Conflict Terminology

Terminology

• Conflict is the pursuit of incompatible goals by different groups; political struggles can be peaceful or violent
• Armed conflict denotes both sides resorting to force, ranging from minor skirmishes to full-scale war
• Violent conflict is similar to armed conflict but includes one-sided violence like genocide
• Contemporary conflict refers to political and violent conflicts in the early 21st century
• Conflict settlement is when an agreement is reached to settle a political conflict, it may be revisited over time
• Conflict containment involves peacekeeping and efforts to limit violence geographically or to terminate it
• Conflict management involves settling and containing violent conflict, with regulation to prevent escalation
• Conflict resolution comprehensively addresses the root causes of conflict to transform behaviors, attitudes, and the structure
• Conflict transformation goes beyond resolution, focusing on deep institutional and cultural changes that address root causes and shift relationships
• Negotiation is the process of parties settling/resolving conflicts through dialogue
• Mediation is a third-party intervention where the mediator facilitates communication/negotiation. It is voluntary, and parties retain control
• Conciliation/facilitation is similar to mediation; an intermediary helps parties move toward negotiations with a minimal role
• Problem-solving involves parties reconceptualizing conflict to find creative, mutually beneficial solutions
• Reconciliation is a longer-term process of overcoming mistrust and hostility
• Peacemaking is aimed at settling armed conflict, encouraging parties to reach a voluntary agreement, often under organizations like the UN
• Peacekeeping involves deploying international armed forces to separate belligerents with tasks like monitoring, policing, and humanitarian support
• Peace-enforcement is imposing a settlement by a powerful third party using force
• Peacebuilding supports peacekeeping/peacemaking, addressing structural issues/long-term relationships to prevent future conflict
• The goal of conflict resolution is not eliminating conflict, but transforming potentially violent conflicts into peaceful, non-violent change

Historical Context of Conflict Studies

• Conflict Studies was previously referred to as Civil War Studies.
• Conflict Resolution aims to transform violent conflicts into non-violent change and it is ongoing
• Conflict resolution began in the 1950s and 1960s during the Cold War, influenced by approaches in industrial relations and mediation
• By the 1980s, conflict resolution was increasingly impactful.
• Conflict Transformation goes beyond dispute resolution, addressing structural and relational causes rooted in unmet human needs
• Focus is on reshaping relationships, altering power dynamics, and changing social, political, and economic structures to prevent recurrence
• Conflict resolvers and transformers are engaged in the same enterprise
• "Conflict resolution" is a broad term with historical roots, recognition, familiarity, and ambiguity
• The Soviet Union's dissolution led to internal, ethnic, secession conflicts, and power struggles in the 1990s
• This reflected fragmentation/breakdown of state structures, economies, and societies versus center of power competition
• Conflict is a universal aspect of human society stemming from differentiation, change, formation, development, and organization
• It becomes overt when parties form and perceive mutually incompatible goals
• Conflict is dynamic, shifting with escalation/de-escalation and shaped by attitudes/behaviors

Destructive and Constructive Approaches

• Destructive conflict should be avoided
• Constructive conflict is essential for human creativity

Evolution Of Conflict Resolution

• Conflict resolution emerged in the 1950s addressing destructive conflicts
• Introduced a broader, more integrative approach
• Multilevel analysis considers individual, interpersonal, intergroup, international, regional, and global levels and their interconnections
• Multidisciplinary approach incorporates politics, international relations, strategic/development studies, and social/individual psychology
• Multicultural perspective requires international cooperation for understanding/designing interventions
• There are Analytical and normative dimensions that combine systematic analysis with transforming conflicts
• There is theoretical and practical integration in which conflict resolution must bridge theory/practice
• Approaches emphasize understanding conflict and developing peaceful transformation strategies
• Conflict is “consensual” conflicts over interests where disputants want the same thing
• “Dissensual” conflict over values where disputants want different things
• Some differentiate "disputes," requiring settlement, from "conflicts," stemming from unmet needs requiring resolution
• "Conflict" is broadened to refer to any situation where parties perceive incompatible goals while considering engagement rules

Causes of Conflict

• Background causes
• Root causes
• Underlying causes
• Structural causes (poverty, ethnic/religious discrimination)
• Explanations are based on generalizations which see poverty and undemocratic regimes often causing conflict
• Conflict is complex with multiple causes
• Issues triggering civil war in one country may not lead to war in another due to different factors like cultural factors
• Theories consider the specific context during development and application

Timeline of International Conflict Phases

• First Phase (Pre-World War I & II) focused on traditional warfare (classical war) and the theories of Clausewitz
• Second Phase (Cold War Era)
  • Shift toward bipolar power structure based on nuclear deterrence
  • Proxy wars existed (e.g., Korea, Vietnam, Afghanistan)
  • There existed politically and ideologically driven conflicts between capitalism (liberalism) and communism
• Decline is seen in interstate wars after World War II
• Role of Propaganda was prevalent
• Key conflicts were the Korean War, the Israeli-Palestinian conflict, and Indian/Pakistani partition
• "What does peace really mean?”
• The Day After film addressed societal issues
• Third Phase (Post-Cold War & Contemporary Conflicts)
  • Emergence of new wars/wars of the third kind/hybrid wars (economic warfare, cyber warfare)
  • Conflicts concerning statehood (Kosovo, Ukraine), governance (regime changes), and status of nations (migration)
  • There are fewer interstate wars, with increases in genocides during the 1990s and 2000s
• Transition seen from PSC to TCN models

Achieving Peace

• Achieved through active participation and openness to political dialogue
• War is a continuation of politics but it can also be seen as the failure of politics (dialogue)

Framework Models

• No universal model can explain all conflict causes
• Models are categorized
  • Internal: Ethnological/anthropological approaches focus on human behaviors and cultural influences
  • Relational: Behavioral sociology/psychology examines interactions between individuals/groups
  • Contextual: Perspectives consider external factors, including Marxist theories emphasizing socio-economic structures and class struggle
• European theories from early modernity perspectives
  • Machiavelli emphasized self-preservation and pursuit of power
  • Hobbes highlighted competition for gain, fear, and insecurity
  • Hume focused on scarcity
• Galtung’s Models of Conflict, Violence, and Peace is a comprehensive framework for understanding the nature of conflict
• The model sees different types of violence and the distinction between negative and positive peace
• His models emphasize the interactions between structure, attitudes, and behaviors, insights into how conflicts emerge, escalate, transform

The Conflict Triangle

• Contradiction is the core issue, perceived goal incompatibility between parties
  • Symmetric conflicts arise from direct clashes of interests
  • Asymmetric conflicts are shaped by power imbalances/inequalities Social values versus social structures
• Attitude concerns the way parties perceive themselves within the conflict
  • Perceptions can be positive/negative
  • Stereotypes, fear, anger, bitterness, and hatred exist in violent conflicts, escalating tensions
• Attitudes have emotive (feelings), cognitive (beliefs), and conative (desires/will) elements Analysts view of subjective aspects
• Behavior are the actions parties take in response to conflict This ranges from cooperation/negotiation to hostility/coercion
• Violent conflicts involve threats, coercion, physical attacks Analysts view structural relationships
• Presence of all three components is needed for a conflict where contradiction without hostile is latent conflict
• That which shifts during escalation such as attitudes/behaviors, makes the conflict manifest
• Conflicts grow, intensify, widen (involving new parties), deepen (becoming entrenched), spread (generating secondary conflicts)
• Complication is a need of addressing all three like contradictions, attitudes, behaviors to achieve transformation.

Understanding Causes of Conflict

• It requires it's underlying causes, military power being insufficient as it only focuses in immediate violence
• Insight into surface manifestations is needed
• Fuelled conflict and long lasting forms is an unaddressed root
• Result of tensions between the U.S. and China with trade inequality

Structural Violence

• Structural violence causes social structures because of inequality and deprivation
• Systemic discrimination happens in discrimination of India's caste system
• ongoing social tensions and cultural violence
• Discrimination happens towards beliefs and legitimizes violence
• Discrimination of populations
• persistence of lying tensions
• Negative peace happens because of persistent tensions and direct violence with the use of positive peace
• Injustice with cultural biases are removed

Different Kinds Of Violence that Sustain and Justify Conflict

• Direct violence (visible) with suffering
• Direct violence ends after behavioral change
• Structural violence is equality
• Structural violence ends with contradictions
• Cultural violence that justifies violence belief
• The change of attitudes with these reactions

Peace Strategies

• Stopping the direct violence with peace building
• Removing structural inequalities ends with peacebuilding
• Changing attitudes fostering reconciliation

Negative Peace

• Absence of direct violence
• Negative terms suggests the negative

Positive Peace

• It ends cultural violence ensuring peace long term
• Just in creating equality

• Conflicts arise against justice
• Paradox justice because some victims use violence
• This means people must be able to do what they want to do
• This all means for not going though violence

A Conflict Escalation and De-Exploration Model

• Dynamic conflict
• Complex proccess
• This model helps by mapping a normail distribution
• Initial differences as small
• These diffenreces can devolup

Emergence Of Original Contradication

• Intercompatibility
• May be a point dispute

Polarization

• Emotional issues

Outbreak for direct violence phases

• Physical acts

De-escalation Stages

• Initial focus on violence hostilities with intervention
• Help find ground
• To achieve sustained bias

The Hourglass Model of Conflict Resolution - Conflict escalation and De-exploration

• It uses conflict transformations and contains in two sides and narrow spaces
• The political spaces
• Can involve states and bottoms-to-top states
• Can use top/bottom structures
• This could be Sudan or Congo

Top Half of the Hourglass

• (Conflict escalation)
• Options and solutions

Bottom Half of Hourglass

• (Conflict De-escalation)
• New oppurtuinites for cooperative skills

Principles

• Contigency different demands
• Contagious

Key Strategies

• Transformation
• Settlements
• Containments
• Past work

The Conflict Tree

• Focuses on effects and causes

Classical Ideas in Conflict Resolution

• Social change and differences
• These can resolve with decisions
• People can be driven with self-interest or can focus in common
• Contending high concern, yielding low
• Avoidance having low conncern about self
• Accomidation
• Mutual gains
• Not only benefits but also a zero-sum
• zero-Sum is what the prisoner did
• For both to be rational as well

Cooperation

• Tit-for-Tat starts this
• Incoentivizes coopereating outcomes with cooperative behavior

Conflict Resolution Strategies

• Larger pie and incentives
• Superordinate goal
• People must be able to move what they want to do
• The problem lies with identifying things the people demand

Third-party Intervention

• Changes dynamics
• Has three faces of a power or faces
• Exchange and integrative power
• Integrative solutions with agreements and help with business

Mediation

• Neutral
• Resolves conflict
• Non-binding
• Mediation with aribtratuin

Arbitration

• Conflict process
• Binding solutions
• Formal

Symmetric and Asymmetric Conflicts

• The issue has relational positions
• Asymmetric conflict is more complex
• Resolving it comes with costs

Transforming Asymmetric Difficulties

 1.   Educaation
 2.   Confrontation
 3. Negotiation
 4. Resolution

New Developments in Conflict Resolution

• Need for a more nuanced transformations
• Recognises what conflict is like and seeks to challenge power

Three Models Include

• The Urey Model
• Lederach Model
• The Multitrack Model

PSC or TMC

• Need for a separate set to to solve

A Framework Model For Explaining Conflict Analysis

• Conflict is analyzed across multiple levels, the goal is not to eliminate, focus is on peaceful relations

Global Sources Of Contemporary Analysis

• Transitioning periods
• Driven the North South Divide, increased weapon capability

Regional Sources

• Shared causes for identity/collapse
• High level of interconncected
• From a state, not necessarily at the local level