Recent BI and Substack Posts

Lorelei Kelly describes the work of the bipartisan Select Committee on the Modernization of Congress which passed 202 recommendations, many unanimously. Over 1/2 have been implemented and most others are in progress.

A rename of our regular "colleague and context links" to highlight how these readings and the activities they describe all fit within our "massively parallel" peace and democracy building framework--or show why it is needed.

People engaged in massively parallel peace and democracy building play at least 50 different roles. In Part 1 of this three part series, we explore the roles played by the "strategizers," or "big thinkers" who help us understand the both nature of the problem and possible responses.

Sometimes it is better to have an argument, rather than stew in silence, and have it with the mindset of wanting to learn more about the other person's truth instead of wanting to 'win'?

Dialogue is great for the few participants, but it simply cannot be scaled up enough to change societal attitudes and behaviors. James Coan and Heidi Burgess discuss alternative ways to scale depolarization work.

Submissions from readers, activities and publications from colleagues, and interesting articles from allied fields about conflict, peace, and democracy.

An exploration of Quincy Wright's image of total war, reasons why it is so much more dangerous than lesser armed conflicts, and mechanisms through which it could quickly spread around the world.

Our usual Sunday link suggestions from readers, together with our compilation of interesting colleague activities, plus news and opinion articles of interest to the conflict field.

Bari Weiss (The Free Press) and Franklin Foer (The Atlantic) reflect on the meaning of the war in Gaza and world response to it, to prospects for the survival of liberal democracy worldwide. The two, they agree, are linked.

A summary of a conversation Bill Froehlich about the work of the Divided Community Project which works to help deeply divided communities come together to prevent, and respond to civic strife.

More readings and videos suggested by readers, along with our weekly pick of colleague activities and important writing from outside our field.

Guy Burgess and Heidi Burgess talked with Ashok Panikkar in a "Live Video Conversation" on February 11, 2024 about peace, peacebuilding, critical thinking, current political events, and how these all fit together.

Our regular weekly suggested readings and watchings.

One positive, optimistic look at what could happen in Israel/Palestine, and others looking at some of the negative forces that are working against such an integrative outcome.

Polarization is destroying our relationships with friends and family. Peter Coleman has a way to fix that -- and possibly fix our society as well.

The conflict resolution professionals' time has come. We need to step up to the plate!

You cannot provide facts, logic, or reasoning when it comes to “sacred values.” So what should one do when one group's "sacred value" calls for the total destruction of another group?

Articles submitted by readers and our choices for interesting and important reading from within the conflict and peacebuilding field and beyond.

Justice has many different meanings. If social justice is to be attained, we need to sit down together an negotiate which of the many meanings of justice we want to pursue--and how.

Links from readers about Israel, Heidi's links from colleagues, and Guy's links from journalists and others in allied fields--all interesting and important reading in our view.

More reader comments and Ashok Panikkar's comments on those comments about the role of peacebuilding, force, and other approaches to the world's current most violent conflicts.

There are no judicial or military solutions to the wars being fought around the world, or on our campuses. Our only choice is to learn to live together by settling, transforming, or transcending our conflicts.

Links from readers and Guy exploring the themes of hyper-polarization, Israel, and related topics from within and beyond the peacebuilding field.

A compilation of readers' thoughts on Israel and identity conflicts in general. We agree--they are intractable--but greatly in need of inspiration and new thinking!

When you recognize uncertainty, you recognize that you may be able to influence the outcomes – you alone or you in concert with a few dozen or several million others.