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Constructive Conflict Guide >
Intractable Conflict Threat and Opportunity >
The Constructive Conflict Promise: an Engine of Social Learning and Progress
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Envisioning a Future (Almost) Everyone Will Want to Live In
How much could we change if we could just accept the fact that "America belongs to all who live here" and we set about the task, as South Africans did, to figure out how we could make that work for everyone?
BI Article
Envisioning
Envisioning is a process in which people try to see into the future--not only what they expect to happen, but what they would like to happen. In order to attain "peace," people must have an image of what "peace" would look like. Only then can they figure out what they need to do to get there.
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Builds Mutually Supportive Integrative Relationships
The primary reason modern civilization is possible is because humans have become very adept at working together for the common good. If we lose this ability, we are losing much more than friendships -- we will be losing everything we depend on to survive.
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Takes Advantage of Mutually Beneficial Opportunities
Much of the success the democratic societies have historically enjoyed comes from their ability to identify and pursue win-win strategies for dealing with underlying social tensions.
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The Democratic Ideal Is a Constructive and Fair Dispute Handling System
A less widely recognized, but critically important element of successful democratic societies is their ability to wisely, equitably, and efficiently handle the giant stream of disputes that characterize all societies.
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Freedom
The strength of democratic societies (and the quality-of-life enjoyed by their citizens) is largely attributable to their willingness to embrace the full range of human perspectives.
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Wise and Equitable Collaborative Problem-Solving
Successful democracies need to be able to collaboratively solve shared problems in ways that equitably balance competing interests, while also achieving intended objectives.
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Fair and Equitable Distribution of Resources and Opportunities
Given the inequities that have plagued democratic societies in the past, it is critically important that today's democracies find fairer ways of distributing income, wealth, and status.
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Effective Checks on Corruption and Individual Power
To be successful, 21st-century democracies need much more effective mechanisms for combating the tendency of power concentrations to lead to even greater (and more corrupt) power concentrations.
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Effective Anti-Violence Norms and Enforcement
One of the most important functions of democratic systems is to prevent unscrupulous individuals from advancing their interests through violence and intimidation.
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Defenses against Divide and Conquer Attacks
Democratic societies must be able to successfully defend themselves from aggressive authoritarian rivals (including those who try to weaken a democracy's defenses by promoting internal divisions).