Recent BI and Substack Posts

Catching up, we have a lot of interesting readings to share today.

Excerpts from a conversation we had with computer scientist/journalist/peacebuilding and AI expert Jonathan Stray about all of that and how AI might actually be able to help us reduce polarization and heal U.S. democracy.

A list of questions we need to answer as we consider how the democracy we are working for should be structured and should function.

The 7th installment of our "Big Picture Series," this post explains why "massively parallel" action--in peacebuilding, problem solving, democracy building, and civic renewal is the best way to deal with the staggering complexity and scale of society-wide conflicts.

More important readings we want to share.

An obituary for the U.S. Department of Justice Community Relations Service, reflecting on its important work and what is being lost with its closure.

Thoughts on how to have good holiday conversations, not angry ones.

A pre-holiday set of readings. We have much to think about.

The second in a series of posts on decoupling partisan politics from "saving democracy." This one highlights several programs where this is already being done, proving that such decoupling is, indeed possible, and beneficial.

In his Better Conflict Bulletin, Jonathan Stray asks his readers how to stop our serious democratic backsliding. We respond that decoupling partisan politics from "saving democracy" is key.

Another sobering set of articles to highlight the importance of Veteran's day and what it commemorates.

The scale and complexity of society-wide conflicts make them unmanageable with small scale, technical fixes that work with interpersonal disputes. We need large scale complex processes to address such conflicts constructively.

Longtime Israeli/Palestinian peacebuilder talks about living in Israel during the war, some causes and outcomes of the war, and what she hopes for now.

More important readings we want to share.

Constructive confrontation takes the lessons from conflict resolution and peacebuilding and applies them to advocacy. The result is a strategy that is less likely to provoke backlash, and hence is more likely to succeed.

If we are going to succeed at the Great Reframing, we need to reclaim our "information agency" and alter our business-as-usual information feeds.

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."