M. Shane Smith is a graduate student in the Political Science Department at the University of Colorado, Boulder, and Research Assistant at the University's Conflict Research Consortium.
The Hyper-Polarization Challenge to the Conflict Resolution Field: A Joint BI/CRQ Discussion
BI and the Conflict Resolution Quarterly invite you to participate in an online exploration of what those with conflict and peacebuilding expertise can do to help defend liberal democracies and encourage them live up to their ideals.
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Beyond Intractability
Beyond Intractability
The Intractable Conflict Challenge
Our inability to constructively handle intractable conflict is the most serious, and the most neglected, problem facing humanity. Solving today's tough problems depends upon finding better ways of dealing with these conflicts. More...
Selected Recent BI Posts
Including Hyper-Polarization Posts
- Julia Roig: Where Does Civil Resistance and Social Justice Fit in MPP? -- How do we know when taking a stand is what’s absolutely called for – because we’ve reached the tipping point of uncivil politics/undemocratic behaviors?
- Guy Burgess and Heidi Burgess: Massively Parallel Peacebuilding vs. Massively Parallel Partisanship -- Advocacy plays a key role in Massively Parallel Peacebuilding. But, this role can either be supportive and helpful, or destructive, depending on how it is done.
- Beyond Conflict's Reports on America's Divided Mind and Renewing American Democracy -- Now is our time to re-rebuild our democracy, and it will take all of us, working on multi-faceted solutions at the local, state, and national levels.
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Constructive Conflict Initiative
Join Us in calling for a dramatic expansion of efforts to limit the destructiveness of intractable conflict.
Things You Can Do to Help Ideas
Practical things we can all do to limit the destructive conflicts threatening our future.
Conflict Frontiers
A free, open, online seminar exploring new approaches for addressing difficult and intractable conflicts. Major topic areas include:
Scale, Complexity, & Intractability
Massively Parallel Peacebuilding
Conflict Fundamentals
An look at to the fundamental building blocks of the peace and conflict field covering both “tractable” and intractable conflict.
Beyond Intractability / CRInfo
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BI in Context
Links to thought-provoking articles exploring the larger, societal dimension of intractability.
Colleague Activities
Information about interesting conflict and peacebuilding efforts.