You are invited to participate in and contribute to an online discussion of  how those with conflict resolution and peacebuilding expertise can do more to defend liberal democracies while also helping them live up to their ideals.

A Beyond Intractability / Conflict Resolution Quarterly Joint Online Discussion / Blog

Discussion Focus / Framing Articles  

• CRQ Feature Article Framing the Discussion:  Applying conflict resolution insights to the hyper-polarized, society-wide conflicts threatening liberal democracies — Burgess, Burgess, & Kaufman
• CRQ Commentaries on the Feature Article from:  Menkel-Meadow,  Ozawa,  Jordaan
• Secondary (newer) Framing Article: The Key to Revitalizing Liberal Democracy: Think of It As a Conflict Handling System — Burgess & Burgess
• BI/CRQ Discussion Project Origins: The Constructive Conflict Initiative
• More on the Focus of the Discussion

Executive Summaries / Highlights

For those with limited time, here are quick summaries (and links) to some of the discussion's most valuable insights. 

• Executive Summary of CRQ Feature Article: Applying Conflict Resolution Insights to Today's Hyper-Polarized Societies
• Additional summaries to be added.

Invitation to Participate

• CRQ Editor's Invitation
• Beyond Intractability Co-Directors' Invitation (with information about how to join the discussion)
• The Best Way to Follow the Discussion Is by Signing-up for the BI Newsletter 

Discussion Blog

Chronological listing starting with the most recent posts

• Larry Susskind Explains How To Get Highly Distrustful, even Hateful Parties to Work Together -- Those who want to promote dialogue or peace-making among parties who are “at war” are inviting the wrong people to the wrong kind of event in the wrong way.  There are clear alternatives that work, devising seminars being one of them. -- Jul 22
• Allison Pike-Merrell Interviews Nawaz Mohammed, Sri Lanka Country Director, Search for Common Ground -- SFCG country director Nawaz Mohamed talks about his background, how he got into peacebuilding work, and how (and why) he is working for reconciliation in his native Sri Lanka. -- Jun 30
• Larry Susskind in the Negotiation Journal: Initiating Collaboration in the Midst of a Standoff -- Breakthrough Collaboration is different from traditional dispute resolution and dialogue in that it can be initiated on just one side and does not need to bring the parties together. It can create "ripeness" where none exists. -- Jun 29
• Larry Susskind and Shafik Islam on Complexity -- The combination of complexity theory with negotiation theory yields a powerful tool for effective water resources management--and other complex public problems. -- Jun 28
• Chip Hauss: Beyond Polarization -- We’ll counter toxic polarization if and only if we offer people a better and credible alternative that they can put into practice in the lived experience of their daily lives.  -- Jun 28
• Louis Kriesberg: Comments on “Applying conflict resolution insights…” by Burgess, Burgess, and Kaufman -- Lou Kriesberg, co-author with Bruce Dayton of Constructive Conflicts, offers a variety of comments, including his view that "polarization" implies equivalance of responsibility, which is not accurate. -- Jun 27
• Larry Susskind: Consensus Building in the Age of Trump What was it like in the Age of Trump? -- Listening to or caring about "the other side" has become much less common in "the age of Trump," but that just makes the roles of neutrals all the more important. -- Jun 27
• Solon Simmons: Applying Root Narrative Theory to the Republican Party and American Politics -- Only Republicans can save the party from the abyss they have fallen into; the way out involves changing their dominant root narratives that drive their behavior. -- Jun 26
• From Chris Honeyman: Statement of J. Michael Luttig to the United States House Select Committee on the January 6, 2021 Attack on the United -- Luttig asserts that America is at war with itself and if its leaders do not quickly develop the moral courage to make peace, America is doomed. -- Jun 25
• We Must Break the Logic of War Now--Before We Get World War III -- As we embrace every effort to end the tragedy unfolding in Ukraine today, we must seize this moment for what it is: our last best chance to prevent even greater tragedy tomorrow.  -- Apr 17
• Talk with Shamil Idress, CEO of Search for Common Ground -- Heidi Burgess interviews Shamill Idress about his career, Search for Common Ground's work, current challenges facing Search, the peacebuilding field, and the world as a whole--and how we can meet them. -- Apr 16
• Russians Must Accept the Truth. We Failed. -- From one of the many brave Russians who tried, and failed, to stop their countriy from sliding into an authoritarian dystopia, an eloquent reminder of why we have to strengthen liberal democracy. -- Mar 31
• The Ukrainian War: What Happens When You Have a War That Both Sides Absolutely, Positively Can't Afford to Lose? -- The same dynamic that is driving the hyper-polarization crisis in so many countries now threatens to turn the Ukrainian crisis into a truly catastrophic war. -- Mar 30
• Extended Commentary:  Applying Conflict Resolution Insights to Hyper-Polarization: “When Will (We) Ever Learn?” -- We need to focus on our interdependence, the importance of curiousity, humility, "process pluralism," and most importantly widespread education of the polity on better ways of dealing with conflict. -- Mar 29
• See All Posts
• See Earlier (Closely Related) Constructive Conflict Initiative Blog

Supporting, More In-depth Information from Beyond Intractability

In order to support the BI/CRQ discussion, we are starting to assemble supporting materials from the Beyond Intractability Knowledge Base and elsewhere and organize those around the framework explained in the secondary framing article.