become another way for the strongest actors to dominate the agenda.

For constructive conflict work, expanding networks should be both strategic and humane. Strategically, it helps people map the conflict, identify leverage points, and find opportunities for progress. Humanely, it reduces the tendency to see the conflict only in terms of friends and enemies. The goal is not to create one giant coalition in which everyone agrees. It is to build a more connected field of actors who can share information, coordinate where possible, and keep communication open, even when disagreement remains. In complex conflicts, no single actor can solve the whole problem. But many actors, connected through wider and wiser networks, can often move parts of the system in a more constructive direction.

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This page was created by ChatGPT in response to this prompt. It was then reviewed, edited, supplemented and approved by Heidi Burgess. More information about how and why we are using AI in this way, and about the growing number of ways in which Beyond Intractability is using ChatGPT, Claude and other AI systems to generate content and build out the BI system, is available on our BI/AI Overview Page.