Newsletter # 14 --  May 9, 2018

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Things YOU Can Do To Help Blog

• Seek Co-existence, Not Total Victory -- The demand for total victory is a recipe for continuing and deepening strife--co-existence is essential for peace. -- April 27, 2018
• Minimize the Use of Force -- Exchange and respect are more powerful than force--they persuade without causing backlash. -- April 30, 2018
• Play a "Third Side Role" -- "Third siders" are disputants and outsiders - united in a desire to transform conflicts for the better. -- May 4, 2018

Conflict Frontiers Seminar

• Mari Fitzduff's An Introduction to Neuroscience for the Peacebuilder-Part 1 -- Neuroscience can explain why so many peacebuilding interventions don't work as hoped--and how to do better. -- April 26, 2018
• Mari Fitzduff's An Introduction to Neuroscience for the Peacebuilder-Part 2 -- How can peacebuilders use a knowledge of neuroscience to do their jobs better? We are just beginning to learn. -- April 28, 2018
• Engineering and Medical Troubleshooting -- Complexity-oriented approaches to conflict are more like medicine and less like engineering. -- April 29, 2018
• The Scale Up Problem -- We need to stop thinking in terms of mediation triads, and scale up conflict work to societal levels. -- May 1, 2018
• The Google Traffic Metaphor -- Google traffic and other traffic control activities can teach us a lot about dealing with conflict. -- May 2, 2018
• The Decentralized, "Markets Plus" Metaphor -- Harnessing the power of markets: a strategy for scaling up efforts to deal with complex, intractable conflict. -- May 4, 2018

Conflict Fundamentals Seminar

Unit 4: Core Factors, Continued

• Identity Issues -- Identity has long been identified as a driver of intractability. This essay explains why, and what can be done to address these conflicts. -- April 14, 2018
• Status and power struggles -- Another core driver of intractability--the fight over social status never seems to end, as is discussed in this Fundamentals Post. -- April 15, 2018
• Power -- Power, also, is more complex than it seems. This explains the difference between power sources, power strategies and when to use what. -- April 16, 2018
• Oppression -- Written by well-known conflict scholar Morton Deutsch, the entire series is more relevant today than ever. -- April 18, 2018
• Humiliation -- While commonly used, humiliation is extremely destructive--to its victims, and also, often, to the person or group doing the humiliation as well. -- April 19, 2018

Unit 5: Overlay Factors

• Stereotypes -- Negative stereotypes eem to be flying particularly fast in social media and political discourse these days. The implications are extremely dangerous. -- April 27, 2018
• Enemy Images -- Similar to stereotypes, breaking down enemy images is essential to conflict transformation. -- April 28, 2018
• Cultural and Worldview Frames -- Another kind of framing is explained here, along with its implications for conflict exacerbation and transformation. -- April 29, 2018
• Rational and nonrational decision-making -- This Fundamentals post continues the examination of emotions' role in conflict decision making. -- April 30, 2018
• Psychological Dynamics of Intractable Conflict -- This begins a set of essays by Daniel Bar-Tal, explaining how psychological dynamics can drive group, as well as individual, behavior. -- May 1, 2018
• Ethos of Conflict -- The second Bar-Tal essay exploring group psychological dynamics. -- May 3, 2018
• Siege Mentality -- A third in the Bar-Tal series of group psychological dynamics. -- May 7, 2018
• Delegitimization -- The fourth and last of Bar-Tal's essays exploring group psychological dynamics. -- May 8, 2018
• Victimhood -- Often both sides see themselves as the victim and the other as the aggressor. This essay explores this complicated psychology and its impacts. -- May 9, 2018

Beyond Intractability in Context Blog

• From Foreign Affairs: How Dictators Are Winning the War on Liberal Democracy. The End of the Democratic Century?-- The End of the Democratic Century -- 05/08/2018
• From Foreign Policy, an argument that "Peacekeepers Shouldn’t Always Be Peaceful" if they want to keep the peace. -- Peacekeepers Shouldn’t Always Be Peaceful -- 05/08/2018
• Bill Gates, the threat of a global flu pandemic, and the critical importance of better protecting the Commons. -- What Bill Gates Fears Most -- 05/07/2018
• 2,000 Years of Economic History in One Chart: a reminder of the need to adjust to the declining prominence of the U --2,000 Years of Economic History in One Chart -- 05/07/2018
• The Danger of a Distorted View of the Right: A case study in how the political left often misunderstands the right. -- The Danger of a Distorted View of the Right -- 05/06/2018
• In case you thought the US had a monopoly on high-tech drones: Chinese drones in Yemen. -- How the UAE’s Chinese-Made Drone Is Changing the War in Yemen -- 05/06/2018
• I sure hope this doesn't turn into a left-wing Fox News that drives us even further apart. -- Bernie Sanders Is Quietly Building a Digital Media Empire -- 05/05/2018
• Is the left missing out on the contributions of many of its own thinkers because of political correctness? -- Holding Up a Mirror to the Intellectuals of the Left -- 05/05/2018
• A provocative exploration of the "obsession" that many colleges have with "leadership." Do we all need to be leader --Why Are American Colleges Obsessed With 'Leadership'? -- 05/04/2018
• A look at the "YIMBY" conflicts that have arisen because of ambitious efforts to address the affordable housing cri --The YIMBYs Lost in California. But They're Just Getting Started. -- 05/04/2018
• A cautionary look at the right's reaction to the "resistance's" 24/7 condemnation of Trump and his supporters. --Despite So Much Winning, The Right Feels Like It's Losing -- 05/03/2018
• For those who don't think that things could get worse: "Why Democrats Would Lose the Second Civil War, Too" -- Why Democrats Would Lose the Second Civil War, Too -- 05/03/2018
• Another hopeful story of efforts to revitalize the political center and make a new and better democracy actually wo --The political center is fighting back -- 05/02/2018
• On the Republican side, an detailed explanation of how power has shifted from the "establishment" to the populists. --Meet the New Boss. Actually Quite Different From the Old Boss. -- 05/02/2018
• An argument that, to be successful, the human rights movement must also address the problem of gross inequality --How the Human Rights Movement Failed -- 05/01/2018
• A conservative critique worth considering: "Liberalism Golden Dream"--California should become a model for the nat --Liberalism’s Golden Dream -- 05/01/2018
• An interesting hypothesis worth considering-–the nature of the US Presidency may be at the core of our problems. --The Hardest Job in the World -- 04/30/2018
• Amid our focus on the things that are going wrong in America, a persuasive look at the things that are going right. --The Reinvention of America -- 04/30/2018
• In the "be careful what you wish for" department: "Asia’s Authoritarians Are Big Fans of Regulating Facebook" -- Asia’s Authoritarians Are Big Fans of Regulating Facebook -- 04/29/2018
• A question deserving serious consideration, what's the best way to adapt to the relative decline of US power. --Adapting to American Decline -- 04/29/2018
• A profile of the Syrian tragedy and a look at the staggering destructiveness of catastrophic conflict escalation. -- How Syria Came to This -- 04/28/2018
• The Future of Higher Education: a blend of online and brick-and-mortar classrooms? -- The Future of College Looks Like the Future of Retail -- 04/28/2018
• An example of a truly wicked problem: Moral philosophers see no ethical way of acting in Syria. -- What If There Is No Ethical Way to Act in Syria Now? -- 04/27/2018
• Scarce, unaffordable housing has become a global affliction of the 21st-century city. What can be done? -- The Global Housing Crisis -- 04/27/2018
• From Scientific American, an assessment of the nature of the threat posed by Psychological Weapons of Mass Persuasi -- Psychological Weapons of Mass Persuasion -- 04/26/2018
• A startling idea to contemplate--the possibility that science may be running into the limit of what is knowable. -- Is Science Hitting a Wall?, Part 1 -- 04/26/2018
• A sad commentary on the downsides of ADR and arbitration–-the notion that #metoo sees arbitration as the enemy. -- I Wrote The Uber Memo. This Is How To End Sexual Harassment -- 04/25/2018
• The Myth of 'Learning Styles'--a provocative argument that much of what we thought we knew about learning is wrong.-- The Myth of 'Learning Styles' -- 04/25/2018
• A sobering look at 21st-century information systems: "I Downloaded the Information That Facebook Has on Me. Yikes."-- I Downloaded Information That Facebook Has On Me -- 04/24/2018

BI Newsletters and General Announcements

Every week or so, we will compile posts from the Frontiers Seminar, the Fundamentals Seminar, the Things Everyone Can Do to Help Blog, and the Beyond Intractability in Context Blog into a Newsletter that will be posted here and sent out by email to subscribers. You can sign up to receive your copy on our Newsletter Sign Up Page and find the latest newsletter as well as all past newsletters here on our Newsletter page.

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