Intractable Conflict
INTRACTABLE CONFLICT
OLALEKAN AKINRINADE
BARUCH COLLEGE: COM 4900
INTRACTABLE CONFLICT This paper will discuss the complex nature of intractable conflicts. We see them on the individual level like marital disputes, or longtime rivals. We generally see them between different groups based on ideology, like pro-choice vs. anti-abortion. Historically we have encountered them in disputes and wars between nations, like Israel vs. Palestine, and England vs. Ireland and even he World Wars. Intractable conflicts are common and have persisted through man-kinds history. Some question to be explored here are: * What is “Intractable conflict, its characteristics, and examples? * How or why do they arise? What are the contexts, issues, and relationships involved? * If possible, how can mediators address or intervene in these issues?
Definition of Intractable Conflict
There is no concrete dictionary definition of intractable conflict. However Peter T. Coleman, professor of psychology and education at Columbia University’s Teachers College, describes intractable conflicts in the following way: “When destructive conflicts persist for long periods of time and resist every attempt to resolve them constructively, they can appear to take on a life of their own” (Coleman, 2006, p. 533). Intractable conflicts are sometimes referred to as “protracted social conflict,” a term developed by Edward Azar, former professor and head of Center for International Development and Conflict Management at University of Maryland. According to Azar,“When a group 's identity is threatened or frustrated, intractable conflict is almost inevitable.” Protracted social conflict” as Edward Azar termed it, “denotes hostile interactions between communal groups that are based in deep-seated racial, ethnic, religious and cultural hatreds, and that persist over long periods of time with sporadic outbreaks of violence. (Smith, 2001, p. 308) .
Intractable conflicts are those that prove
OLALEKAN AKINRINADE
BARUCH COLLEGE: COM 4900
INTRACTABLE CONFLICT This paper will discuss the complex nature of intractable conflicts. We see them on the individual level like marital disputes, or longtime rivals. We generally see them between different groups based on ideology, like pro-choice vs. anti-abortion. Historically we have encountered them in disputes and wars between nations, like Israel vs. Palestine, and England vs. Ireland and even he World Wars. Intractable conflicts are common and have persisted through man-kinds history. Some question to be explored here are: * What is “Intractable conflict, its characteristics, and examples? * How or why do they arise? What are the contexts, issues, and relationships involved? * If possible, how can mediators address or intervene in these issues?
Definition of Intractable Conflict
There is no concrete dictionary definition of intractable conflict. However Peter T. Coleman, professor of psychology and education at Columbia University’s Teachers College, describes intractable conflicts in the following way: “When destructive conflicts persist for long periods of time and resist every attempt to resolve them constructively, they can appear to take on a life of their own” (Coleman, 2006, p. 533). Intractable conflicts are sometimes referred to as “protracted social conflict,” a term developed by Edward Azar, former professor and head of Center for International Development and Conflict Management at University of Maryland. According to Azar,“When a group 's identity is threatened or frustrated, intractable conflict is almost inevitable.” Protracted social conflict” as Edward Azar termed it, “denotes hostile interactions between communal groups that are based in deep-seated racial, ethnic, religious and cultural hatreds, and that persist over long periods of time with sporadic outbreaks of violence. (Smith, 2001, p. 308) .
Intractable conflicts are those that prove
References: Burleigh, M. (2007). Sacred causes: The clash of religion and politics from the great war to the war on terror. New York: Harper Collins. Coleman, P. T. (2006). The Handbook of Conflict Resolution (2nd Edition ed.). New York: Jossey-Bass. Fisher, R. (2001). The Failure of Mediation and the Escalation of an Indentity-Based Conflict to an Adversarial Impasse. Journal of Peace Research , 38, 307-326. Kreisberg, L. (2003). Nature of Intractability. In G. Burgess, & H. Burgess, Beyond Intractability: Boulder: Colorado Press. Smith, D. (1997). The Psychocultural Roots of Genocide: Legitimacy and Crisis in Rwanda. American Psychologist , 53, 743-753.