Newsletter #4

June 8, 2017

This newsletter includes the Frontiers Seminar Unit 3, an Introduction to Complexity and Systems Thinking, which reviews the work of a number of our colleagues who are or were thinking and working in related ways.  This newsletter also includes The Fundamentals Unit 3 on Conflict Parties and the last week's posts from the Additional Resources Blog. 

Frontiers Seminar Unit 3: Introduction to Complexity and "Systems Thinking" - Theoretical Antecedents

1. Developing a Systems/Complexity Paradigm -- This video provides an introductory look at a developing new paradigm for peacebuilding: using systems thinking and complexity analysis to better understand wicked problems and difficult and intractable conflicts. (May 1, 2017) 
2. Dugan's "Nested Theory of Conflict" --  Conflicts exist on many levels at once - seeing these helps you see the conflict system.  (May 2, 2017)
3. Lederach's Pyramid -- Leaders at three levels of society all contribute to peace, but those at the middle-level are often the most effective, explains John Paul Lederach in Building Peace, an early exploration of systems, complexity, and peace. (May 3, 2017)
4. Lederach's Big Picture of Conflict Transformation -- Lederach’s circle of conflict transformation shows how to design change processes that work. (May 4, 2017)
5. Diamond and McDonald's Multi-track Diplomacy -- Diplomats are not just officials, but include 9 different types of people--all contributing towards peacebuilding. These nine tracks together create a synergy that consistutes a "systems approach to peace." (May 5, 2017)
6. Ury's "Third Side" -- How YOU can help transform difficult conflicts! Everyone has a role to play! (May 8, 2017)
7. Coleman's "Five Percent Part 1 -- Peter Coleman says intractable conflicts are by formed powerful “attractors” or seemingly inescapable traps. (May 9, 2017)
8. Coleman's "Five Percent" Part 2 -- Coleman says intractable conflicts can be tamed by 3 steps --learn what they are! (May 10, 2017)
9. Ricigliano's SAT model -- Complex conflicts require complex responses: the SAT and PAL models are linked approaches for doing just that. (May 11, 2017)
10. Hauss's "New Paradigm" -- Intractable conflicts are "wicked problems" that need an entirely new paradigm to deal with says Chip Hauss. (May 15, 2017)

Fundamentals Seminar Unit 3: Conflict Parties

1. First Parties, Third Parties, and Thirdsiders - Everyone can play a role in making conflicts better--or worse! (May 1, 2017)
2. Ury's "Third Side"' - "Third siders" are disputants and outsiders - united in a desire to transform conflicts for the better. (May 2, 2017)
3. Leaders and Leadership - James MacGregor Burns, observed, "Leadership is one of the most observed and least understood phenomena on earth." These resources examine the dynamics between a group and their leader. (May 3, 2017)
4. Lederach's Pyramid - Leaders at 3 levels of society can contribute to peace, but the middle level is often the most effective. (May 4, 2017)
5. Within-Party Differences Not everyone on the “other side” is the same: some are open to compromise and others not. Don't lump them together. (May 5, 2017)
6. "Extremists" and Spoilers - Violent extremism is one of the most difficult challenges our time. We MUST design better ways of preventing it. (May 6, 2017)

Fundamentals Seminar Unit 4: Examining Causes of Intractable Conflicts: Core Factors

1. Core and overlay distinction - The more eight "core factors" are present, the more likely a conflict will become intractable.  Part 1 (May 8, 2017) 
2. Core and Overlays Part 2 - Eleven "complicating factors" obscure the core conflict and make it even more difficult to deal with effectively.  (May 9. 2017)
3. High-Stakes Distributional Issues - When conflicts over who gets what really matter--they are high stakes--they drive intractability. (May 10, 2017)
4. Inequality (Rich/Poor Conflicts) Conflicts between the rich and the poor are intractable in many contexts.  -(May 11, 2017)
5. Moral Conflicts - Moral conflicts often become intractable, as neither side is willing to compromise their deeply-held beliefs. (May 22, 2017)
6. Identity Issues - Identity conflicts often become intractable, but such outcomes are avoidable. (May 31, 2017)
7. Status and power struggles - Social status lies at the core of most of the political conflicts raging today. Read why.  (June 7, 2017)
8. Power -  Why don't more powerful parties always win?  Power is deceptive...the "weak" sometimes have more! (June 8. 2017)
9. Oppression - This intro to a 6-essay series focuses on the causes and impacts of oppression and how it can be overcome. (June 9, 2017)
10. Humiliation - Evelin Lindner calls humiliation the "atom bomb of emotions" because it does such profound damage to relationships. (June 9. 2017)

Recent Posts from the Additional Resources Blog

• The Dumb Politics of Elite Condescension -- The dumb politics of elite condescension--a big part of the reason why the progressive left is so unpopular.  -- 06/07/2017
• The Republican Hypocrisy Hall of Fame -- The "Hypocrisy Hall of Fame," a classic illustration of the difference between reasons and excuses.  -- 06/07/2017
• Connecting the Dots: Political Microtargeting and the Russia Investigation -- More about micro-targeted propaganda, Russia, Cambridge Analytica, and this new kind of interstate conflict.  -- 06/06/2017
• Accenture, Burning Glass and Harvard Business School Identify ‘Middle-Skills’ Jobs Critical to U.S. Competitiveness -- A hopeful exploration of opportunities at the middle skill level that can help us address the "left behind" problem.  -- 06/06/2017
• How to Get Power -- From TED, an article about "How to Get Power" through persuasion and storytelling. -- 06/05/2017
• The GOP May Want to Consider a Bipartisan Obamacare Replacement -- In our polarized environment, an explanation of why the GOP should consider a bipartisan Obamacare replacement. -- 06/05/2017
• The End of History is the Birth of Tragedy -- From Foreign Policy, a reminder that Americans have forgotten that historic tragedies on a global scale are real. -- 06/04/2017
• 8 Ways to Get a Difficult Conversation Back on Track -- From the Harvard Business Review, eight good ideas for getting a difficult conversation back on track -- 06/04/2017
• Donald Trump Poisons the World -- Eloquent challenge to the Trump administration's selfish, amoral, & foolish rejection of the very idea of community -- 06/03/2017
• Could artificial intelligence lead to world peace? -- A surprising and strong argument that artificial intelligence could help us scale up peace building efforts. -- 06/03/2017
• The US Strategy of Annihilation and Humiliation -- A window into Defense Secretary Mattis' strategy for defeating ISIS--annihilation and humiliation! -- 06/02/2017
• Americans’ Attitudes About the News Media Deeply Divided Along Partisan Lines --Documentation of stunning increases in partisan differences about US media credibility--a big part of the problem. -- 05/27/2017
• The Collapse of American Identity -- Provocative essay exploring the collapse of the "We are Americans" identity group -- 05/27/2017
• Republicans Don't Feel Your Pain -- Thomas Edsall's analysis of the latest health care bill documenting the GOP's greed & betrayal of its constituents. -- 05/26/2017
• If It Happened There: Political Chaos as Regime Purges Powerful Security Chief -- The Comey firing edition of the Slate series that reports US events as if they'd happened in another country. -- 05/26/2017
• The Census and Right-Wing Hysteria -- A thoughtful exploration of the complexities of racial identity in light of the debate over the upcoming census. -- 05/25/2017
• The Path of Most Resistance The promise—and perils—of the fight against Trump. -- For anyone who identifies with the "resistance," a thoughtful exploration of its successes, promise, and perils.-- 05/25/2017
• Why Malcolm Gladwell, Seth Godin, Google, and a Harvard Expert Say Colleges and Universities Are Broken They aren't just complai -- A big-name critique of higher education and a plea for more focus on working with people to solve real problems. -- 05/24/2017
• All the Infrastructure a Tyrant Would Need, Courtesy of Bush and Obama -- The US has made itself vulnerable to "devils" in public office by assuming that it will always be led by "angels." --05/24/2017
• 21st-century propaganda: A guide to interpreting and confronting the dark arts of persuasion --Great overview of what everyone ought to know about 21st-century propaganda techniques. --05/23/2017
• If Liberals Hate Him, Then Trump Must be Doing Something Right -- On the right, an important strategic shift from defending Trump to attacking the left as even worse. -- 05/23/2017
• How Capitalism Created "Cool" -- How Capitalism Created Cool, great exploration of neuromarketing & the complexities of human decision-making. -- 05/22/2017
• Fragile States Index 2017: Factionalization and Group Grievance Fuel Rise in Instability -- The 2017 Fragile States Index is out. Surprise, the United States is on the list of deteriorating societies. -- 05/22/2017
• Capitalists are destroying capitalism. They must be stopped -- Review of important new book: "The Limits of the Market, the Pendulum between Government and Market." -- 05/21/2017
• Hack Job: How America Invented Cyberwar -- From Foreign Affairs, an excellent review of two books describing how the United States invented cyber war. -- 05/22/2017
• They hate the US government, and they're multiplying: the terrifying rise of 'sovereign citizens' --Sovereign citizens who hate the US government are a growing threat of right wing terrorism. --05/21/2017
• America's geography of wealth: the shrinking urban middle class visualised -- Nifty graphics of major US urban areas showing the geography of middle-class decline & increasing areas of wealth. -- 05/21/2017

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