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106 Conflict Resolution Essay Topic Ideas & Examples

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Conflict resolution is an essential skill that plays a crucial role in various aspects of our lives. Whether it is in personal relationships, the workplace, or even on a global scale, conflicts are inevitable. However, it is how we address and resolve these conflicts that determines the outcome and impact they have on our lives and the world around us.

Writing an essay on conflict resolution can provide a deeper understanding of this skill and its significance. To help you get started, here are 106 conflict resolution essay topic ideas and examples:

• The importance of conflict resolution in personal relationships.
• Conflict resolution techniques used in international diplomacy.
• The role of empathy in conflict resolution.
• Conflict resolution strategies for parents and children.
• The impact of unresolved conflicts on mental health.
• Conflict resolution in the workplace: best practices.
• The role of effective communication in resolving conflicts.
• Conflict resolution in multicultural societies.
• The influence of gender on conflict resolution.
• Conflict resolution and negotiation skills in business.
• The role of compromise in resolving conflicts.
• Conflict resolution in online communities.
• The impact of conflict resolution on organizational productivity.
• Conflict resolution and its effect on community building.
• The role of forgiveness in conflict resolution.
• Conflict resolution in educational settings.
• Conflict resolution in the criminal justice system.
• The impact of cultural differences on conflict resolution.
• Conflict resolution in the healthcare industry.
• Conflict resolution in sports teams.
• Conflict resolution and human rights.
• The role of power dynamics in conflict resolution.
• Conflict resolution and social media.
• The impact of conflict resolution on economic development.
• Conflict resolution in environmental disputes.
• Conflict resolution and international cooperation.
• The role of mediation in conflict resolution.
• Conflict resolution in the family business.
• The impact of conflict resolution on personal growth.
• Conflict resolution and social justice.
• Conflict resolution and restorative justice.
• The role of negotiation in conflict resolution.
• Conflict resolution in political campaigns.
• The impact of conflict resolution on romantic relationships.
• Conflict resolution in the classroom.
• Conflict resolution and conflict prevention.
• The role of compromise in international conflicts.
• Conflict resolution and the media.
• Conflict resolution in the digital age.
• The impact of conflict resolution on community engagement.
• Conflict resolution and public policy.
• Conflict resolution and mental health stigma.
• The role of leadership in conflict resolution.
• Conflict resolution in the family court system.
• Conflict resolution and peacebuilding.
• The impact of conflict resolution on employee satisfaction.
• Conflict resolution in the nonprofit sector.
• Conflict resolution and social inequality.
• The role of trust in conflict resolution.
• Conflict resolution in the music industry.
• Conflict resolution in urban planning.
• The impact of conflict resolution on interpersonal relationships.
• Conflict resolution in the military.
• Conflict resolution and workplace diversity.
• The role of emotions in conflict resolution.
• Conflict resolution and environmental conservation.
• Conflict resolution in international trade disputes.
• Conflict resolution and community policing.
• The impact of conflict resolution on team dynamics.
• Conflict resolution in diplomatic negotiations.
• Conflict resolution and conflict transformation.
• The role of dialogue in conflict resolution.
• Conflict resolution and social change.
• Conflict resolution in healthcare teams.
• Conflict resolution and human rights violations.
• The impact of conflict resolution on organizational culture.
• Conflict resolution in online gaming communities.
• Conflict resolution and the justice system.
• The role of compromise in interpersonal conflicts.
• Conflict resolution and urban development.
• Conflict resolution in the tech industry.
• The impact of conflict resolution on workplace communication.
• Conflict resolution and gender equality.
• Conflict resolution in community organizations.
• Conflict resolution and sustainable development.
• The role of active listening in conflict resolution.
• Conflict resolution in international peacekeeping missions.
• Conflict resolution and social entrepreneurship.
• The impact of conflict resolution on employee well-being.
• Conflict resolution in the film industry.
• Conflict resolution and environmental justice.
• The role of negotiation in interpersonal conflicts.
• Conflict resolution in public health emergencies.
• Conflict resolution and poverty reduction.
• Conflict resolution in online dating.
• The impact of conflict resolution on family dynamics.
• Conflict resolution and international human rights law.
• Conflict resolution and workplace ethics.
• The role of compromise in political conflicts.
• Conflict resolution in the fashion industry.
• Conflict resolution and sustainable agriculture.
• Conflict resolution in international aid organizations.
• The impact of conflict resolution on organizational effectiveness.
• Conflict resolution in online marketing campaigns.
• Conflict resolution and racial justice.
• The role of empathy in interpersonal conflicts.
• Conflict resolution in disaster response efforts.
• Conflict resolution and social media activism.
• The impact of conflict resolution on team performance.
• Conflict resolution in international business transactions.
• Conflict resolution and sustainable tourism.
• Conflict resolution in humanitarian interventions.
• The role of compromise in environmental conflicts.
• Conflict resolution and sustainable energy.
• Conflict resolution in international sports competitions.
• The impact of conflict resolution on community empowerment.

These essay topics cover a wide range of areas where conflict resolution plays a significant role. Whether you are interested in personal relationships, international affairs, or social justice, there is a topic that suits your interests. Remember to conduct thorough research and provide examples to support your arguments. Good luck with your essay!

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Managing Conflict Resolution Effectively

How to set boundaries and act assertively in conflict..

Posted January 11, 2024 | Reviewed by Jessica Schrader

• Assertiveness and boundaries are a powerful combination for managing conflict.
• When you are being nonjudgmental and cultivating compassion, collaboration increases.
• Practice active listening to understand your partner while finding common ground.

Conflict resolution is a way for two or more parties to find a peaceful solution to a disagreement among them. When a dispute arises, often the best course of action is assertive communication that resolves the disagreement while maintaining a respectful relationship.

When conflicts are managed constructively, it can help build trust in relationships. Respectfully, directly, and openly discussing opposing perspectives and resolving conflicts collaboratively can create a sense of unity, shared purpose, and mutual respect within the relationship.

Assertiveness and boundaries are essential skills for managing conflict in any situation. Whether it is at work, in your relationships, or in your team, you need to be able to express your feelings, thoughts, needs, and opinions respectfully and confidently.

What is assertive communication?

Assertive communication is a style of communication based on honesty, respect, and confidence . Assertiveness is the ability to express feelings and thoughts openly and to directly defend your rights while respecting the rights of others. It is about taking care of your own needs and wants while considering the needs and wants of others. It is the ability to take responsibility without being controlling. Assertiveness is the balanced space between surrender and aggressiveness. It is not about overpowering or dominating, but rather about finding balance, harmony, and mutual understanding.

Why is assertive communication important for dealing with conflict?

Assertive communication is an essential skill for conflict resolution, as it enables you to express your needs in a respectful manner while also collaboratively resolving your disagreement with your partner. Assertiveness helps build trust and rapport with your partner, empowering your partner while enhancing your self-esteem and confidence. In addition, assertive communication minimizes stress , while ensuring your rights and boundaries are respected.

Assertive communication is important because it ensures that you deliver your points in a constructive way—respectful, clear, direct, and kind. When you communicate in that manner, it will naturally help diffuse the conflict, establish healthy boundaries, and also prevent any issue from escalating.

What are boundaries?

Boundaries are the limits and rules you set for yourself and others in your interactions. They reflect your values, preferences, and expectations and help you define what is acceptable or unacceptable for you. Boundaries help individuals establish limits and protect their emotional and physical well-being. Without boundaries, individuals may not feel safe or secure in their relationships or environments.

Set healthy boundaries

Setting and maintaining healthy boundaries with others is a skill you can learn and practice. To do so, identify your boundaries—what you want and need, what makes you feel comfortable and uncomfortable, and your non-negotiables. Then communicate them clearly, directly, and respectfully to others. Be consistent and firm, but also flexible and open to feedback. If someone crosses or violates your boundaries, let them know how you feel and what you expect. Take action to protect yourself if they persist or disrespect your boundaries. Lastly, respect the boundaries of others. Ask for permission, listen to their cues, and accept their “no” without judgment, pressure, or manipulation.

Integrate assertiveness and boundaries to resolve conflict

Handling conflict with boundaries and assertiveness is not always easy, but it is achievable and beneficial. To do so, identify your state of mind, feelings, and needs, and prepare your statements. Choose an appropriate time and location to have a discussion about the conflict and make sure that both parties are ready and willing to converse. During the talk, objectively focus on the issue rather than the person. Avoid personal attacks, put down, or allegations, and use “I” statements to express your perspective. Stay calm and listen with curiosity to understand your partner while finding common ground. Respect both of your boundaries and rights while being willing to compromise and negotiate. Stay open-minded and make sure you maintain a caring relationship with your partner regardless of conflict and its outcome. Finally, thank the other person for their time and effort, summarizing what you agreed upon, expressing appreciation, and hoping for a stronger relationship and a bright future.

Practice active listening

To identify the source of the conflict, you have to pay attention and listen carefully. To listen actively, make sure you understand your partner and paraphrase the other party's points.

Pay attention to nonverbal signals and use appropriate body language , such as nodding your head, to show interest and to clarify that you're following them.

Listen without interruption to what the other person has to say. Aspire to be objective and clear. Then, ask questions to make sure each side understands what the other person thinks, feels, and wants.

Do that before speaking

Before you communicate, ask yourself the following questions about what you wish to say:

• Is it true?
• Is it kind?
• Is it useful?
• Is it necessary?
• Is it going to land well?
• Is this the right time to say it?

If one of the answers is no, consider not saying it. In these moments, silence is more productive than words. Be patient and once you find the time when the answers to these questions are yes, this is the time to speak.

7 steps for better conflict resolution

• Define the source of the conflict. Take your time to reveal the true needs of each party. The greater knowledge you have about the cause of the problem, the more easily you can resolve it.
• Find a common goal. Make similarities the starting point of finding a creative solution. Be open and curious to continually find common ground throughout the entire conflict resolution process.
• Establish safety. Creative conflict resolution requires that all parties feel safe enough to not only share what they need but to challenge each other's ideas without emotional escalation.
• Recognize your part. Be accountable and objectively assess your share in the conflict. Acknowledge your role in the problem and take responsibility for it.
• Empathize with your partner. Demonstrate to your partner that you understand their side while considering it. When you are being non-judgmental and cultivate compassion the fear of losing diminishes and collaboration increases.
• Review options. Remind yourself of your positive intention and what you want to achieve before you start the discussion. Be creative and discuss possible options while looking for solutions that benefit all parties.
• Discover a win-win solution. This is the ultimate goal—to agree on an option that benefits both sides to some extent. When one party wins and another party loses, the outcome does not resolve the underlying causes of the conflict.

Conflicts and disagreements are unavoidable. It is important to realize that the benefits of conflict resolution extend beyond resolving disagreements, contributing significantly to personal growth, emotional well-being, and healthy relationships.

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• What is Conflict Resolution, and How Does It Work?

How to manage conflict at work through conflict resolution

By Katie Shonk — on April 18th, 2024 / Conflict Resolution

If you work with others, sooner or later you will almost inevitably face the need for conflict resolution. You may need to mediate a dispute between two members of your department. Or you may find yourself angered by something a colleague reportedly said about you in a meeting. Or you may need to engage in conflict resolution with a client over a missed deadline. In organizations, conflict is inevitable, and good conflict management tools are essential.

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What is conflict resolution, and how can you use it to settle disputes in your workplace?

Conflict resolution can be defined as the informal or formal process that two or more parties use to find a peaceful solution to their dispute.

A number of common cognitive and emotional traps, many of them unconscious, can exacerbate conflict and contribute to the need for conflict resolution:

• Self-serving fairness interpretations. Rather than deciding what’s fair from a position of neutrality, we interpret what would be most fair to us, then justify this preference on the bases of fairness. For example, department heads are likely to each think they deserve the lion’s share of the annual budget. Disagreements about what’s fairlead to clashes.

• Overconfidence. We tend to be overconfident in our judgments, a tendency that leads us to unrealistic expectations. Disputants are likely to be overconfident about their odds of winning a lawsuit, for instance, an error that can lead them to shun a negotiated settlement that would save them time and money.

• Escalation of commitment. Whether negotiators are dealing with a labor strike, a merger, or an argument with a colleague, they are likely to irrationally escalate their commitment to their chosen course of action, long after it has proven useful. We desperately try to recoup our past investments in a dispute (such as money spent on legal fees), failing to recognize that such “sunk costs” should play no role in our decisions about the future.

• Conflict avoidance. Because negative emotions cause us discomfort and distress, we may try to tamp them down, hoping that our feelings will dissipate with time. In fact, conflict tends to become more entrenched, and parties have a greater need for conflict resolution when they avoid dealing with their strong emotions.

Given these and other pitfalls, how can you set up a constructive conflict resolution process when dealing with conflict at work and other realms? Conflicts can be resolved in a variety of ways, including negotiation, mediation, arbitration, and litigation.

• Negotiation. In conflict resolution, you can and should draw on the same principles of collaborative negotiation that you use in dealmaking. For example, you should aim to explore the interests underlying parties’ positions, such as a desire to resolve a dispute without attracting negative publicity or to repair a damaged business relationship. In addition, determine your best alternative to a negotiated agreement , or BATNA —what you will do if you fail to reach an agreement, such as finding a new partner or filing a lawsuit. By brainstorming options and looking for tradeoffs across issues, you may be able to negotiate a satisfactory outcome to your dispute without the aid of outside parties.

• Mediation. In mediation, disputants enlist a trained, neutral third party to help them come to a consensus. Rather than imposing a solution, a professional mediator encourages disputants to explore the interests underlying their positions. Working with parties both together and separately, mediators seek to help them discover a resolution that is sustainable, voluntary, and nonbinding.

• Arbitration. In arbitration, which can resemble a court trial, a neutral third party serves as a judge who makes decisions to end the dispute. The arbitrator listens to the arguments and evidence presented by each side, then renders a binding and often confidential decision. Although disputants typically cannot appeal an arbitrator’s decision, they can negotiate most aspects of the arbitration process, including whether lawyers will be present and which standards of evidence will be used.

• Litigation. In civil litigation, a defendant and a plaintiff face off before either a judge or a judge and jury, who weigh the evidence and make a ruling. Information presented in hearings and trials usually enters the public record. Lawyers typically dominate litigation, which often ends in a negotiated settlement during the pretrial period.

In general, it makes sense to start off less-expensive, less-formal conflict resolution procedures, such as negotiation and mediation, before making the larger commitments of money and time that arbitration and litigation often demand. Conflict-resolution training can further enhance your ability to negotiate satisfactory resolutions to your disputes.

What conflict resolution methods have you tried before? Leave us a comment.

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No Responses to “What is Conflict Resolution, and How Does It Work?”

4 responses to “what is conflict resolution, and how does it work”.

Conflict resolution arise due to dispute between two parties involved in any trade , it can be solved with fair negotiation or through Mediator or through arbitrator or through litigation.

Wondful work keep up pls.

Conflict resolution is way of settling misundestanding between two or more bodies on a matter through dialog.

Conflict Resolution can also be defined as a strong will and determination to create solution to a misunderstanding between two or more parties

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Home — Essay Samples — Sociology — Interpersonal Relationship — Conflict Resolution

Essays on Conflict Resolution

Conflict resolution is a crucial skill in both personal and professional relationships. Writing an essay on conflict resolution can help you understand the importance of effective communication and problem-solving in resolving conflicts. It can also help you develop critical thinking and analytical skills as you explore different aspects of conflict resolution.

When choosing a topic for your conflict resolution essay, consider the different types of essays you can write, such as argumentative, cause and effect, opinion, and informative essays. For an argumentative essay, you might explore the effectiveness of different conflict resolution strategies. For a cause and effect essay, you could examine the impact of unresolved conflicts on relationships or organizations. An opinion essay could allow you to share your personal experiences with conflict resolution, while an informative essay could delve into the various theories and approaches to resolving conflicts.

For example, you could write an essay on the importance of active listening in conflict resolution, or the role of empathy in understanding different perspectives. You could also explore the impact of unresolved conflicts on mental health, or the benefits of mediation in resolving disputes.

In an argumentative essay on conflict resolution, you could argue that compromise is the key to resolving conflicts, or that conflict can be a catalyst for positive change. For a cause and effect essay, you could examine the long-term effects of unresolved conflicts on individuals or organizations. In an opinion essay, you could express your views on the best conflict resolution strategies, or share your personal experiences with resolving conflicts. An informative essay could cover topics such as the history of conflict resolution, different conflict resolution models, or the psychology of conflict.

For example, a thesis statement for a conflict resolution essay could be: " Effective communication is essential in resolving conflicts and maintaining healthy relationships. " Another thesis statement could be: " The use of mediation can lead to more sustainable solutions in conflict resolution. "

In the to a conflict resolution essay, you could start by defining what conflict resolution is and why it is important. You could then provide an overview of the topics you will cover in your essay, and end with a strong thesis statement that outlines your main argument.

In the of a conflict resolution essay, you could summarize the key points you have made in your essay and reiterate the importance of effective conflict resolution. You could also suggest possible areas for further research or practical applications of the ideas you have discussed.

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Essays About Conflict: Top 5 Examples and 7 Writing Prompts

Writing about disagreements between two or more groups is a challenge. To help you write this topic, see our examples and prompts for essays about conflict.

Conflict is a clash between two parties, often because of religious, social, or political disagreements. The ongoing war between Russia and Ukraine began in early 2014 and is an example of armed conflict. It affects the citizens, economy, tourism, and other sectors of the two countries, with impacts reaching other areas of the world.

In literature, conflict is an integral part of fictional stories that justifies characters’ actions and keeps readers engaged. Conflict is also a part of our everyday lives; from disagreements with family members to arguments with friends, we’ve all experienced conflict at one time or another. Since conflict is a sensitive topic, a critical rule in writing conflict essays is to always rely on factual evidence.

5 Essay Examples

1. why is conflict important by anonymous on studymoose.com, 2. analysis on conflict perspective in titanic by anonymous on edubirdie.com, 3. conflicts of difference in religion in the middle east by jennifer logan, 4. conflicts in relationship by james taylor, 5. workplace conflict by lindsey latoya, 1. the nature, type, and causes of conflict, 2. how achieving goals promotes intrapersonal conflict, 3. conflicts between nations then and now, 4. karl marx’s theory of conflict, 5. conflict: intrapersonal vs. interpersonal, 6. terrorism, conflict, and the tourism industry, 7. the influence of culture on conflicts.

“… Conflict is a big part of the story and it makes the story interesting. Without conflict, the story seems plain and there’s no flare to get people to want to read it or enjoy it. Some authors use man against himself, man against nature, man against society, and man against man.”

This essay explains why conflict is integral for stories, mentioning that it makes a literary piece exciting enough to maintain the readers’ attention. The author uses Richard Connell’s “ The Most Dangerous Game ” to prove their point and delves into relevant scenes demonstrating different conflicts. For example, the scene where the main character fights against the big waves to reach the island for safety exemplifies the conflict of Man against Nature.

“The film is an excellent example of the perspective of conflict, every scene is thoughtful, and reflects the discrimination and exploitation that the working class society faces.”

The author offers several citations to support their claim that the 1997 Titanic film is more than a romantic tragedy. Putting Rose and Jack’s love story aside, the movie also depicts the differences between social classes that link them to conflict theory. According to the founder of this theory, the leading cause of conflicts is the unequal distribution of power and resources among people.

The essay brings up several film segments that cement these differences, such as the standard rule of “women and children first” when evacuating people during a disaster. Although the tragedy claimed the lives of both lower and upper-class men, the movie conveys an important message that everyone will suffer, regardless of class, in times of calamity.

“The Middle East has been in a state of turmoil since the early 1990’s. Conflicts arose from differences in religion, control over territories, and uneven political distribution. These conflicts were not just between countries, but also within individual countries.”

Although this essay doesn’t reveal the root cause of conflicts in the Middle East, it shows the magnitude of the impact of these fights caused by religious differences, territorial disputes, and political inequality. Logan explains that government instability in the Middle East makes it possible for various terrorist to express their grievances and desires through violence.

“As you start your married life, know that conflicts are a must and communication is the key to solving such issues. When married people see the need to manage interpersonal conflicts rather than ignoring them, their marriage becomes functional and happy.”

Couples usually avoid conflicts in their relationships, but Taylor knows it’s inevitable. A relationship without interpersonal conflict can become weak and often leads to separation. He believes that people who ignore problems to avoid conflicts with their partners develop negative emotions that destroy love. Taylor explains that bringing one’s gender and culture into the conversation is the key to resolving disputes, as it prevents miscommunication and demonstrates equal power.

“By better understanding how conflict arise, and practicing handling such conflict in an assertive way, it can become far less intimidating and be an aspect of work you can learn to manage rather than have it manage you.”

Latoya’s essay focuses on how Chinese people avoid conflicts to promote peace and avoid discord, especially workplace disagreements. She describes workplace conflict as work-related or personal tension between two or more forces with differing values ​​and perspectives.

Latoya mentions three techniques to clear up these issues: stimulating, controlling, and resolving and eliminating disputes. Ultimately, the author believes that every manager must maintain emotional distance and focus on conflict resolution by listening, empathizing, and guiding members who have conflicts.

For help with your essays, check out our round-up of the best essay checkers

7 Prompts for Writing Essays About Conflicts

Conflict is diverse and includes essential features that need to be discussed. For this prompt, focus on the conflict in its universality and explain the four major types of conflict. Identify and explain the causes of various conflict categories. Then, give real-life cases of each so the readers can understand and relate to these examples. You might be interested in these essays about cause and effect and essays about curiosity .

Various factors are considered to find the root cause of conflicts. This prompt focuses on elements that promote intrapersonal conflicts, such as frustration, stress, anxiety, and insecurity. 

Tell your readers about a specific situation where the desire to achieve a goal made you feel various negative emotions. Then share what conflict management style you used to resolve this conflict and peacefully achieve your goals.

Our history is filled with strife between groups rallying to support what they believe is right. Such as the case of World War II, which claimed 35 to 60 million lives. In this essay, write about historical and current conflicts and explain their origins. Then, examine the efforts made by past and present governments to resolve these disputes, including the positive or negative impacts of these conflicts on the world at large.

To give credence to Karl Marx ’s Theory of Conflict, introduce him by speaking about his background and accomplishments. Then, refocus on Conflict Theory’s meaning, importance, and how it’s applied to understand society. Offer studies and cases that prove Conflict Theory’s existence. Then discuss the advantages and disadvantages of using this theory to understand and resolve disagreements.

Intrapersonal conflict refers to disputes within yourself, while interpersonal conflict concerns misunderstandings with others. In your essay, compare and contrast these two types of conflict and present common situations where these would occur. 

For example, interpersonal conflict could be a disagreement with a coworker, whereas intrapersonal conflict could be an internal struggle with your emotions. Then, add tips on how individuals should respond to these conflicts to avoid further damage. You might also like these essays about stress and articles about attitude .

Terrorism is urged by unfair treatment and different beliefs. Tourism is one of the industries most affected when terrorism occurs in a particular area or country. Use this prompt to discuss the typical impacts of terrorism on a location’s travel and tourism industry. Include reliable articles that report on tourism’s decline after the emergence of terrorism and conflicts.

Conflict usually emerges due to cultural differences between individuals or communities. In your essay, speak about how culture plays a vital role in instigating and mitigating conflicts. For example, the American Civil War occurred because of cultural conflicts because of different views on slavery. Look into past cultural conflicts such as these for a compelling historical essay.

If you need help picking your next essay topic, check out our guide on writing an essay about diversity .

Maria Caballero is a freelance writer who has been writing since high school. She believes that to be a writer doesn't only refer to excellent syntax and semantics but also knowing how to weave words together to communicate to any reader effectively.

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Managing Conflict with Humor

Improving emotional intelligence (eq), anger management.

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What is conflict?

Causes of conflict in a relationship, how do you respond to conflict, conflict resolution, stress, and emotions, core skill 1: quick stress relief, core skill 2: emotional awareness, nonverbal communication and conflict resolution, more tips for managing and resolving conflict, conflict resolution skills.

Whatever the cause of disagreements and disputes at home or work, these skills can help you resolve conflict in a constructive way and keep your relationships strong and growing.

Conflict is a normal part of any healthy relationship. After all, two people can’t be expected to agree on everything, all the time. The key is not to fear or try to avoid conflict but to learn how to resolve it in a healthy way.

When conflict is mismanaged, it can cause great harm to a relationship, but when handled in a respectful, positive way, conflict provides an opportunity to strengthen the bond between two people. Whether you’re experiencing conflict at home, work, or school, learning these skills can help you resolve differences in a healthy way and build stronger, more rewarding relationships.

Conflict 101

• A conflict is more than just a disagreement. It is a situation in which one or both parties perceive a threat (whether or not the threat is real).
• Conflicts continue to fester when ignored. Because conflicts involve perceived threats to our well-being and survival, they stay with us until we face and resolve them.
• We respond to conflicts based on our perceptions of the situation, not necessarily to an objective review of the facts. Our perceptions are influenced by our life experiences, culture, values, and beliefs.
• Conflicts trigger strong emotions. If you aren’t comfortable with your emotions or able to manage them in times of stress, you won’t be able to resolve conflict successfully.
• Conflicts are an opportunity for growth. When you’re able to resolve conflict in a relationship, it builds trust. You can feel secure knowing your relationship can survive challenges and disagreements.

Conflict arises from differences, both large and small. It occurs whenever people disagree over their values, motivations, perceptions, ideas, or desires. Sometimes these differences appear trivial, but when a conflict triggers strong feelings, a deep personal need is often at the core of the problem. These needs can range from the need to feel safe and secure or respected and valued, to the need for greater closeness and intimacy.

Think about the opposing needs of a toddler and a parent. The child’s need is to explore, so venturing to the street or the cliff edge meets that need. But the parent’s need is to protect the child’s safety, a need that can only be met by limiting the toddler’s exploration. Since these needs are at odds, conflict arises.

The needs of each party play an important role in the long-term success of a relationship. Each deserves respect and consideration. In personal relationships, a lack of understanding about differing needs can result in distance, arguments, and break-ups. In the workplace, differing needs can result in broken deals, decreased profits, and lost jobs.

[Read: Tips for Building a Healthy Relationship]

When you can recognize conflicting needs and are willing to examine them with compassion and understanding, it can lead to creative problem solving, team building, and stronger relationships.

Speak to a Licensed Therapist

BetterHelp is an online therapy service that matches you to licensed, accredited therapists who can help with depression, anxiety, relationships, and more. Take the assessment and get matched with a therapist in as little as 48 hours.

Do you fear conflict or avoid it at all costs? If your perception of conflict comes from painful memories from early childhood or previous unhealthy relationships, you may expect all disagreements to end badly. You may view conflict as demoralizing, humiliating, or something to fear. If your early life experiences left you feeling powerless or out of control, conflict may even be traumatizing for you.

If you’re afraid of conflict, it can become a self-fulfilling prophecy. When you enter a conflict situation already feeling threatened, it’s tough to deal with the problem at hand in a healthy way. Instead, you’re more likely to either shut down or blow up in anger.

Healthy and unhealthy ways of managing and resolving conflict

Conflict triggers strong emotions and can lead to hurt feelings, disappointment, and discomfort. When handled in an unhealthy manner, it can cause irreparable rifts, resentments, and break-ups. But when conflict is resolved in a healthy way, it increases your understanding of the other person, builds trust, and strengthens your relationships.

If you are out of touch with your feelings or so stressed that you can only pay attention to a limited number of emotions, you won’t be able to understand your own needs. This will make it hard to communicate with others and establish what’s really troubling you. For example, couples often argue about petty differences—the way she hangs the towels, the way he slurps his soup—rather than what is  really bothering them.

The ability to successfully resolve conflict depends on your ability to:

• Manage stress quickly while remaining alert and calm. By staying calm, you can accurately read and interpret verbal and nonverbal communication.
• Control your emotions and behavior. When you’re in control of your emotions, you can communicate your needs without threatening, intimidating, or punishing others.
• Pay attention to the  feelings being expressed as well as the spoken words of others.
• Be aware of and respect differences. By avoiding disrespectful words and actions, you can almost always resolve a problem faster.

To successfully resolve a conflict, you need to learn and practice two core skills:

• Quick stress relief: the ability to quickly relieve stress in the moment.
• Emotional awareness: the ability to remain comfortable enough with your emotions to react in constructive ways, even in the midst of a perceived attack.

Being able to manage and relieve stress in the moment is the key to staying balanced, focused, and in control, no matter what challenges you face. If you don’t know how to stay centered and in control of yourself, you will become overwhelmed in conflict situations and unable to respond in healthy ways.

Psychologist Connie Lillas uses a driving analogy to describe the three most common ways people respond when they’re overwhelmed by stress:

Foot on the gas. An angry or agitated stress response. You’re heated, keyed up, overly emotional, and unable to sit still.

Foot on the brake. A withdrawn or depressed stress response. You shut down, space out, and show very little energy or emotion.

Foot on both gas and brake. A tense and frozen stress response. You “freeze” under pressure and can’t do anything. You look paralyzed, but under the surface you’re extremely agitated.

How stress affects conflict resolution

Stress interferes with the ability to resolve conflict by limiting your ability to:

• Accurately read another person’s body language .
• Hear what someone is really saying.
• Be aware of your own feelings.
• Be in touch with your own, deep-rooted needs.
• Communicate your needs clearly.

Is stress a problem for you?

You may be so used to feeling stressed that you’re not even aware you  are stressed. Stress may pose a problem in your life if you identify with the following:

• You often feel tense or tight somewhere in your body.
• You’re not aware of movement in your chest or stomach when you breathe.
• Conflict absorbs your time and attention.

Learn how to manage stress in the moment

One of the most reliable ways to rapidly reduce stress is by engaging one or more of your senses—sight, sound, taste, smell, touch—or through movement. You could squeeze a stress ball, smell a relaxing scent, taste a soothing cup of tea, or look at a treasured photograph. We all tend to respond differently to sensory input, often depending on how we respond to stress, so take some time to find things that are soothing to you. Read: Quick Stress Relief .

Emotional awareness is the key to understanding yourself and others. If you don’t know how or why you feel a certain way, you won’t be able to communicate effectively or resolve disagreements.

[Read: Improving Emotional Intelligence]

Although knowing your own feelings may sound simple, many people ignore or try to sedate strong emotions like anger, sadness, and fear. Your ability to handle conflict, however, depends on being connected to these feelings. If you’re afraid of strong emotions or if you insist on finding solutions that are strictly rational, your ability to face and resolve differences will be limited.

Why emotional awareness is a key factor in resolving conflict

Emotional awareness—the consciousness of your  moment-to-moment emotional experience—and the ability to manage all of your feelings appropriately, is the basis of a communication process that can resolve conflict.

Emotional awareness helps you to:

• Understand what is really troubling other people
• Understand yourself, including what is really troubling you
• Stay motivated until the conflict is resolved
• Communicate clearly and effectively
• Interest and influence others

Assessing your level of emotional awareness

The following quiz helps you assess your level of emotional awareness. Answer the following questions with:  almost never, occasionally, often, very often, or  almost always . There are no right or wrong responses, only the opportunity to become better acquainted with your emotional responses.

What kind of relationship do you have with your emotions?

• Do you experience feelings that flow, encountering one emotion after another as your experiences change from moment to moment?
• Are your emotions accompanied by physical sensations that you experience in places like your stomach or chest?
• Do you experience distinct feelings and emotions, such as anger, sadness, fear, and joy, which are evident in different facial expressions?
• Can you experience intense feelings that are strong enough to capture both your own attention and that of others?
• Do you pay attention to your emotions? Do they factor into your decision-making?

If any of these experiences are unfamiliar, your emotions may be “turned” down or even off. In either case, you may need help developing your emotional awareness. You can do this by using Helpguide’s free Emotional Intelligence Toolkit.

When people are in the middle of a conflict, the words they use rarely convey the issues at the heart of the problem. But by paying close attention to the other person’s nonverbal signals or “body language,” such as facial expressions, posture, gestures, and tone of voice, you can better understand what the person is really saying. This will allow you to respond in a way that builds trust, and gets to the root of the problem.

[Read: Nonverbal Communication and Body Language]

Your ability to accurately read another person depends on your own emotional awareness. The more aware you are of your own emotions, the easier it will be for you to pick up on the wordless clues that reveal what others are feeling. Think about what you are transmitting to others during conflict, and if what you say matches your body language. If you say “I’m fine,” but you clench your teeth and look away, then your body is clearly signaling you are anything but “fine.” A calm tone of voice, a reassuring touch, or an interested facial expression can go a long way toward relaxing a tense exchange.

You can ensure that the process of managing and resolving conflict is as positive as possible by sticking to the following guidelines:

Listen for what is felt as well as said. When you really listen, you connect more deeply to your own needs and emotions, and to those of other people. Listening also strengthens, informs, and makes it easier for others to hear you when it’s your turn to speak.

Make conflict resolution the priority rather than winning or “being right.” Maintaining and strengthening the relationship, rather than “winning” the argument, should always be your first priority. Be respectful of the other person and their viewpoint.

Focus on the present. If you’re holding on to grudges based on past conflicts, your ability to see the reality of the current situation will be impaired. Rather than looking to the past and assigning blame, focus on what you can do in the here-and-now to solve the problem.

Pick your battles. Conflicts can be draining, so it’s important to consider whether the issue is really worth your time and energy. Maybe you don’t want to surrender a parking space if you’ve been circling for 15 minutes, but if there are dozens of empty spots, arguing over a single space isn’t worth it.

Be willing to forgive. Resolving conflict is impossible if you’re unwilling or unable to forgive others. Resolution lies in releasing the urge to punish, which can serve only to deplete and drain your life.

Know when to let something go. If you can’t come to an agreement, agree to disagree. It takes two people to keep an argument going. If a conflict is going nowhere, you can choose to disengage and move on.

Using humor in conflict resolution

You can avoid many confrontations and resolve arguments and disagreements by communicating in a humorous way . Humor can help you say things that might otherwise be difficult to express without offending someone. However, it’s important that you laugh with the other person, not at them. When humor and play are used to reduce tension and anger, reframe problems, and put the situation into perspective, the conflict can actually become an opportunity for greater connection and intimacy.

More Information

• CR Kit - Covers causes of conflict, different conflict styles, and fair fighting guidelines to help you positively resolve disagreements. (Conflict Resolution Network)
• 12 Skills Summary - A 12-step conflict resolution training kit. (Conflict Resolution Network)
• Effective Communication - The art of listening in conflict resolution. (University of Maryland)
• 10.3 Causes and Outcomes of Conflict – Organizational Behavior . (n.d.). Retrieved May 25, 2022, from Link
• Başoğul, C., & Özgür, G. (2016). Role of Emotional Intelligence in Conflict Management Strategies of Nurses. Asian Nursing Research , 10(3), 228–233. Link
• Corcoran, Kathleen O’Connell, and Brent Mallinckrodt. “Adult Attachment, Self-Efficacy, Perspective Taking, and Conflict Resolution.” Journal of Counseling & Development 78, no. 4 (2000): 473–83. Link
• Yarnell, Lisa M., and Kristin D. Neff. “Self-Compassion, Interpersonal Conflict Resolutions, and Well-Being.” Self and Identity 12, no. 2 (March 1, 2013): 146–59. Link
• Tucker, Corinna Jenkins, Susan M. Mchale, and Ann C. Crouter. “Conflict Resolution: Links with Adolescents’ Family Relationships and Individual Well-Being.” Journal of Family Issues 24, no. 6 (September 1, 2003): 715–36. Link

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15 Reasons Why Conflict Resolution is Important

Conflict resolution is the process of settling disputes and reaching peaceful resolutions. It’s often used in workplace settings when there’s conflict between coworkers, supervisors, or departments, but the skills apply to friendships, family relationships, and romantic relationships. Why is the conflict resolution process important? Here are 15 reasons:

#1. It can be adjusted based on what works best in a situation

According to experts, there are five conflict resolution styles : avoiding, competing, accommodating, comprising, and collaborating. Avoiding, which can involve separating the opposing parties for a time, is a good choice when the situation is heated and everyone needs to cool down. Competing, which deals with conflict directly, can get faster results, but the approach of “my way or the highway” can damage relationships further. The accommodating style is the opposite and means you give in to the other person/group. It can work when a compromise is not possible, the other person is the expert, or when the other person is more invested than you.

Comprising, which is referred to as “lose-lose,” is when each side agrees to compromise and make sacrifices. It can keep the peace, but it often fails to address the deeper issues. The collaborating style takes the most time and effort but may create the best long-term results and best relationships. Every party’s needs are considered and by the end, everyone is satisfied.

#2. Conflict resolution is necessary for many careers

Many jobs focus on conflict resolution, such as legal mediators, arbitrators, and contract negotiators . Within these fields, people specialize in areas like family, education, labor/management, and more. Conflict resolution experts also frequently work as consultants for corporations and other organizations. If an organization isn’t able to resolve a conflict on its own, it may call in an outside meditator. Even if you aren’t focused on conflict resolution, most careers benefit from some conflict resolution skills, especially if you work in management, run your own business, or work with the public.

#3. Poorly-handed conflict can have serious consequences

Whether it’s in the workplace or in your personal life, conflict is inevitable. How it’s handled determines whether the outcome is positive or negative. If people go into a conflict lacking the necessary skills, disagreements quickly sink to blaming, insults, emotional dysregulation, and pain. A workplace can become a tense, stressful environment where people don’t feel respected (or even safe), while personal relationships can fracture beyond repair. While you can’t avoid conflict, you can prepare for it and handle it in a way that’s productive, not destructive.

#4. Conflict resolution teaches active listening

Active listening is one of the most important skills a person can have. In conflict resolution, no style can work if you aren’t actively paying attention to what the person/parties are saying. To listen actively, you need to set aside your assumptions, keep an open mind, respond to a person using their words, and ask clarifying questions. In conversations, especially disagreements, many people fail to really listen and are simply waiting for their turn to speak. With active listening, you’re focused on understanding the other person.

#5. It teaches patience

Resolving conflicts takes time. Ideally, everyone is heard and their wishes are made clear. The more complex a conflict is, the longer it will take. Even relatively simple conflicts can take time if there are a lot of people involved. The collaborating style, which is sometimes called the “win-win” approach, often gives the best results, but it takes the most time. To be successful in this style, you’ll need to be patient.

#6. It teaches you to separate conflict from the people involved

When conflict arises, it’s easy to project negative feelings on others in an unhelpful way. This can quickly turn a conflict into a good vs. evil situation. When this mindset is present, any progress can become derailed. Attention shifts to the people involved and not the actual conflict. People can take things too personally. With conflict resolution, however, one goal is to remain attentive but emotionally neutral if possible. The conflict may be important, but it doesn’t need to hold a deeper meaning about the goodness of the people involved. When you focus on the conflict – not the people – it’s easier to talk to one another and hopefully reach a resolution.

#7. It teaches more open communication

Strong conflict resolution skills don’t stop being relevant when a conflict ends. Skills like active listening, patience, and emotional impartiality continue to matter in relationships where conflict has been present. The parties involved should maintain open communication to ensure everyone is happy with how things are going. If more conflict presents itself, a history of open communication prevents a lot of problems before they escalate. In this way, conflict resolution is also about stopping conflicts from emerging in the place.

#8. It teaches assertiveness

A key part of conflict resolution is clear communication. For many people, communicating is difficult because they have trouble articulating their feelings. They may feel nervous about stating what they want. A conflict resolution setting with a good mediator encourages people to be clear. Assertiveness is valuable and when it’s done well, it can lead to a faster resolution. People who negatively associate “assertive” with “aggressive” will learn how these are different and that being assertive is useful in many situations.

#9. It teaches empathy

Every relationship – whether it’s with a coworker, a romantic partner, or a friend or family member – is improved by empathy. Most people are naturally empathetic to some degree, but empathy is also a skill that can be sharpened. For those wanting to improve their conflict resolution skills, empathy serves as a foundation for active listening, patience, and open communication. When your empathy is strong, you can understand another person’s feelings, connect with them emotionally, and respond appropriately. They will feel heard and respected, which makes resolving a conflict much easier.

#10. Conflict resolution helps you deal with stress

Most people feel very stressed when they’re engaged in conflict. There’s often a sense of helplessness, frustration, or even anger. When no one knows how to navigate the conflict well, the fear of escalation can be significant. In response to this fear, avoidance may become a more frequent temptation even though burying a problem tends to make it worse later. Conflicts are less intimidating and stressful when you have the skills to turn down the temperature. You’ll feel more prepared to engage in conflicts you might have ignored before.

#11. Conflict resolution helps groups reach their goals

In the workplace, conflicts can take a significant toll on productivity. If disputes are ignored or handled badly, things can escalate to the point where they rupture an organization. Employees may lose faith in the organization’s ability to function and they may even quit. To meet its goals and retain employee trust, organizations must embrace conflict resolution. The process takes time away from a project temporarily, but ignoring simmering conflicts leads to a much worse outcome.

#12. Conflict resolution can spark innovations

During a good conflict resolution process, everyone gets a chance to speak their mind. When skills like active listening and patience are present, involved parties are exposed to unique perspectives and new ideas. The group may come up with a new way to solve a problem, which can lead to interesting innovations. When looked at through this lens, conflict is actually a sign that an organization is home to a lot of diversity. If everyone agreed with each other all the time, there wouldn’t be conflict but there also wouldn’t be much innovation. For good things to come from conflict, conflict resolution skills are essential.

#13. Conflict resolution strengthens romantic relationships

According to a survey of almost 1,000 adults , couples who argue are more likely to enjoy a happy relationship compared to couples who avoid difficult topics. How couples argue matters, however. If the individuals lack good communication skills or refuse to listen to their partner’s perspectives, arguing more frequently won’t increase their happiness. Poor communication is one of the biggest reasons why couples break up. For couples with good conflict resolution skills – like active listening, patience, and open communication – working through conflict can strengthen a relationship and make each person feel heard and respected.

#14. Conflict resolution skills are good for kids

When kids encounter conflict, they often respond with strong, confusing emotions. Their reactions can also be confusing, even to themselves. Adults can help kids navigate conflict by teaching them classic conflict resolution skills like taking time to cool down, identifying the root of the conflict, and trying to understand other perspectives. This strengthens a child’s emotional intelligence and ability to maintain social connections with others.

#15. Conflict resolution is important for people in recovery

Conflict is a common trigger for people recovering from addictions. Without the necessary skills or experience navigating conflicts in a healthy way, a difficult situation or argument with a loved one can send a person back into their addiction. Good recovery programs include conflict resolution classes that help people build new skills and strategies for dealing with conflict in their lives. Conflict resolution is also essential for conflicts that arise within a recovery group. Group leaders need excellent skills in this area.

Essay on Resolving Conflicts

Students are often asked to write an essay on Resolving Conflicts in their schools and colleges. And if you’re also looking for the same, we have created 100-word, 250-word, and 500-word essays on the topic.

Let’s take a look…

100 Words Essay on Resolving Conflicts

Understanding conflicts.

Conflicts are disagreements or fights that happen when people have different ideas or feelings. They can happen between friends, family, or even countries. It’s important to know how to resolve conflicts to keep peace and harmony.

Listening Carefully

The first step in resolving conflicts is to listen carefully. Each person should explain their side of the story without being interrupted. By listening, we can understand the other person’s feelings and point of view.

Expressing Feelings

After listening, it’s important to express your feelings. Use “I” statements, like “I feel upset when…” instead of blaming the other person. This helps avoid more fights.

Finding a Solution

Finally, work together to find a solution. Think of different ways to solve the problem and choose the best one. It’s important to find a solution that is fair to everyone. This way, everyone feels happy at the end.

Practice Patience

Resolving conflicts takes time. Be patient and keep a cool head. Remember, it’s not about winning or losing, but about understanding each other and finding peace.

250 Words Essay on Resolving Conflicts

Conflicts or fights are a part of life. They happen when two or more people have different ideas or beliefs. It can occur at home, school, or even on the playground. It’s important to know how to solve these conflicts in a peaceful way.

Steps to Resolve Conflicts

The first step is to calm down. When we are angry, we often say things we don’t mean. So, take deep breaths and count to ten before you speak.

The second step is to understand the problem. What is the conflict about? Why is it happening? It’s important to know the answers to these questions.

The third step is to listen to each other. Each person should have a chance to speak without being interrupted. This helps everyone feel heard and respected.

Creating Solutions

Once everyone has had a chance to speak, it’s time to think of a solution. This should be something that works for everyone. It may take some time and patience, but it’s worth it in the end.

Learning from Conflicts

Conflicts can be hard, but they can also be a chance to learn and grow. They can teach us how to understand others better and how to solve problems in a peaceful way. So, the next time you find yourself in a conflict, remember these steps and try to resolve it in a peaceful way.

In conclusion, resolving conflicts is an important skill that everyone should learn. It helps us live in peace with others and makes our world a better place.

500 Words Essay on Resolving Conflicts

Understanding conflict.

Conflict is a part of life. It happens when people have different views or opinions about something. For instance, you might want to play football, but your friend wants to play basketball. That’s a conflict. It’s not bad or good; it just is. But, it’s important to know how to solve it.

Why is Conflict Resolution Important?

Think about the football and basketball situation. If you can’t solve the conflict, you might stop playing together. That’s not fun, right? So, learning how to solve conflicts helps us keep our relationships healthy. It also helps us feel better. When we solve conflicts, we feel like we’ve achieved something. We feel good about ourselves.

Now, let’s talk about how to solve conflicts. There are five steps to do this.

Step 1: Calm Down

First, you need to calm down. When we’re upset, we can’t think clearly. So, take deep breaths. If you need to, take a break and come back when you’re calm.

Step 2: Understand the Problem

Next, try to understand the problem. What’s the conflict about? Why are you upset? What does the other person want? Once you understand the problem, you can start thinking about how to solve it.

Step 3: Listen to Each Other

This step is very important. You need to listen to each other. Hear what the other person has to say. Try to understand their point of view. This shows respect and helps you understand the problem better.

Step 4: Find a Solution

Now, it’s time to find a solution. Think about different ways to solve the problem. Maybe you can play football today and basketball tomorrow. Or, maybe you can play a game that you both like. The solution should be fair to both of you.

Step 5: Agree on the Solution

Finally, you need to agree on the solution. This means that both of you are happy with it. If one person isn’t happy, then it’s not a good solution. So, keep talking until you find a solution that works for both of you.

Practice Makes Perfect

Resolving conflicts isn’t easy. It takes practice. But, the more you do it, the better you’ll get at it. And remember, it’s okay to ask for help. If you’re having a hard time solving a conflict, talk to a trusted adult. They can give you advice and help you find a solution.

In conclusion, conflict is a part of life. But, knowing how to solve it can make life a lot easier. So, remember these steps the next time you have a conflict. They can help you keep your relationships healthy and make you feel good about yourself.

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3 Ways to Make Conflict Less Destructive

“Do you think you could sum up the essence of all you’ve learned in one sentence?”

That was the question my friend Jim Collins, the famed leadership author, suddenly asked me as we were hiking up a mountain a few years ago.

“You’ve been wandering around the world for the last 45 years,” he continued, “working in some of the world’s toughest conflicts from the Cold War to the Middle East, from strikes to boardroom battles. What can help us in these times of intense conflict?”

I am an anthropologist by training. If I were a Martian anthropologist looking at us now, I would say we live in a time of great paradox. Never before in human evolution have we enjoyed such an abundance of opportunities to solve the world’s problems and live the life we want for ourselves and our children. And yet at the same time, with the rapid changes and disruptions, we face a wave of destructive conflict that’s polarizing every facet of life from family to work to community to our world—and paralyzing our ability to work together.

How do we navigate this stormy time to be able to realize the enormous opportunities we have at hand? 

First, we need to be realistic: we can’t end conflict. Nor should we . In fact, we may actually need more conflict, not less—and by that, I mean the healthy conflict that allows us to engage our differences, grow, and change what needs to be changed. The choice we face is not to get rid of conflict but to transform it from destructive fighting into creative, constructive, collaborative negotiation.

So what do we need to transform our conflicts and navigate these tumultuous times?

Read more: The Science of Getting Along

I would suggest we need three things above all: a clear perspective, a way out, and lots of help from others.

Let’s start with perspective. When it comes to conflict, we are often our own worst enemies. The biggest obstacle to getting what I want is not what I think it is. It is not the difficult person on the other side of the table. It is the person on this side of the table—it is the person I look at in the mirror every morning. It is our natural, very human, very understandable tendency to react—often out of fear and anger. We humans are reaction machines. As writer Ambrose Bearce once quipped, when angry you will make the best speech you will ever regret.

What’s the alternative?

It’s to do the exact opposite and pause for a moment. It is to think about what you really want and how you can get there. Imagine yourself on a stage and then go to the balcony—a place of calm where you can keep your eyes on the prize and see the bigger picture.

In other words, start by stopping.

That sets us up for the next challenge to find a way out . In today’s tough conflicts, we need more than ever to be able to find a way out of the labyrinth of destructive fights.

The other side may be far from cooperative. They dig in and refuse to budge.They pressure, attack, and threaten.  

Their position, their mind, is far away from yours. There is a huge chasm in between where you are and where they are. That chasm is filled with fear, anger, doubt, unmet needs, distrust. Our challenge is to build a bridge over the chasm—not just an ordinary bridge, a golden bridge. In other words, create an attractive way out for them and for you. 

Instead of pushing, do the exact opposite: attract. Instead of making it harder for them, do the exact opposite. Make it easier for them, easier to make the decision you want them to make. Leave your thinking for a moment and start the conversation where their mind is. Listen to them, try to put yourself in their shoes, and figure out their needs and fears so you can address them while advancing your interests, too.

That leads me to the third point: get some help . In today’s tough conflicts, it’s not easy to go to the balcony or build a golden bridge. No matter how good we might be, we are going to need help—and lots of it. 

Here’s the very common mistake we make when things get rough. We reduce the conflict to two sides—it’s us against them, union against management, Democrats against Republicans. What we forget is that in any conflict there is always a third side — the people around us, the friends, family, colleagues, neighbors, allies, and neutrals.

The third side constitutes a huge untapped potential resource for transforming the conflict. It is like a container within which even the hardest conflicts can begin to give way to dialogue and negotiation. The surrounding community can help calm the people who are fighting. It can bring the parties together and help them communicate and understand each other better. It can help them explore a way out, a golden bridge.

When the conflict is really hard, we may need a kind of community intervention. I call this a “swarm ” —a critical mass of persuasive influence and assistance—that can help the parties find a way through their difficulties. We need to mobilize the third side—the surrounding community—and build a winning coalition for agreement.

After all these decades working in tough conflicts and wars, people often ask me: are you an optimist or a pessimist? I like to answer that I am actually a “possibilist.” I believe in our human potential to transform even the toughest conflicts from destructive fights into creative negotiations. I believe it because I’ve seen it happen with my own eyes—in coal strikes, bitter boardroom battles, family feuds, and wars around the world. I’ve watched people unlock their hidden human potential and make the seemingly impossible become possible.

Where there are obstacles, possibilists look for opportunities. It is a change in mindset.

Possibilists aren’t blind to the dark side of human nature. To be a possibilist means to look at the negative possibilities too, but then to use that perspective to motivate us to look for the positive possibilities that avert the worst and bring about the possible.

I have seen how conflict can bring out the worst in us, but it can also bring out the best.

So what was the single summary sentence I offered Jim on that memorable mountain hike? “The path to possible is to go to the balcony, build a golden bridge, and engage the third side.” 

No conflict, however difficult, is impossible. Conflicts are, after all, made by humans so they can be solved by humans. And if we can transform our conflicts, we can transform our lives. We can transform our world.

That is my dream.

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Article contents

Conflict analysis and resolution as a field: core concepts and issues.

• Louis Kriesberg Louis Kriesberg Maxwell School of Citizenship and Public Affairs, Syracuse University
•  and  Joyce Neu Joyce Neu Facilitating Peace
• https://doi.org/10.1093/acrefore/9780190846626.013.512
• Published online: 20 November 2018

Core concepts of the interdisciplinary social science field of conflict analysis and resolution (CAR) are discussed. Work in the field is based on numerous generally accepted ideas about the nature of conflict and constructive approaches to conflict. These ideas include ways of waging conflicts constructively, tracing the interconnectedness of conflicts, and assessing the multiplicity of actors. Other important core concepts relate to stages of conflicts: emergence, escalation, de-escalation and settlement, and sustaining peace. Finally, current and future issues regarding CAR conceptualizations and their applications are examined.

• conflict management
• constructive conflicts
• de-escalation
• future work
• interaction
• interconnected conflict
• nonviolent struggle
• normative concerns
• stages of conflict

Introduction *

This article addresses core concepts of the interdisciplinary social science field of conflict analysis and resolution (CAR), primarily in terms of ideas, as expressed in the literature, about the ways in which conflicts can be done constructively. In focusing on the ideas that constitute the field, it looks at relevant theory and research, treating CAR as an interdisciplinary social science field, particularly as it relates to international relations. Additionally, it considers some relatively prescriptive writing when it derives from a degree of empirical evidence. Significantly, peace studies is one of the sources for the field, and it now overlaps with and contributes to the field (Kriesberg, 1991 ). Peace studies work helps to foster normative concerns about the goals sought in waging conflicts and the strategies for reaching them.

The contemporary CAR approach builds on academic research and theorizing, as well as on traditional and innovative practices. Scholars of the approach share a number of generally accepted ideas about the nature of conflicts and constructive approaches to resolving them. These ideas provide the foundation for analyzing conflicts, finding ways of waging conflicts constructively, tracing the interconnectedness of conflicts, and assessing the multiplicity of actors. The CAR approach tends to rely minimally, if at all, on the use of violence in waging and settling conflicts. It also tends to emphasize the role of external intermediaries in the ending of conflicts and in conflict processes that generate solutions yielding some mutual gains for the opposing sides. Another important foundational concept is stages of conflicts: emergence, escalation, de-escalation and settlement, and sustaining peace.

As CAR evolves, workers in the field debate the salience of various ideas and even the meaning of basic concepts in the field. This engagement has led to increased contributions to the CAR literature by scholar-practitioners. These contributions offer a view based on experiencing the realities of various conflicts. This section discusses these ideas and realities, noting some contemporary variations in their interpretation (Bercovitch, Kremenyuk, & Zartman, 2009 ; Coleman, Deutsch, & Marcus, 2014 ; Sandole, Byrne, Sandole-Staroste, & Senehi, 2009 ; see also the companion article by Neu and Kriesberg, “Conflict Analysis and Resolution: Development of the Field of Scholarship (forthcoming),” in this encyclopedia.)

This article has three main sections. The first, “ Constructive Approaches to Conflict ,” explores the generally accepted ideas about the nature of conflict and about constructive approaches to conflict and how they play out in the scholarship on analyzing conflicts, finding ways of waging conflicts constructively, tracing the interconnectedness of conflicts, and assessing the multiplicity of actors. The second, “Conflict Stages,” addresses stages of conflicts: emergence, escalation, de-escalation and settlement, and sustaining peace. The third, “Current and Future Issues,” discusses concepts that are likely to become more controversial as the social-political context becomes less supportive of the CAR approach.

Constructive Approaches to Conflict

There is general consensus within the conflict analysis and resolution (CAR) community on some core ideas about social conflicts. First, social conflicts are universal and potentially beneficial, providing opportunities to achieve desired change. Second, social conflicts are waged with different degrees of destructiveness, and the parties in conflict determine how constructively or destructively they will conduct the conflict. Third, social conflicts entail contested social constructions; each party has its own view of what the fighting is about and who its opponents are. Fourth, social conflicts can be transformed; no matter how entrenched the conflict, outside actors or the parties themselves can take positive steps to move toward peaceful transformation. Fifth, social conflicts are dynamic and tend to move through stages; these stages reflect the constantly changing nature of the conflict and therefore may not always be linear (Kriesberg & Dayton, 2017 ).

Social constructions . Each party interprets its own and its adversaries’ identities, as well as which issues are at stake, from its own vantage point. Differences between parties’ interpretations, therefore, often are contentious.

Heterogeneity of adversaries . Within each party, there are different interests and goals—notably, among and between its leaders and their constituencies others. As relationships within the party change, a shift in the direction of the conflict may be feasible.

Variety of inducements in waging conflict . These include coercive sanctions to force change, positive inducements to reward constructive change, and the use of persuasion to appeal to the other’s best interests and values.

Interconnectedness . Conflicts are interrelated and overlap in time and social space. A conflict is not a closed system and so may be amenable to the intervention of external intermediaries who can help transform the conflict.

Consideration of others . Establishing long-term legitimate relations among adversaries by considering the opponents’ concerns and interests as well as the long-term interests of their own people may be the most difficult challenge for everyone, but it often brings mutual benefits (Kriesberg, 2015 ).

Mediation . Third-party intervention to assist de-escalation and negotiations among adversaries can help to transform and settle conflicts.

Dynamism . Conflicts move through stages during which parties can act with greater or lesser constructiveness to advance positive conflict transformation.

Analyzing Conflicts

There is long-standing general agreement that the initial step in engaging in or studying a conflict is to analyze it (Schirch, 2013 ; U.S. Department of State, 2008 ; Wehr 1979 ). This includes identifying the parties in the conflict and the issues in contention, as the parties perceive them. In any large-scale conflict, each party is highly differentiated, and there will be some variation among different groups within each entity, even regarding what is in contention. Moreover, many other parties have an indirect interest in the conflict and are affected by its course, and they therefore may become directly engaged in the conflict or withdraw from engagement in the future. Thus, the parties and intermediaries in a conflict are likely to be affected by both the possible and the actual interventions of external actors. All parties ought to reflectively analyze a conflict before acting in it.

The perspectives of the analysts influence their analyses. Generally, people who are engaged in a conflict, whether as partisans or as interveners, tend to focus on the explicit positions of the parties in the conflict and how they are acting in the conflict. Those who are less directly engaged tend to place more emphasis on the structure of the relationship among the adversaries and the social context of the conflict. The former kinds of analyses tend to emphasize factors that are amenable to change in the short term; the latter kinds of analyses tend to emphasize structural factors that are less malleable in the short term.

The methods of engagement that people employ influence their analyses. Those who rely heavily on military methods often tend to see conflict as framed by military force; whereas CAR practitioners, who engage in training, workshops, and dialogue work, may emphasize the role of opposing narratives and misunderstandings when analyzing conflicts. Theoretical and ideological inclinations also influence analyses. Greater recognition of these different circumstances may help foster more comprehensive analyses and better synthesizing and sequencing of strategies.

Asymmetry between adversaries in a conflict greatly affects the course the conflict and how it is waged and ended. Members of the CAR field stress the multidimensional character of asymmetry and its fluidity, since they vary with different issues (Mitchell, 1995 ). Reducing certain asymmetries, then, is not necessarily conducive to transforming a conflict and settling it constructively. That depends in good measure on the direction in which a particular asymmetry is reduced. Thus, if one side has greater solidarity and cohesion than the other, asymmetry that is reduced by increasing the other side’s ability to effectively change policies would be conducive to mutual conflict transformation. By the same token, if one side has greater commitment to the issue in contention, asymmetry that is reduced by that side softening its unyielding position would be conducive to bringing about a mutually acceptable conflict transformation.

The changing character of power differences and other kinds of asymmetry are crucial in choosing the appropriate interventions. For example, if equitable accommodations are sought, certain kinds of mediation may not be advisable when the asymmetry in resources between the adversaries is very great.

Recognizing the complexity of this kind of conflict analysis, CAR scholars have produced a broad array of frameworks for conflict analysis (Fund for Peace, 2014 ; Goodhand, Vaux, & Walker, 2002 ; Mason & Rychard, 2005 ; Samarasinghe, Donaldson, & McGinn, 2001 ; U.S. Department of State, 2008 ), together with more in-depth examinations of conflict analyses (Levinger, 2013 ; Schirch, 2013 ).

Methods of Waging Conflicts

A cardinal tenet of CAR is that social conflicts are inevitable and often necessary to improve peoples’ rights. The critical matter in this regard is the way the conflict is conducted and the methods each adversary applies. Conflicts are commonly defined as struggles in which each side tries to hurt the other to advance toward its goals. A basic CAR insight, however, is that efforts to achieve a contested goal are not only coercive, involving only negative sanctions (Boulding, 1989 ; Kriesberg, & Dayton, 2017 ). Positive sanctions can be a second powerful kind of inducement to obtain desired goals. A third kind of inducement is to use persuasive appeals and arguments, relying on shared values and identities. These three kinds of inducements are combined in many ways to constitute a particular strategy at a given time.

Interestingly, this idea has been articulated by leading public figures who are not identified as practitioners in the CAR field. Joseph S. Nye ( 2004 ), for example, has influentially written about the importance of “soft power” in world politics, referring to the many noncoercive inducements that the United States can and does effectively deploy in foreign affairs. Armitage and Nye ( 2007 ) further elaborated on combining “soft power” and “hard power,” particularly military power, which would constitute “smart power.” Hillary Clinton, at her January 2009 confirmation hearings for secretary of state, spoke clearly about the importance of using smart power and not relying solely on military power.

As the field has expanded to address how adversaries may be brought to the negotiating table, more thought has been given to noncoercive inducements and also to applying coercive force that tends to avoid destructive escalation. One strategic method that has been increasingly examined and employed is nonviolent action (Chenoweth & Stephan, 2011 ; Schock, 2005 ; Sharp, 2005 ). Imposing nonviolent sanctions can avoid dehumanizing the enemy and holds out the promise of future mutual benefits.

Interconnectedness of Conflicts

One important reason for conflict fluidity is that each conflict is interconnected with many others (Dahrendorf, 1959 ). Many conflicts are nested in larger conflicts and also encompass smaller ones. Conflicts are generally also linked sequentially, each arising from a previous one. And each party in a large-scale conflict experiences numerous internal conflicts that arise among different factions, ranks, and identity groups (Colaresi, 2005 ). Furthermore, each party is simultaneously engaged in numerous conflicts with a variety of adversaries.

As the salience of one conflict increases, it tends to reduce the salience of the other conflicts. Enemy number one may slip to being enemy number two, making de-escalation in that secondary conflict easier and likelier. Partisans and intermediaries may choose strategies that are intended to alter the salience of a conflict and speed its peaceful resolution.

Multiplicity of Actors

Workers in the CAR field are sensitive to the reality that conflicts are rarely between two homogeneous, unitary entities. Rather, many parties are involved directly or indirectly in every conflict (Crocker, Hampson, & Aall, 1999 ; Touval & Zartman, 2001 ). Even when there appear to be only two sides, in actuality, each side has some characteristics of a coalition. Divisions among the members of each party in a conflict, particularly among leaders and other groups, significantly affect the course of a conflict. External conflict can strengthen internal solidarity, but not always and not forever (Wilkenfeld, 1973 ).

As a conflict de-escalates and moves toward resolution, some factions or allied groups may resist the movement or even reject a signed agreement. They are spoilers, unsatisfied with the terms of the accommodation with the adversary or with their portion in that accommodation (Goren & Elman, 2012 ; Stedman, Rothchild, & Cousens, 2002 ). The parties making the agreement then may try to placate and co-opt the rejectionists or to isolate, marginalize, and overwhelm them. If the parties have not dealt with their spoilers by the time the peace talks begin, then it falls to the third party to decide the best course of action for the talks—either talking to the spoilers or sidelining them. In varying degrees, spoilers are a widespread phenomenon. Attention to them is often critical in undertaking de-escalation and in constructing and sustaining an equitable accommodation.

Actors who are not directly engaged in a conflict can also affect its course (Ury, 2000 ). They are potential or actual intermediaries, allies, and antagonists. The actions of those who are directly engaged in a conflict are affected by concerns about the potential interventions of external actors. In the CAR field, the possible effects of a mediator in facilitating and hastening a negotiated end to a conflict is a major topic of study.

The demand for official Track I mediation to resolve armed conflict has increased and with it, the number of organizations and individuals interested in meeting this demand. There are multiple mediators in peace processes, who may have different skill levels, understandings of the conflict and parties, and conflicting interests. This may allow the parties to play one mediator off the other to the detriment of the process. One idea to minimize competition between potential mediating organizations was suggested by the African Union: to have the most local of the intergovernmental organizations take the lead mediation role (de Coning, 2015 ; Nathan, 2016b ). But considering the meager organizational resources of many regional and subregional organizations, this is not a plausible solution. Nathan ( 2016b ) has suggested that partnerships at the decision-making level of intergovernmental organizations would be more powerful in securing cooperation and coordination in peace processes. Recognizing the problem of multiple mediators, the United Nations issued guidelines emphasizing the critical need for “coherence, coordination and complementarity of mediation efforts” (United Nations, 2012 ).

Other international actors take part in peace processes as “friends of” the mediation or as interested states. They may not be directly involved in the talks, but they can have a positive influence if they support the goals of the peace process (Whitfield, 2010 ). Finally, representatives of civil society, women, and youth from the conflict areas will be present as participants in the talks, observers, or advisers to the parties or the mediation team or both.

Conflict Stages

A central tenet of the CAR approach is that conflicts are not immutable and that even highly intractable conflicts decline in intractability as policies and circumstances change. This happens as conditions change within the adversaries, in their relationships, and in their social contexts. This understanding is manifested in the recognition that conflicts move through a series of general stages. There is little consensus about the names for the stages, but they may be identified by terms such as emergence , escalation , de-escalation , termination , and recovery (Kriesberg, 1982 ; Pruitt & Rubin, 1986 ). In 1992 , the UN secretary-general, Boutros-Ghali, issued his “Agenda for Peace,” bringing attention to the different phases of peacemaking and peacebuilding (Boutros-Ghali, 1992 ). The stages are not clearly bounded or always linear; past stages may recur. Furthermore, groups engaged in the conflict may not participate at the same pace in all the stages. Nevertheless, it is analytically useful to distinguish between the different stages to highlight the relevant CAR factors and processes at each stage.

The field of CAR initially focused on negotiating the end of conflicts, sometimes using mediation. Soon, concern about the prior and later stages of the conflict increased. Greater attention was directed at getting adversaries to the negotiating table and on the quality and sustainability of agreements that are reached. With the increase in outside intervention in internal societal wars and attention to nonstate actors, the field expanded to include giving greater attention to preventing the outbreak of warfare and to recovering from past violent outbreaks. The field presently incorporates the full range of conflict stages, and practitioners often specialize in particular stages of conflict. The ideas and practices that are particularly important at each stage are discussed next.

Conflict Emergence

Conflict emergence draws attention to the underlying conditions that precede an overt conflict. Thus the conditions of structural violence, of unsatisfied human needs, and of exploitation are often pointed to as crucial in characterizing a latent conflict preceding the outbreak of a manifest conflict (Burton, 1990 ; Dahrendorf, 1959 ). In actuality, conflicts often break out not because of the actions of the most oppressed, but because of the actions of the more powerful. The oppressed may have reason to fight, but they often do not believe that some particular group is responsible for their poor circumstances or that they can change those others in a way that will improve their conditions. The more powerful, however, have reason to believe that they can readily get more of what they want from the weaker party. Acting on this belief, they may provoke resistance and a violent conflict.

Adversaries’ beliefs about collective identities, the perceived capabilities of each side, judgments about what is fair and just, and the chance of achieving sought-for goals determine if and when a conflict becomes manifested in deeds. This is why the ideologies that are constructed and adopted by members of a collectivity are critical in conflict emergence. Political, religious, military, and intellectual leaders can utilize a suitable ideology to arouse and mobilize supporters against an enemy and influence the means to be used in the struggle against that enemy. This also is highly relevant for conflicts that stress ethnic differences or differences in religious or political systems of thought.

Conflict Escalation

How a conflict emerges influences how quickly and destructively it escalates. Often, a burst of violence at the initial manifestation of a conflict results in a rapid and sustained escalation, which can entrap the adversaries, who will want to keep fighting in order to justify the losses they have already experienced (Brockner & Rubin, 1985 ). A careful, proportional, tit-for-tat series of exchanges, however, can often contain the scale of the escalation and result in cooperation (Axelrod, 1984 ). The way adversaries interact is the basic determinant of the duration and destructiveness of a conflict’s escalation (Dayton & Kriesberg, 2009 ). Attention to the growing role of nonviolent action and to transforming feelings and thought via social media has increased attention about constructive escalation (Kriesberg & Dayton, 2017 ).

External interventions, often in the form of mediation and consultation by, for example, representatives of the Organization for Security and Co-operation in Europe and other international governmental organizations, helped prevent destructive escalation in Eastern Europe after the dissolution of the Soviet Union (McMahon, 2007 ; Möller, 2006 ). External actions or the threat of them can also help to contain a conflict, inhibiting wide-ranging violent attacks. They can also help channel the means of the struggle to electoral politics or nonviolent actions. Unofficial Track Two conflict resolution training and the facilitation of workshops can contribute to such channeling.

Conflict De-escalation and Settlement

Before the emergence of the CAR approach, research and theorizing about de-escalation were relatively neglected topics. Now there is considerable work on the factors and processes that contribute to de-escalation, conflict settlement, and, particularly, negotiating agreements.

Processes and factors that are internal to each adversary, pertain to their relationships, and are components of the external context can contribute to turning an escalating conflict around. Internally, some groups come to believe that the burdens of continuing to fight to achieve some contested goals are costlier than those goals are worth. The relationship between adversaries may change as conciliatory gestures by one side are convincingly made (Mitchell, 2000 ). Changes in the global system’s power relations or salient norms can help shift a conflict toward de-escalation.

The transition from confrontation to de-escalation is a matter of great interest in the field. The idea that a turning point is reached when the adversaries are locked in a hurting stalemate is an influential one (Touval & Zartman, 1985 ). Indeed, members of the opposing sides often come to believe that neither side can impose the settlement it would like, and they begin to search for a settlement they can accept. The discovery or construction of a new option may then appear highly attractive. An interplay between the conflict conditions at a given time and the possible new options marks the suitable time for a particular solution to be proposed and accepted.

Sustaining Peace

There has been a growing literature since the 1990s about the content of peace agreements, recovering from violent societal conflicts, reconciliation, building legitimate institutions of governance, and other matters pertinent to fashioning an enduring and equitable peace (Bar-Siman-Tov, 2003 ; Pouligny, Chesterman, & Schnabel, 2007 ). Peace agreements are difficult to obtain and to sustain. Of 121 armed conflicts between 1990 and 2005 , only one third were concluded by peace agreements (Harbom, Hogbladh, & Wallensteen, 2006 ). Yet since the 1990s, negotiated settlements have become the preferred way to end wars (DeRouen et al., 2010 ).

Walter ( 2002 ) defines the success of a peace agreement in terms of duration: if there is no violence for at least five years after the agreement is signed and the parties make efforts to implement the terms of the agreement, then it is successful. Hampson ( 1996 ) suggests that a “partial success” would be when the parties observe the terms of the agreement they have signed. A more complete success would entail putting in place structures and institutions that discourage the parties from going back to war. Westendorf ( 2015 ) posits that a minimalist view of success would be physical security and the absence of war—that is, a negative peace. A maximalist view would be establishing a positive peace—which would require a deeper and longer term commitment to making the changes needed to establish conditions that are popularly viewed as equitable and legitimate institutions that can address potential conflicts.

Durable peace agreements are characterized by (a) adequate state capacity to implement the agreement (DeRouen et al., 2010 ), (b) third-party intervention during the peace process and post-agreement implementation (DeRouen et al., 2010 ; Hampson 1996 ; Walter 2002 ), (c) inclusion of a mechanism that foresees and addresses problems that may arise during implementation; and (d) participation of civil society and women in the peace process and in post-agreement implementation (Nilsson, 2012 ; O’Reilly, Ó Súilleabháin, & Paffenholz, 2015 ; Wanis-St. John & Kew, 2008 ).

Some of the reasons given for the fragility of peace are that civil society is not always in a position to provide the space and resources for peacemaking, that ongoing violence is socially and politically destabilizing, and that most peace processes have a narrow focus on governance reform (Brewer, 2010 , p. 30).

Current and Future Issues

Given the diversity of CAR’s sources, the changing topics of inquiry, and the increasing domains of work, it is to be expected that many contentious issues are currently matters of disagreement and dialogue. Consideration of seven such matters follows.

Universal or Cultural

An enduring controversy relates to the universality of particular ideas in the CAR approach. As in the case of conflict emergence, some in the field emphasize a particular set of universal human needs, which, when unsatisfied, result in conflicts. Others stress that ways of negotiating, forms of mediation, styles of confrontation, and many other aspects of conducting and settling conflicts vary among different national cultures, religious traditions, social classes, gender, and many other social groupings (Abu-Nimer, 2003 ; Cohen, 1997 ; Faure, 2005 ). Moreover, within each of these groups are subgroupings and personal variations. The differences between groups are matters of central tendencies, and there is a great overlapping of similarities. More needs to be known about the effects of situational as well as cultural effects and about the ease with which people learn new ways of contending and settling fights. The UN declarations and conventions on human rights offer CAR analysts and practitioners standards that can guide CAR practice and yield equitable and enduring settlements (Hayner, 2009 ).

Discipline or General Approach

A major internal issue in the CAR field concerns the extent to which CAR is and should be a focused discipline, a collection of loosely related arenas of research and practice, or a shared broad general approach. In the 1950s, the vision of many workers in the field was of a new comprehensive, interdisciplinary, research-grounded theory, but that was not realized.

Considerable agreement does exist about particular conflict processes and empirical generalizations. Without a comprehensive theory, however, inconsistencies among various generalizations and propositions are not reconciled. Moreover, without a comprehensive theory or theories of the middle range, it is difficult to know under what conditions a particular social process or empirical generalization is or is not operative, and to apply such knowledge to practice. On the other hand, the more general and necessarily abstract perspective about social conflicts lacks the precision needed to make reliable applications. Despite these considerations, empirical generalizations and knowledge of relevant conflict processes can be useful guides to effective actions that minimize the destructiveness of conflicts if used in conjunction with good information about a particular conflict.

Complicating the CAR approach are the differing places occupied by theory and practice. Each has varied in prominence within the field, and both are, in principle, regarded as important. In actuality, however, theory and practice have not always been well integrated. Theory has rarely sought to specify or assess major theoretical premises or propositions. Often, it is largely descriptive of patterns of actions. And though more research on assessing practice is being done, it has been focused on particular interventions, executed and assessed within a short time frame. Although in some spheres, there is a strong interplay between theory and practice, notably regarding negotiation, mediation, nonviolent action, and problem-solving workshops, additional work is needed to integrate other realms.

Nonviolence or Limited Violence

Another contentious issue relates to the use of violence in waging conflicts. There is widespread agreement among CAR analysts and practitioners that violence is wrong, particularly when it is used to serve internal needs rather than for its effects on an adversary. The presumed internal needs may be psychological, status- or power-based, or economic in nature and situated within individuals, organizations, or larger collectivities. Adherents of CAR generally agree that violence is morally and practically wrong when violence is used in a broad, imprecise manner and when it is not used in conjunction with other means to achieve constructive goals. The increasing use of “smart bombs” and missiles from drones pose moral and practical problems about what is good policy regarding the recourse to such allegedly targeted killing. From its origins, some workers in the CAR field have opposed resorting to the use of violence in any conflict, whereas others have believed that limited violence is necessary and effective in some circumstances, as, for example, is articulated in just war theory.

These differences in values and beliefs are becoming more important with the increased use of military intervention to stop destructive and escalating domestic and international conflicts and gross violations of human rights. The challenges are made greater by the increased cooperation of CAR adherents with governments. Much more analysis is needed about how specific violent and nonviolent policies are combined and with what consequences for the various parties under particular conditions. More specificity is needed beyond the generalization that great reliance on naked violence often fails. When violence is undertaken, in desperation, against a mightier antagonist, it most likely fails.

Neutral Process or Good Result

A long-standing issue in the CAR field is whether the emphasis should be on the process by which a conflict is settled or on the justice and consequences of the settlement. If the process is emphasized, the value of the neutrality of the intermediary is stressed and less attention is directed at the nature of the conflict to be settled. This matter is particularly acute in considering when and how mediation is best undertaken (Laue, 1982 ). Some practitioners in the field stress mediator neutrality and the mediator’s focus on the process to reach an agreement. Others argue that a mediator either should avoid mediating when the parties are so unequal that equity is unlikely to be achieved or should act in ways that will help the parties reach a balanced and just outcome (Nader, 1991 ).

Internal Affairs

As is no doubt the case in any field, research findings and best practices have not always been applied internally within the CAR field. Gender bias, for example, remains a challenge. There is notable progress, in many CAR programs in universities, women now appear to be in the majority. According to the ISA’s Committee on the Status of Women in the Profession, women earned 58% of doctoral degrees in the social sciences, and 42% of those in political science. Yet the committee found that women constituted only 12.3% of full professors compared to 23.5% for men (Hancock, Baum, & Breuning, 2013 ). With the rise of contingent workers at universities, women faculty members are disproportionately employed in part-time positions (Curtis, 2013 ). Women and men faculty express the same preference for research and share the opinion that service is an imposition, yet women spend significantly more time teaching, mentoring, and providing service to the university than do their male counterparts (Chenoweth et al., 2016 ; Misra, Lundquist, Holmes, & Agiomavritis, 2011 ).

Gender bias extends to whose research gets taught and whose work is cited. Consistent with numbers in the top international relations journals, 82% of the assigned reading in international relations proseminars was written by male authors. Work by women and mixed-gender teams made up the remaining 18% (Colgan, 2015 ). Other research shows that international relations articles written by women were cited less than those by men and that even when a research article by a woman is published in a top journal, it receives significantly fewer citations than had that article been written by a man (Maliniak, Powers, & Walter, 2013 ).

External Relations

The way CAR relates to other fields and to its social context raises several issues. As the number and variety of would-be intermediaries in large-scale conflicts increase, the relations among CAR-associated organizations and other kinds of governmental and nongovernmental actors becomes more problematic. The engagement of many organizations allows for specialized and complementary programs but also produces problems of competition, redundancy, and confusion. Adversaries may try to co-opt intermediary organizations or exploit differences among them. For example, human rights organizations and conflict resolution organizations can complement each other; but they may also interfere with each other’s work (Babbitt & Lutz, 2009 ).

To enhance the possible benefits and minimize the difficulties of relations among many intervening organizations, coordination of some sort can be helpful. Research indicates that a variety of measures may be undertaken, ranging from informal ad hoc exchanges of information to regular meetings among organizations in the field and having one organization be the “lead” agency (Kriesberg, 1996 ; Nan, 2008 ). The Applied Conflict Resolution Organizations Network (ACRON) was founded in the late 1990s to promote collaboration among conflict resolution organizations to become “a true force for peace” (Applied Conflict Resolution Organizations Network, 2000 ). ACRON went through a name change in 2003 , finally becoming, in 2006 , the Alliance for Peacebuilding (AfP). The AfP brings together 125 organizations and 1,000 individuals engaged in peacemaking and peacebuilding work. Although coordination will always remain a work in progress, the AfP has succeeded in providing global linkages that have strengthened peacebuilding efforts.

The funding for CAR work usually comes from external sources, which raises another set of issues. The Hewlett Foundation ended its 20-year program of support for conflict resolution programs in 2004 , and no comparable source for sustaining programs of theory, research, and applications has since appeared. Tuition charges help support education and training; service fees help sustain nongovernmental organizations doing applied work; and government agencies and various foundations provide funds for research and service projects. All this keeps the work relevant for immediate use. However, the small scale and short duration of this kind of funding hamper the making of long-term and large-scale research assessments and the theory building that are needed for creative new growth and appropriate applications.

Autonomy or Dependence

Finally, issues relating to autonomy and professional independence deserve attention. CAR analysts and practitioners may tailor their work to the preferences, as they perceive them, of their funders and clients. This diminishes the goals that in their best judgment they might otherwise advance. These risks are enhanced when tasks are contracted out by autocratic or highly ideological entities. Furthermore, as more nongovernmentals are financially dependent on funding by national governments and international organizations, issues regarding autonomy and co-optation grow.

On the other hand, CAR ideas are increasingly picked up by people who do not consider themselves as being in the CAR field. For example, the evidence that countries with democratic political systems do not fight wars with each other has been used as a reason to try to make countries democratic, even by warfare. Obviously, officials and other actors who do not accept the CAR approach as a whole may selectively use elements of it. Such usage sometimes appears to be misusing the approach and making it ineffective. Nevertheless, as people who do not think of themselves as being in the CAR field adopt particular methods and ideas of the field, those methods and ideas are diffusing into society and gaining + credibility.

On the Future

Undoubtedly, the sociopolitical context in the United States and in many other countries in the 21st century has become less conducive to the rise and acceptance of the CAR approach. As discussed in Neu and Kriesberg, “Conflict Analysis and Resolution: Development of the Field of Scholarship (forthcoming),” the sociopolitical context in earlier decades supported the emergence and institutionalization of the CAR approach. Several recent developments have contributed to the deterioration of this support. Notably, in the United States, political parties have become highly polarized with a high level of mutual hostility (Dionne, Ornstein, & Mann, 2017 ). Growing economic inequality, stagnating wages for many, and increasing wealth for a few generated grievances among the nonrich. Some of the rich used their resources to further enrich themselves—by denying inconvenient scientific facts, disregarding democratic civility, weakening trade unions, and denigrating opponents of these actions. Republican Party leaders often joined in promoting such practices. Moreover, Democratic Party leaders failed to deal with the growing public dissatisfaction with these developments (Frank, 2016 ).

Many other broad, external changes contributed to the foregoing changes. These include technological changes relating to the evolving social media that reduced previously widely shared views of reality. Conversely, technological developments have also contributed to the growing integration of the world, with accompanying economic effects. Following the U.S.-led invasion of Iraq in 2003 , a surge of wars prompted waves of refugees entering Europe. Terrorist attacks added fears, gave rise to anti-Muslim feelings, aroused ethnonationalist sentiments, and contributed to authoritarian tendencies in many countries around the world. In the United States, the election of Donald J. Trump to the presidency of the United States is a symptom of and promotes views and behaviors that are antithetical to the CAR approach. This is illustrated by his bullying style, lack of empathy, and discounting of empirical evidence.

Many aspects of the reaction to these developments in the United States and elsewhere, however, are consistent with and lend support to the CAR approach. A reliance on many aspects of nonviolent action has been evident in massive demonstrations and acts of solidarity with people threatened by the policies of the Trump administration. Resistance has taken many forms, including forming broad coalitions and creating new social organizations, notably in the national Indivisible movement (Dionne, Ornstein, & Mann, 2017 ). Moreover, many of the persuasive efforts convey empathy for and propose alternative policies to alleviate the grievances that drove some people to vote for Trump. Generally, the persuasive efforts foster mutual regard for all people and attention to evidence-based understandings of reality.

The new circumstances should be met with new adaptations among workers in the CAR field. Broadly, this would include giving more attention to enhancing human rights and satisfying human needs in the ways conflicts are waged and transformed. Attention to such matters would extend to sustainable peacebuilding. This could include work on the ways governmental officials and nongovernmental organizations work together constructively (Gerard & Kriesberg, 2018 ). Humans, over many thousands of years, have gradually come to live together with declining rates of violence (Pinker, 2011 ). Work in the CAR field can contribute to continuing that progress, despite setbacks.

Links to Digital Materials

Note : The following list is not intended to be comprehensive; it is, however, illustrative of the diversity of CAR resources. Many of the descriptions are from the organizations’ websites.

ACCORD: The African Centre for the Constructive Resolution of Disputes (Durban, South Africa). ACCORD is a South Africa–based civil society organization working throughout Africa to bring creative African solutions to the challenges posed by conflict on the continent. ACCORD publishes the African Journal on Conflict Resolution , Conflict Trends , and Policy and Practice Brief .

Alliance for Peacebuilding (Washington, DC). The Alliance for Peacebuilding (AfP) leads a community of more than 100 organizations building peaceful and just societies around the world. In this integrated field, the AfP amplifies the strengths of its members through collaboration, tackling a spectrum of issues too large for any one organization to address alone.

Berghof Foundation (Berlin, Germany). The Berghof Foundation is an independent nongovernmental organization that supports efforts to prevent political and social violence and to achieve sustainable peace through conflict transformation. The foundation publishes the Berghof Handbook for Conflict Transformation .

Beyond Intractability (Boulder, CO). Created by a team of more than 400 distinguished scholars and practitioners from around the world, the Beyond Intractability/CRInfo Knowledge Base is built around an online “encyclopedia” with easy-to-understand essays on almost 400 topics. The essays explain the many dynamics that determine the course of conflict along with the available options for promoting more constructive approaches.

The Carter Center (Atlanta, GA). The Carter Center, a nonprofit organization in partnership with Emory University, is guided by a fundamental commitment to human rights and the alleviation of human suffering. It seeks to prevent and resolve conflicts, enhance freedom and democracy, and improve health.

Centre for Conflict Resolution (Cape Town, South Africa). The center aims to contribute to a just and sustainable peace in Africa by promoting constructive, creative, and cooperative approaches to the resolution of conflict through training, policy development, research, and capacity building. The center produces a wide range of publications including seminar reports , policy briefs , books , and occasional reports .

HD: The Centre for Humanitarian Dialogue (Geneva, Switzerland). The Centre for Humanitarian Dialogue (HD) is a Swiss-based private diplomacy organization founded on the principles of humanity, impartiality, and independence. Its mission is to help prevent, mitigate, and resolve armed conflict through dialogue and mediation. The center publishes reports on the conflicts and issues in which it is involved.

Centre for Mediation in Africa (Hatfield, South Africa). The center strives to make mediation efforts throughout Africa more effective by offering academic and practical courses in mediation, researching new and current best practices, and supporting organizations such as the United Nations, the African Union, and those African governments involved in the mediation process. The center produces research on mediation best practices.

Conflict Management Initiative (CMI) (Helsinki, Finland). The Conflict Management Initiative (CMI) works closely with all conflicting parties in some of the world’s most intractable conflicts to forge lasting peace through informal dialogue and mediation. CMI was founded in 2000 by Nobel Peace laureate and former president of Finland Martti Ahtisaari.

Conflict Resolution Information (Boulder, CO). A free online clearinghouse, indexing peace- and conflict-resolution-related webpages, books, articles, audiovisual materials, organizational profiles, events, and current news articles.

Conciliation Resources (London, UK). The mission of Conciliation Resources is to provide practical support to help people affected by violent conflict achieve lasting peace. It draws on shared experiences to improve peacebuilding policies and practice worldwide. Conciliation Resources publishes the Accord series.

Crisis Group (Brussels, Belgium). An independent, nonprofit nongovernmental organization committed to preventing and resolving deadly conflict, Crisis Group conducts analyses of major current conflicts based on fieldwork and makes policy suggestions. It publishes alerts, reports, and briefings on the various conflicts it works on.

European Institute of Peace (Brussels, Belgium). The European Institute of Peace (EIP), launched in May 2014, is an independent partner to the European Union and Europe, augmenting its global peace agenda through mediation and informal dialogue. The EIP pursues multitrack diplomacy and acts as a flexible external tool in support of EU mediation efforts where the EU has limited freedom to act. It also serves as an operational hub, connecting existing expertise and sharing knowledge and lessons on European mediation.

Institute for Peace and Security Studies (Addis Ababa, Ethiopia). The Institute for Peace and Security Studies (IPSS) at the Addis Ababa University is the premiere institute for education, research, and policy dialogues on peace and security in Africa. The IPSS produces two types of policy periodicals, the IPSS Policy Analysis and the IPSS Policy Brief to provide comprehensive policy options in the areas of peace, security, and governance.

INCORE: International Conflict Research Institute (Ulster, UK). INCORE is a joint project of the United Nations University and the University of Ulster. It provides a Conflict Data Service and a comprehensive database and resource guide to conflict-prone regions and countries.

Kofi Annan International Peacekeeping Training Centre (Accra, South Africa). The Kofi Annan International Peacekeeping Training Centre (KAIPTC) is one of three institutions designated by the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS) as a regional Centre of Excellence for the delivery of training and research in the areas of conflict prevention, management, and peacebuilding.

Nairobi Peace Initiative–Africa (Nairobi, Kenya). The Nairobi Peace Initiative–Africa (NPI-Africa) is a continental peace resource organization, engaged in a broad range of peacebuilding and conflict transformation initiatives in Africa.

Peace and Collaborative Development Network (Washington, DC). Created by Dr. Craig Zelizer in 2007, the Peace and Collaborative Development Network (PCDN) is the go-to hub for the global change-making community. The PCDN is a rapidly growing social enterprise that gathers over 35,500 professionals, organizations, and students engaged in social change, peacebuilding, social entrepreneurship, development, and related fields.

Peace Research Institute of Oslo (Oslo, Norway). Peace Research Institute of Oslo (PRIO) conducts research on the conditions for peaceful relations between states, groups, and people. It publishes the journal Security Dialogue and the Journal of Peace Research .

Stockholm International Peace and Research Institute (Stockholm, Sweden). The Stockholm International Peace and Research Institute (SIPRI) is an independent international institute dedicated to research into conflict, armaments, arms control, and disarmament. SIPRI provides data, analyses, and recommendations based on open sources to policymakers, researchers, media, and the interested public. SIPRI produces the annual SIPRI Yearbook .

United States Institute of Peace (Washington, DC). An independent, nonpartisan institution established and funded by the U.S. Congress. Its goals are to help prevent and resolve violent international conflicts; promote postconflict stability and development; and increase conflict-management capacity, tools, and intellectual capital worldwide. The USIP offers online and on-site courses, and the United States Institute of Peace Press has been publishing books on CAR since 1991.

UN Peacemaker (New York, NY). UN Peacemaker is the online mediation support tool developed by the United Nations Department of Political Affairs. Intended for peacemaking professionals, it includes an extensive database of peace agreements, guidance material, and information on United Nations mediation support services. UN Peacemaker is part of the United Nation’s overall efforts to support UN and non-UN mediation initiatives.

West Africa Network for Peacebuilding (Accra, South Africa). The West Africa Network for Peacebuilding (WANEP) is a leading regional peacebuilding organization founded in 1998 in response to civil wars that plagued West Africa in the 1990s. Over the years, WANEP has succeeded in establishing strong national networks in every member state of the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS) and has over 500 member organizations across West Africa.

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* This article and Conflict Analysis and Resolution: Development of the Field update and expand Conflict Analysis and Resolution as a Field .

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Why is Conflict Resolution Important?

Reviewed by Jacob Imm

Sep 13, 2022

What is Conflict Resolution and Why is it Important?

Conflict resolution is a skill that benefits professionals across all types of career paths. What makes this true? Simply put, interpersonal conflict can occur in virtually any setting, from office jobs to in-field work. 

Understanding how to deal with interpersonal conflict, reconcile emotions and reach an understanding are valuable practices that boost well-being and productivity—and all of these techniques are learned through conflict resolution.

Conflict resolution is more than just a single technique for understanding the difference between mediation and arbitration. This complex skill set can lead to a rewarding career. It's more than just navigating difficult conversations. Read on to learn more about what conflict resolution is and why it’s important.

Conflict Resolution Overview

Before we can discuss the importance of this practice, we must first address this question: “ What is conflict resolution?” 

Conflict resolution is the process of ending a dispute and reaching an agreement that satisfies all parties involved. Since conflict is an essential part of being human, effective conflict resolution is not designed to avoid disagreements. Instead, conflict resolution skills are used to facilitate discussions, increase understanding and control emotional responses. 

Some of the most common cognitive errors that lead to unproductive or unresolved conflict include:

Self-serving fairness interpretations

This term refers to the process of one or more parties deciding what is “fair” from a biased point of view. In workplace conflict resolution, you’ll learn skills that help you discuss conflict from a more neutral stance. 

Overconfidence

Overconfidence when arguing or disputing a matter can lead to undesirable outcomes. While overconfidence in a personal disagreement may simply cause embarrassment, this cognitive error can be even more detrimental when dealing with legal issues—particularly when you are ill-prepared for the argument at hand. 

Overconfidence also prevents one or more conflicting parties from seeing the other’s perspective, which is an issue that workplace conflict resolution aims to resolve.

Escalation tactics can prolong a dispute for longer than necessary, thus making an agreement even more difficult to reach. In a personal dispute, escalation may involve one party raising the stakes of the argument, or bringing in additional issues that exist outside of the situation at hand. In legal terms, escalation refers to increasing charges or spending more money on litigation. 

​​​​​​​ Avoidance is the practice of circumventing conflict. Examples of avoidance may include bottling up emotions, changing the subject when an issue is brought up, or physically leaving the situation altogether. 

​​​​​​​ Blaming refers to the tactic of one or more parties ridding themselves of responsibility for a disagreement—thus placing all the faults on the other party. When blaming is used during a conflict, it can be difficult to get both parties to agree on how they played a role in the situation. When one party looks down upon the other from an inaccurate moral high ground, a real resolution is virtually impossible.

Emotional volatility and insults

​​​​​​​ Finally, we have one of the most common and destructive cognitive errors found in conflict resolution: emotional volatility, often expressed through insults. 

When one or more parties resort to inflicting emotional (or even physical damage) on the other party, the chances of reaching a calm and reasonable agreement decrease drastically. Not only does emotional volatility make for a hostile discussion environment, but insults can also lead the other party to withdraw entirely. 

How Does Conflict Resolution Work?

The practice of conflict resolution involves a number of different methods. Resolving conflict may be done privately through negotiation between parties, or through the use of a neutral third party, such as a counselor or mediator. 

Conflict resolution techniques commonly used in conflict resolution situations include:

Active listening

​​​​​​​ At the heart of every conflict resolution strategy is active listening. Active listening refers to the practice of focusing on what the other party is saying, then including their message when making your own statements. Having active listening skills not only facilitates discussions and increases mutual understanding, but also allows each party to feel heard.

Here are some examples of active listening skills:

• Stress management
• Managing emotions
• Articulation
• Negotiation
• Decisiveness

“I” statements

​​​​​​​ “I” statements are used to prevent blaming and unfair accusations when arguing. This is because each party may feel like the other has done something, but they cannot prove this to be true. Instead of claiming that the other party acts or feels a certain way, instead, the party will approach their statement by speaking from their own experience. 

Emotional regulation

​​​​​​​ Emotional regulation is used to prevent volatility and insults when managing and resolving conflict. By leaning on emotional intelligence and putting the right expectations in place, and utilizing anger management skills, both parties can reach an agreement calmly without letting emotional reactions influence the outcome.

Here are some examples of emotional regulation skills:

• Staying calm
• Handling difficult personalities
• Understanding
• Self awareness

Communication

Effective communication skills are the foundation of conflict resolution (and every healthy relationship) . Not only does clear and proper communication help resolve personal and professional problems, but it can also prevent similar situations from happening in the future. 

Here are some examples of essential communication skills:

• Verbal and nonverbal communication
• Persuasion​​​​​​​

Assertiveness

Although it may seem counterproductive, reasonable levels of assertiveness can be beneficial when performed calmly. This is because assertiveness pushes people to address their feelings and voice their expectations of the other party, rather than avoiding conflict altogether .

Here are some examples of essential skills:

• Self control
• Voicing and accepting opinions

Apologizing

When necessary, the final step to an effective  conflict resolution process is knowing when to apologize. It’s important to note that successful conflict resolution will bring both of the involved parties to fully understand what they’ve done and why an apology is needed—rather than simply going through the motions to end the conflict.

The Benefits of Conflict Resolution

Now that you understand the concept as a whole, it’s time to learn about the benefits of conflict resolution . If you find yourself asking, “ Why is conflict resolution important?”, we’ve outlined a number of reasons to help answer this question:

Building Relationships 

Personal and professional relationships can often suffer from unresolved arguments. If two or more parties struggle to resolve their conflict, these feelings may lead to explosive behaviors and resentment later on. 

Communication, emotional awareness and empathy are crucial elements of conflict resolution that can lead to high-functioning and more satisfying relationships in all aspects of life. Rather than simply dismissing a relationship after a rough patch or argument, conflict resolution techniques can help you strengthen these relationships and prevent these issues in the future. 

Goal Achievement

Ongoing conflict situations may stand in the way of completing goals, particularly in business relationships. When arguments arise in the workplace, productivity typically declines. It can be difficult to focus or work together on a project when underlying conflict is present. Resolving these issues at the root can lead to greater efficiency and goal achievement.

In order to pass personal and professional milestones, it’s important to utilize conflict resolution skills—particularly the ability to compromise, negotiate and move forward after a disagreement.

Enhancing Commitment

Conflict resolution can help bring people together once an issue is put to rest. One of the most important elements in conflict resolution is choosing to tackle problems as a team, rather than attacking each other. This technique is a wise way to enhance each party’s commitment to the process, and avoid greater feelings of defensiveness.

While conflict can be destructive, it can also be a sign of strong commitment and emotional attachment. By working with these feelings, each party can gain a better understanding of one another’s goals and lead to greater dedication and loyalty moving forward. 

Generating New Insight 

Resolution is important, but so is conflict in itself. When people have differing perspectives, this can open the door to new ideas, innovations and ways to solve a problem. 

Proper conflict resolution skills are designed to keep disagreements from escalating while continuing to discuss each point of view and eventually reach a collaborative conclusion. By using conflict resolution skills, you’ll be better equipped to learn from and teach others in both professional and personal realms. 

Careers in Conflict Resolution

Conflict resolution is prevalent and valued in many different industries. With a degree from an accredited conflict resolution program, you’ll have many options moving forward into the professional world.  

In addition to whichever major students choose, a conflict resolution minor may lead to fruitful careers in:

• Litigation and criminal justice
• Mediation or arbitration
• Social work
• Human resources

Polish Your Conflict Resolution Skills 

Conflict resolution is important, and earning your degree in this subject can lead to better leadership skills, greater job opportunities and beneficial relationships with coworkers. Unfortunately, it can be difficult to find colleges and universities that offer this enriching subject as a degree program. 

When you are ready to pursue conflict resolution in college, look for a school like North Central College, one of the few schools that offers a minor in conflict resolution. They offer innovative courses such as:

• Design Thinking for Social Impact
• Conflict Resolution
• Ethnic and Religious Conflict Resolution
• Professional Ethics

North Central also offers a number of internship and job opportunities for conflict resolution students, including positions at law firms and resolution centers and volunteer work with North Central’s Dispute Resolution Center. Learn more about how North Central College can help you polish these essential conflict management skills today!

North Central College. (2019). Conflict Resolution . https://www.northcentralcollege.edu/program/conflict-resolution  

Amaresan, S. (2021, April 15). 14 Conflict Resolution Skills to Use with Your Team and Your Customers . HubSpot. https://blog.hubspot.com/service/conflict-resolution-skills  

Jacobson, S. (2021, April 20). The Benefits of Conflict Resolution . The Conover Company. https://www.conovercompany.com/the-benefits-of-conflict-resolution/

Schmitz, T. (2021, April 20). Conflict Resolution: An Important Life Skill . The Conover Company. https://www.conovercompany.com/conflict-resolution-an-important-life-skill/  

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Successful Strategy of Resolving Conflicts Analytical Essay

It is believed that a conflict can be effectively resolved only if people search for the solution that can benefit both sides. Furthermore, decisiveness is often viewed as a negative force that only harms a person involved in a conflict or dispute.

However, there are cases when decisiveness is the only morally responsible choice that an individual can take. This argument is applicable to those situations when a person has to compromise ones ethical values.

As a rule, this compromise will not yield the expected results. Moreover, it can limit the freedom of this individual. The discussion can be important for negotiators and people who try to resolve conflicts. They have to determine when and why decisiveness can be appropriate.

First of all, one should note that conflicts usually occur when people have opposing views, goals, values, or priorities. In most cases, such disputes can be explained by the fact that people have different perceptions of the same problem of question. For instance, a conflict can arise when co-workers propose different ways of achieving the same goal. Such disputes can also occur in a family when parents have different perceptions about the education of their children.

In such cases, decisiveness is not appropriate because it usually prevents people from finding the most optimal solution. As a rule, it will harm both sides of the argument. Moreover, an individual can make concessions without compromising ones ethical values. This is why decisiveness is often regarded as a negative phenomenon.

Nevertheless, there are circumstances when decisiveness is the only appropriate approach. In particular, one can refer to the situations when a person or organization is forced to abandon ones values, ideals and moral principles. The most eloquent examples of such situations can be found in history. In 1938 England and France consented to the demands of Germany and tried to appease the leadership of the Third Reich.

At that time, many people thought that this compromise had been the most optimal solution. However, it turned out that these concessions did not bring peace to Europe. More likely, they only contributed to the outbreak of the war. It seems that in that case, decisiveness was the only responsible approach but it was not adopted.

Additionally, one can refer to the situation when a person is forced to make concessions that can limit his/her freedom and ability to take independent decisions. Very often people are made to withhold some of their rights. Such situations are widespread in the world of business, politics, and law.

It is possible to mention those cases when employees are not forbidden to disclose any information regarding the policies of a company. The problem is that sometimes these activities can run against the law or ethics. Workers, who accept these requirements of the employer, agree to limit their freedom.

Overall, negotiation and conflict resolution can hardly be possible unless both sides seek constructive or win-win solutions. However, there are exceptions to this rule. One of them is the necessity to compromise ones principles or restrict ones liberty.

A person who faces such situations should choose decisiveness, rather than the search of a compromise. It should be noted that negotiators can play a central role when resolving such conflicts. Their task will be to determine what kind of strategy a person should choose in order to succeed.

• Chicago (A-D)
• Chicago (N-B)

IvyPanda. (2019, August 20). Successful Strategy of Resolving Conflicts. https://ivypanda.com/essays/resolving-conflicts/

"Successful Strategy of Resolving Conflicts." IvyPanda , 20 Aug. 2019, ivypanda.com/essays/resolving-conflicts/.

IvyPanda . (2019) 'Successful Strategy of Resolving Conflicts'. 20 August.

IvyPanda . 2019. "Successful Strategy of Resolving Conflicts." August 20, 2019. https://ivypanda.com/essays/resolving-conflicts/.

1. IvyPanda . "Successful Strategy of Resolving Conflicts." August 20, 2019. https://ivypanda.com/essays/resolving-conflicts/.

Bibliography

IvyPanda . "Successful Strategy of Resolving Conflicts." August 20, 2019. https://ivypanda.com/essays/resolving-conflicts/.

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Middle East Crisis Israel Appears to Soften Stance in Cease-Fire Talks

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• Destroyed buildings in Rafah on Monday. Associated Press
• Relatives and supporters of Israeli hostages protest in Tel Aviv on Monday. Ohad Zwigenberg/Associated Press
• Palestinians flee after a strike in Nuseirat in central Gaza. Agence France-Presse — Getty Images
• Mourning relatives killed overnight in Rafah. Agence France-Presse — Getty Images
• Looking at a damaged building in Rafah in the southern Gaza Strip on Monday. Hatem Khaled/Reuters
• Posters of kidnapped Israeli hostages in Tel Aviv. Shannon Stapleton/Reuters
• A Palm Sunday service at a Greek Orthodox church in Gaza City. Agence France-Presse — Getty Images
• Children at a makeshift movie theater set up among the tents in Rafah on Sunday. Haitham Imad/EPA, via Shutterstock
• Israeli soldiers resting outside the border with southern Gaza. Amir Cohen/Reuters

Israel is open to a truce involving an initial release of 33 hostages, officials say.

Israel’s latest offer would accept fewer hostages to be freed during the first phase of a new truce in Gaza, according to three Israeli officials, offering a hint of hope for cease-fire negotiations that could restart as soon as Tuesday.

For months, Israel had demanded that Hamas release at least 40 hostages — women, older people and those who are seriously ill — in order to secure a new truce. Now the Israeli government is prepared to settle for only 33, according to the officials, who spoke on the condition of anonymity in order to discuss the sensitive matter.

The change was prompted partly by the fact that Israel now believes that some of the 40 have died in captivity , according to one of the officials.

Antony J. Blinken, the U.S. secretary of state, said at the World Economic Forum in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia, on Monday that Israel had made an “extraordinarily generous” offer and that Hamas alone stood in the way of a deal. David Cameron, the British foreign minister, said at the same conference that the offer included a sustained 40-day cease-fire and the release of potentially thousands of Palestinian prisoners in exchange for the Israeli hostages.

Sameh Shoukry, Egypt’s foreign minister, said at the conference that he was “hopeful” about the latest cease-fire proposal, but did not say what it involved or who had proposed it.

“The proposal has taken into account the positions of both sides,” Mr. Shoukry said, adding that “we are waiting to have a final decision.”

The shift has raised expectations that Hamas and Israel might be edging closer to sealing their first truce since a weeklong cease-fire in November, when Hamas released 105 captives in exchange for 240 Palestinian prisoners. A senior Hamas official, Izzat al-Rishq, said on social media on Monday that Hamas was studying a new Israeli proposal, but did not say what the proposal was.

Hamas and its allies captured roughly 240 Israelis and foreigners in their attack on Oct. 7, which prompted Israel to go to war in Gaza. More than 130 hostages are believed to still be held in Gaza, but some are thought to have died.

Negotiations over a new pause, mediated by Egypt and Qatar, have stalled for months over disagreements about the number of hostages and prisoners who should be exchanged in a future deal. Another obstacle has been whether Israel would allow civilians from northern Gaza who fled the Israeli invasion to return to their homes, and how many would be permitted to do so.

The length of a cease-fire has also been a key stumbling block. Hamas wants it to be permanent, while Israel wants another temporary pause so that it could still send troops into Rafah, the last major Gazan city under Hamas control, though one where more than a million displaced Palestinians have sought shelter. Far-right members of Israel’s governing coalition have threatened to bring down Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s government if the war ends without Hamas’s total defeat.

A mid-ranking Israeli delegation is planning to fly to Cairo on Tuesday to restart talks mediated by Egypt, but only if Hamas also agrees to attend, according to two of the Israeli officials. A senior Hamas official said that a delegation was already in Cairo on Monday.

At the economic forum in Saudi Arabia, Mr. Cameron, the British foreign secretary, said something else must happen for the conflict to end: “The people responsible for Oct. 7, the Hamas leadership, would have to leave Gaza.”

Vivian Nereim and Edward Wong contributed reporting from Riyadh, Saudi Arabia.

— Patrick Kingsley and Adam Rasgon reporting from Jerusalem

Biden speaks to the leaders of Egypt and Qatar to press for Hamas’s agreement on a new cease-fire.

President Biden spoke on Monday with the leaders of Egypt and Qatar as he sought to increase pressure on Hamas to accept a deal that would result in a temporary cease-fire in the war in Gaza and the release of some of the hostages held there.

According to a statement from the office of President Abdel Fattah el-Sisi of Egypt, he and Mr. Biden discussed the negotiations and Egypt’s efforts to broker a cease-fire. They also reiterated their support for a two-state solution, discussed the importance of containing the conflict to the region and emphasized their opposition to a military escalation in the Palestinian city of Rafah, which Israel seems poised to invade.

Mr. Biden also spoke on Monday with Sheikh Tamim bin Hamad al-Thani, the emir of Qatar. According to the White House, Mr. Biden urged the Qatari leader “to exert all efforts to secure the release of hostages held by Hamas,” saying that “this is now the only obstacle” to an immediate cease-fire.

Mr. al-Sisi and Mr. al-Thani have been prime intermediaries with Hamas through months of fitful negotiations to reach a deal to halt the hostilities, and Mr. Biden hopes they will prod the group’s leader, Yahya Sinwar, to accept the U.S.-brokered proposal on the table. On Sunday, Mr. Biden spoke with Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu of Israel.

Karine Jean-Pierre, the White House press secretary, expressed a hopeful view of the prospects for an agreement. “In recent days, there has been progress in talks,” she told reporters at the White House.

Like other American officials, Ms. Jean-Pierre said that Hamas, not Israel, was the obstacle to an agreement.

“The onus is indeed on Hamas,” she said. “There is a deal on the table, and they need to take it.”

— Peter Baker reporting from Washington

Blinken meets with Arab officials to discuss Gaza and postwar plans.

Secretary of State Antony J. Blinken spoke with Arab officials on Monday in Saudi Arabia about the war between Israel and Hamas and the difficult issues it has created, from humanitarian aid to hostages. Mr. Blinken plans to travel to Jordan and Israel on Tuesday.

After landing in Riyadh, the Saudi capital, shortly after dawn, Mr. Blinken met with Prince Faisal bin Farhan, the foreign minister of Saudi Arabia, and then with foreign ministers and a top foreign policy adviser from five other Arab nations in the Persian Gulf that, along with Saudi Arabia, form the Gulf Cooperation Council. Prince Faisal was also part of that second meeting. On Monday night Mr. Blinken met with Saudi Arabia’s crown prince, Mohammed bin Salman.

The State Department listed the cease-fire and hostage issues first in the summary it released of Mr. Blinken’s one-on-one meeting with the prince. The two “discussed ongoing efforts to reach an immediate cease-fire in Gaza that would secure the release of hostages held by Hamas,” the department said.

The two diplomats also talked about greater regional integration and “a pathway to a Palestinian state with security guarantees for Israel,” the summary said. That was a reference to negotiations over a broad deal that would involve the United States, Saudi Arabia, Israel and Palestinian representatives agreeing to terms that would result in the creation of a Palestinian state and greater diplomatic recognition for Israel in the region.

Mr. Blinken planned to meet with Arab and European officials in a group later on Monday to talk about plans for rebuilding Gaza, even though Israel is still carrying out its war there and has not stepped back from its difficult — and perhaps impossible — goal of fully eradicating Hamas.

Saudi Arabia is hosting a three-day meeting of the World Economic Forum, and top Arab officials, including Mr. Blinken’s diplomatic counterparts, are attending the event in Riyadh. The gathering includes senior ministers from Qatar and Egypt, the two Arab mediators in multiple rounds of talks over a potential cease-fire between Israel and Hamas .

“The quickest way to bring this to an end is to get to a cease-fire and the release of hostages,” Mr. Blinken said in an onstage talk with Borge Brende, president of the World Economic Forum. “Hamas has before it a proposal that is extraordinarily generous on the part of Israel. And at the moment, the only thing standing between the people of Gaza and a cease-fire is Hamas.”

“I’m hopeful they will make the right decision and we can have a fundamental change in the dynamic,” he added.

Mr. Blinken and other top aides of President Biden have also been trying to push for a long-term political solution to the Israeli-Palestinian conflict, which is where the broader deal comes in. In a call meant to pave the way for Mr. Blinken’s trip, his seventh to the region since the war began, Mr. Biden and Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu of Israel spoke by phone on Sunday afternoon for nearly an hour.

The two leaders discussed “increases in the delivery of humanitarian assistance into Gaza,” according to a White House statement released after the call, and Mr. Biden repeated his warning against an Israeli ground assault on Rafah in southern Gaza. He also reviewed with Mr. Netanyahu the negotiations over a hostage release.

In their best-case scenario, the Biden administration envisions Saudi Arabia and perhaps a few other Arab nations agreeing to normalize diplomatic relations with Israel. In exchange, Saudi Arabia would receive advanced weapons and security guarantees, including a mutual defense treaty , from the United States and a commitment for U.S. cooperation on a civilian nuclear program in the kingdom .

For its part, Israel would have to commit to a concrete pathway to the founding of a Palestinian nation, with specific deadlines, U.S. and Saudi officials say.

“I think it’s clear that in the absence of a real political horizon for the Palestinians, it’s going to be much harder, if not impossible, to really have a coherent plan for Gaza itself,” Mr. Blinken said at the public talk on Monday.

Prince Faisal said Sunday that Saudi officials hoped to discuss concrete steps toward creating a Palestinian state during Mr. Blinken’s visit to Riyadh. Calling the war and humanitarian crisis in Gaza “a complete failing of the existing political system,” he told a news conference that the kingdom’s government believes that the only solution is “a credible, irreversible pathway to a Palestinian state.”

Before the war started last October, U.S. and Saudi officials were in intense discussions to reach an agreement on the terms of such a proposal. For those negotiators, a big question at the time was what Israel would agree to. Since the war began, the Americans and the Saudis have publicly insisted that Israel must agree to the existence of a Palestinian state.

But Israeli leaders and ordinary citizens have become even more resistant to that idea since the Oct. 7 attacks, in which the Israeli authorities say that Hamas and allied gunmen killed about 1,200 people and took about 240 people as hostages. Israel’s retaliatory military offensive has killed more than 34,000 Palestinians, most of them civilians, including thousands of children, say officials from the Gaza health ministry.

Vivian Nereim and Zolan Kanno-Youngs contributed reporting.

— Edward Wong traveling with Secretary of State Antony J. Blinken

Deadly Israeli strikes hit residential buildings in Rafah, Palestinian news media say.

Deadly Israeli airstrikes flattened concrete buildings overnight in the crowded southern Gaza city of Rafah, according to news agencies, which published video on Monday of rows of body bags containing what Palestinian officials said were victims of the strikes.

The Reuters news agency said the strikes in Rafah, which Israel seems poised to invade , killed 20 people. The Palestinian news media said the death toll was at least 24. The Gaza Ministry of Health said 34 people were killed in the Gaza Strip during the previous 24 hours, but it did not specify how many of them were killed by the strikes in Rafah.

Asked for comment on the strikes, the Israeli military issued a statement on Monday saying that its “fighter jets struck terror targets where terrorists were operating within a civilian area in southern Gaza.”

More than one million Gazans have been crowding into shelters and tents in Rafah to seek safety from almost seven months of Israel’s military offensive. Israeli officials have said they will soon send ground troops into Rafah, the last Gazan city Israel has not invaded, in order to eliminate Hamas battalions there, an operation that the Biden administration has warned against because of the risk to civilians.

Palestine TV — a channel backed by the Palestinian Authority, which administers parts of the Israeli-occupied West Bank — said the strikes had hit residential buildings in Rafah. One survivor, carrying a baby she said had been pulled from the rubble, spoke to a Reuters video journalist.

“The entire world is seeing what’s happening to us,” the woman, Umm Fayez Abu Taha, said. She said the child appeared to be uninjured, but that her parents had been killed.

“Look at us with some compassion, with some humanity,” Ms. Abu Taha continued. “This is all we ask for, we’re not asking for much just end the war, nothing more.”

— Liam Stack reporting from Jerusalem

Hamas fires a barrage of rockets into Israel from Lebanon.

Hamas’s military wing said on Monday that it had launched a salvo of rockets from Lebanon into northern Israel, an apparent attempt by the group to signal that it is still capable of striking within Israel’s borders even as it studies the latest proposal for a cease-fire in Gaza.

The Qassam Brigades, Hamas’s military wing, said in a statement that it had targeted an Israeli military position in Kiryat Shmona, the largest city in Israel’s far north, with a “concentrated rocket barrage” from southern Lebanon. The Israeli military said in a statement that most of the roughly 20 launches that crossed the border had been intercepted, and that it had responded by striking the source of fire. There were no injuries or damage, the military said.

Though Hamas is based in Gaza, many of its leaders are exiled in Lebanon , where the group has a sizable presence and operates largely out of Palestinian refugee camps. Since the Hamas-led terror attack on Oct. 7 prompted Israel to go to war in Gaza, Hamas has occasionally launched rocket attacks into northern Israel from within Lebanon’s borders, though its ally Hezbollah, the Lebanese militant group, has launched far more. Both groups are backed by Iran. Israel has also targeted Hamas figures in Lebanon in deadly strikes.

Walid al Kilani, Hamas’s spokesman in Lebanon, said the attack was “the minimum duty” given Israel’s continued attacks in Gaza. “We know that Hezbollah is doing its duty and more, but the battlefield requires everyone to participate,” Mr. Kilani said.

The launches on Monday, although muted in their impact, highlighted Hamas’s continuing ability to threaten Israel with rocket fire despite more than 200 days of a devastating Israeli air and ground offensive that has decimated the group’s military capabilities in Gaza.

Mohanad Hage Ali, a Beirut-based fellow with the Carnegie Middle East Center, said the attack was likely an attempt by Hamas to signal that it was “still part of the fight.” While it was largely symbolic, it could also be a means to apply pressure amid the Gaza cease-fire negotiations, he said.

Data compiled by the online website Rocket Alert — which tracks warnings of rocket launches using Israeli military figures — shows that there were just 37 alerts in April in response to detected rocket fire from Gaza, compared to around 7,300 in October at the onset of the war. More than six months into the conflict, the data shows a significant drop-off in the number of warnings of rockets from Gaza.

Alerts indicating rocket fire from Lebanon, however, have remained largely steady, the data shows. Most of those are launched by Hezbollah, but Hamas continues to launch attacks from Lebanon with Hezbollah’s blessing.

Amin Hoteit, a military analyst and former brigadier general in the Lebanese army, said the latest attack was a sign of the “integrated front of operations” among Hamas, Hezbollah and other Iran-backed groups in the region .

Hwaida Saad and Jonathan Rosen contributed reporting.

— Euan Ward reporting from Beirut, Lebanon

Israeli officials believe the International Criminal Court is preparing arrest warrants over the war.

Israeli officials increasingly believe that the International Criminal Court is preparing to issue arrest warrants for senior government officials on charges related to the conflict with Hamas, according to five Israeli and foreign officials.

The Israeli and foreign officials also believe the court is weighing arrest warrants for leaders from Hamas.

If the court proceeds, the Israeli officials could potentially be accused of preventing the delivery of humanitarian aid to the Gaza Strip and pursuing an excessively harsh response to the Hamas-led Oct. 7 attacks on Israel, according to two of the five officials, all of whom spoke on the condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to publicly discuss the matter.

The Israeli officials, who are worried about the potential fallout from such a case, said they believe that Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu is among those who might be named in a warrant. It is not clear who might be charged from Hamas or what crimes would be cited.

The Israeli officials did not disclose the nature of the information that led them to be concerned about potential I.C.C. action, and the court did not comment on the matter.

Arrest warrants from the court would probably be seen in much of the world as a humbling moral rebuke, particularly to Israel, which for months has faced international backlash over its conduct in Gaza, including from President Biden , who called it “over the top.”

It could also affect Israel’s policies as the country presses its military campaign against Hamas. One of the Israeli officials said that the possibility of the court issuing arrest warrants had informed Israeli decision-making in recent weeks.

The Israeli and foreign officials said they didn’t know what stage the process was in. Any warrants would require approval from a panel of judges and would not necessarily result in a trial or even the targets’ immediate arrest.

Karim Khan, the court’s chief prosecutor, has previously confirmed that his team is investigating incidents during the war, but his office declined to comment for this article, saying that it does not “respond to speculation in media reports.”

Mr. Netanyahu’s office also would not comment, but on Friday the prime minister said on social media that any intervention by the I.C.C. “would set a dangerous precedent that threatens the soldiers and officials of all democracies fighting savage terrorism and wanton aggression.”

Mr. Netanyahu did not explain what prompted his statement, though he may have been responding to speculation about the arrest warrants in the Israeli press.

He also said: “Under my leadership, Israel will never accept any attempt by the ICC to undermine its inherent right of self-defense. The threat to seize the soldiers and officials of the Middle East’s only democracy and the world’s only Jewish state is outrageous. We will not bow to it.”

Based in The Hague, the I.C.C. is the world’s only permanent international court with the power to prosecute individuals accused of war crimes, genocide and crimes against humanity. The court has no police force of its own. Instead, it relies on its 124 members , which include most European countries but not Israel or the United States, to arrest those named in warrants. It cannot try defendants in absentia .

But warrants from the court can pose obstacles to travel for officials named in them.

The Hamas-led raid last October led to the killing of roughly 1,200 people in Israel and the abductions of some 250 others, according to Israeli officials. The subsequent war in Gaza, including heavy Israeli bombardment, has killed more than 34,000 people, according to Gazan officials, caused widespread damage to housing and infrastructure, and brought the territory to the brink of famine.

The Israeli assault in Gaza has led the International Court of Justice, a separate court in The Hague, to hear accusations of genocide against the Israeli state and has spurred a wave of protests on college campuses in the United States.

If the I.C.C. does issue arrest warrants, they would come with deep stigmatization, placing those named in them in the same category as foreign leaders like Omar al-Bashir, the deposed president of Sudan, and Vladimir V. Putin, the Russian president, who was the subject of a warrant last year tied to his war against Ukraine.

The I.C.C.’s focus on individuals rather than states differentiates it from the International Court of Justice, which settles disputes between states.

The I.C.C. judges have ruled that the court has jurisdiction over Gaza and the West Bank because the Palestinians have joined the court as the State of Palestine.

Mr. Khan has said that his team will be investigating incidents that have occurred since Oct. 7 and that he will be “impartially looking at the evidence and vindicating the rights of victims whether they are in Israel or Palestine.”

Mr. Khan’s office has also been investigating allegations of war crimes committed during the 2014 war between Israel and Hamas; one of the officials who spoke on the condition of anonymity believes the new arrest warrants would be an extension of that investigation.

Hamas and the Israeli military did not respond to requests for comment. The office of Yoav Gallant, the Israeli defense minister, declined to comment.

In general, Israeli officials say that they fight according to the laws of war and that they take significant steps to protect civilians, accusing Hamas of hiding inside civilian areas and forcing Israel to pursue them there. Hamas has denied committing atrocities on Oct. 7, saying — despite video evidence to the contrary — that its fighters tried to avoid harming civilians.

Marlise Simons , Gabby Sobelman and Myra Noveck contributed reporting.

— Ronen Bergman and Patrick Kingsley The reporters spoke to Israeli and foreign officials.

World Central Kitchen plans to resume working in Gaza.

World Central Kitchen said on Sunday that it would resume operations in Gaza with a local team of Palestinian aid workers, nearly a month after the Israeli military killed seven of the organization’s workers in targeted drone strikes on their convoy.

Israeli military officials have said the attack was a “grave mistake” and cited a series of failures , including a breakdown in communication and violations of the military’s operating procedures.

The Washington-based aid group said that it was still calling for an independent, international investigation into the April 1 attack and that it had received “no concrete assurances” that the Israeli military’s operational procedures had changed. But the “humanitarian situation in Gaza remains dire,” the aid group’s chief operating officer, Erin Gore, said in a statement .

“We are restarting our operation with the same energy, dignity, and focus on feeding as many people as possible,” she said.

The aid group said it had distributed more than 43 million meals in Gaza so far and that it had trucks carrying the equivalent of nearly eight million meals waiting to enter the enclave through the Rafah crossing in the south. World Central Kitchen said it was also planning to send trucks to Gaza through Jordan and that it would open a kitchen in Al-Mawasi, a small seaside village that the Israeli military has designated as a “humanitarian zone” safe for civilians, though attacks there have continued.

Six of the seven workers killed on April 1 were from Western nations — three from Britain, one from Australia, one from Poland and one with dual citizenship of the United States and Canada. The seventh was Palestinian. They were killed in back-to-back Israeli drone strikes on their vehicles as they traveled toward Rafah after unloading food aid that had arrived by sea.

The attack prompted World Central Kitchen to immediately suspend its operations in Gaza and elicited outrage from some of Israel’s closest allies.

The World Central Kitchen convoy’s movements had been coordinated in advance with the Israeli military, but some officers had not reviewed the coordination documentation detailing which cars were part of the convoy, the military said.

Some 200 aid workers, most of them Palestinians, were killed in Gaza between Oct. 7 and the attack on the World Central Kitchen convoy, according to the United Nations. A visual investigation by The New York Times showed that, well before the World Central Kitchen attack, six aid groups in Gaza had come under Israeli fire despite sharing their locations with the Israeli military.

The episode forced World Central Kitchen to decide between ending its efforts in Gaza or continuing, “knowing that aid, aid workers and civilians are being intimidated and killed,” Ms. Gore said in the statement.

“Ultimately, we decided that we must keep feeding, continuing our mission of showing up to provide food to people during the toughest of times,” she said.

At a memorial in Washington for the World Central Kitchen workers on Thursday, the group’s founder, the celebrity chef José Andrés, said that there were “many unanswered questions about what happened and why,” and that the aid group was still demanding an independent investigation into the Israeli military’s actions.

The seven aid workers had “risked everything to feed people they did not know and will never meet,” Mr. Andrés said. “They were the best of humanity.”

— Anushka Patil

Arab ministers suggest ways to ‘force peace’ amid Israel’s refusal to recognize a Palestinian state.

At a conference in Saudi Arabia’s capital on Monday, senior diplomats from around the world appeared to agree on one thing: The pathway to a durable peace between Israel and the Palestinians is the creation of a Palestinian state.

But with Israel’s refusal to recognize a Palestinian state, three Arab foreign ministers posited how best to proceed, with Ayman Safadi of Jordan presenting the bluntest proposal among them. The international community, he said, should find a way to “force peace” against the will of Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu of Israel.

“If we come up with the best plan ever, and all of us in the international community agree that this is the plan to go forward, and then Netanyahu and his government say no, what happens then?” Mr. Safadi said during a World Economic Forum panel discussion in the Saudi capital, Riyadh, with the foreign ministers of Egypt and Saudi Arabia. “Will he face consequences?”

He added, “The party that is responsible for denying Palestinians, Israelis and the whole region peace must be held accountable.”

Israel’s foreign ministry declined to comment, and the prime minister’s office did not respond to a request for comment.

Both before and during this war in Gaza, which began after the Hamas-led attack on Israel on Oct. 7, Mr. Netanyahu has rebuffed calls for the creation of a Palestinian state.

Analysts say that the attack, in which about 1,200 people were killed and about 240 people taken captive, according to the Israeli authorities, has made it even more unlikely that the Israeli government would agree to such a path. Israeli officials have said that they are trying to eradicate Hamas.

“There is a contrary move, an attempt to force, ram down our throats, a Palestinian state, which will be another terror haven,” Mr. Netanyahu said this month.

Polling shows that a majority of Israelis oppose creating a Palestinian state.

In the Biden administration’s plan for resolving the underlying conflict — and end a war in which Israel’s military has killed more than 34,000 Palestinians, according to officials from the Gazan Health Ministry — it envisions Saudi Arabia agreeing to normalize diplomatic relations with Israel.

In exchange, Saudi Arabia would receive advanced weapons and security guarantees, including a mutual defense treaty from the United States and U.S. commitment for cooperation on a civilian nuclear program in the kingdom .

For its part, Israel would have to commit to the founding of a Palestinian nation, with specific deadlines, U.S. and Saudi officials say.

“In the absence of a real political horizon for the Palestinians, it’s going to be much harder, if not impossible, to really have a coherent plan for Gaza itself,” Antony J. Blinken, the U.S. secretary of state, said on Monday during the conference in Riyadh.

On Sunday at the same event, the Saudi foreign minister, Prince Faisal bin Farhan, said that the only solution was “a credible, irreversible pathway to a Palestinian state.”

He added, “We need to move from talk to action, to concrete steps, and it can’t be left up to the warring parties.”

Prince Faisal implied that diplomats could maneuver around an Israeli refusal, referring to “mechanisms within the toolbox of the international community that can overcome the resistance of any party.”

“If we make that decision, the pathway will unfold before us, even if there are those that will try to stop it,” he said. “There are levers clear, there are levers hidden, that can push us in that direction.”

Mr. Safadi, the Jordanian foreign minister, said that the challenge Arab states had faced while trying to resolve the conflict was that “we don’t have a partner in Israel now.”

“Do we allow Netanyahu to doom the future of the region to more conflict, war and destruction — or do we do what it takes to force peace?” he said.

Speaking on the same panel, Sameh Shoukry, Egypt’s foreign minister, said that if the international community made a “categorical” commitment to creating a Palestinian state, there were “points of leverage that can fulfill that requirement.”

“We have the mechanisms, but is there the political will to utilize it?” he asked.

— Vivian Nereim reporting from Riyadh, Saudi Arabia

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