Recent BI and Substack Posts

Highlighted links, reader suggested links, and our usual Colleague, News and Opinion links for this week.

Jay Rothman explains why he has been quiet for two years, and why he is emerging now. He also issues a call to all peacebuilders to rise to this important moment for the Middle East and the world.

Those working to save democracy must decide whether they want to work toward the Grand democratic Bargain, or if they want to continue to pursue IFYFI rules to overpower the other side. The first will actually help save democracy. The latter, likely, will not.

Articles on political violence in the U.S., the potential end of the Israel/Hamas war and much more.

The second "Big Picture" essay, this one explaining why democracy is worth defending by looking at the systems it is designed to replace. While no democracies are perfect, they are clearly better than the alternative authoritarian or anarchistic approaches to societal organization.

12 Bridging and Civic Health Organizations reflect on the implications of Charlie Kirk's murder, and how we can turn America's increasing political violence and polarization around.

Updating our good reading lists.

Jonathan Stray explains why we still need to build bridges to "the other side," even if we think they are doing terrible things. It is the only way for those who want to protect democracy to "win" that fight.

If we want to get out of the trouble we are in as a society, we need to realize that the "enemy" is not "the others." It is the destructive way in which we deal with "the others."

An initial report on why and how BI is starting to experiment with AI. We'll know more over time, but the initial experiments are intriguing!

Our weekly compilation of reader suggested and highlighted links, along with colleague and news and opinion reading. Lots here to think about!

David Eisner points out astonishing similarities between our civic angst now and in the early 1900s, pointing out that we turned things around then and can do so again. Indeed, many people and organizations are already working on this effort.

A conflict map of democratic erosion shows how complex this problem is, and why a simple, us-versus-them definition of the problem, along with an attempt to overpower "them," cannot work to solve it.

Weekly collection of important and interesting readings from our colleagues and journalists writing on topics relating to polarization, democracy, and intractable conflicts.

An exploration of the critical role that civil society needs to play in the defending US democracy and thoughts about how civil society might overcome the challenges that are making it difficult for it to play that role.

Here we announce the release of the much updated Beyond Intractability website with the addition of an extensive Constructive Conflict Guide focused on hyper-polarization and ways to strengthen and improve democracy. See the details here.

Catching up after two weeks off -- we have a lot of readings to share!

Continuing our review of the distinction between core conflict factors and conflict overlays, this post examines common overlay factors that make conflicts even more difficult to resolve--and (briefly) what to do about them.

A review of the distinction the Burgesses make between core conflict factors and conflict overlays. This is the first of a two-part series; this one on the core factors; the second one will be on the overlay factors that make conflicts even more difficult to resolve.

Catching up on a lot of interesting readings and podcasts.

Jacob Bornstein gives a master class on how to assemble and facilitate a collaborative process over very contentious issues -- and easier ones.

A tribute to Lou Kriesberg --a leading light in the peace and conflict resolution fields, along with his latest thoughts on the Israeli/Palestinian conflict.

A lot of interesting and important reading for this week!

Magical production is the tendency to unconsciously think that goods and services magically appear in our stores and that the only important question is how to distribute them. A road trip through flyover country shows how false--and damaging--this image is.

Frank Dukes talks about how he balances his three roles of conflict resolution practitioner, teacher/trainer, and human rights advocate in this wide-ranging interview.