BI ArticleLimiting Escalation/De-escalation
A summary of strategies to limit escalation as conflicts develop, and to reverse it once it already has occurred.
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Constructive Conflict Guide >
Civic Knowledge and Skills That We All Need to Constructively Handle Intractable Conflict >
Overcoming Hyper-Polarization, Escalation, and the Forces of Disintegration
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BI Article
Limiting Escalation/De-escalation
A summary of strategies to limit escalation as conflicts develop, and to reverse it once it already has occurred.
BI Article
Cooling-Off Periods
Escalation can sometimes be slowed or stopped by calling for a short-term "cooling-off" period during which time all the parties stop engaging and step back to look at the situation and how they might be able to proceed more constructively.
BI Article
Small Scale Reconciliation -- Part 1: De-escalate Destructive Us-versus-Them Confrontations
This is the first of five videos examining the steps that can be taken at the local, small-scale level to help achieve reconciliation.
BI Article
De-escalating Gestures
A de-escalating gesture could be an act of kindness or an attempt to compromise. Although risky and difficult to pull-off, these gestures are necessary for de-escalating a conflict.
BI Article
Confidence-Building Measures
Limiting or reducing the level of fear among parties in conflict is essential for building confidence and a sense of security. Confidence-building measures aim to lessen anxiety and suspicion by making the parties' behavior more predictable.
BI Article
Trust and Trust Building
Trust comes from the understanding that humans are interdependent, that they need each other to survive. Third parties can attempt to use this insight to promote trust between disputing parties.
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Non-Inflammatory Communication
People in conflict often say very inflammatory things that make the conflict worse. But there are ways to explain your core concerns in ways that are respectful and non-accusatory. This helps the other side hear what you are trying to say, and makes it more likely they will respond positively to it.
BI Article
Reversing Polarization and Escalation - Part 1
A discussion of eight things that disputants can do to avoid or reverse destructive escalation and polarization.
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Escalation
Guy Burgess calls escalation "the most dangerous force on the planet" It involves the increase in intensity of a conflict -- the number of parties and issues increases, tactics become heavier, hatred increases, and overall destructiveness generally increases as well.
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Entrenched Escalation
Escalation tends to feed upon itself, becoming so "entrenched," that is very hard to back out of the destructive conflict dynamics it spawns, for fear of appearing weak.
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Overcoming Hyper-Polarization, Escalation, and the Forces of Disintegration
Polarization and escalation tend to make conflicts increasingly intense. But there are a variety of conflict resolution strategies that can help de-polarize and de-escalate conflicts so that they at least do less damage, and at best, might be resolved.
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De-escalators
De-escalators help us diffuse our escalated and hyperpolarized politics by working to replace anger, hostility, us-vs-them demonization, and, sometimes, violence with a willingness to peacefully and constructively engage with the other side.
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Escalation Educators
Escalation Educators expose the dangers posed by conflict escalation and closely linked hyper-polarization, and help people in all walks of life learn the skills needed to avoid escalation and polarization in the first place, and if it is too late for that, reverse it and start to heal its wounds.