http://dr-jwilsonmd.livejournal.com/ ([identity profile] dr-jwilsonmd.livejournal.com) wrote in [community profile] fandomhigh2007-01-29 11:19 am
Entry tags:

Conflict Management and Resolution: Mon Period 4 - Class # 4 - Jan 29

This morning marked the return of the hot cocoa, tea and coffee, along with some cheese and crackers or cookies for the students to nibble on to abate their hunger before lunch.

Wilson was perhaps moving a little more stiffly than usual for him but he looked over all pleased, with a hint of snow burn on his face. Someone had spent waaaaayyy to many hours on the slopes yesterday. Leaning back against the desk, he smiled as the students came in and got settled.


“Good morning. Well, I have good news and bad news. The good news is, I forgot to announce our test last week so, despite the fact that it is on the syllabus for today, we’ll be moving it to next week when the mun is not up to her ears in EOM. The bad news is, the material we go over today will be applicable to the test next week.”

Pushing himself away from the desk, Wilson grabbed an overhead film and headed for the projector.



Lecture:

“So, today we are going to discuss the Peace Process.” He began, setting up the film on the overhead and getting right into the lecture.

Peace Process: Like the word "peace," the term "peace process" can be defined in many different ways. Generally, it is a political process in which conflicts are resolved by peaceful means. They are a mixture of politics, diplomacy, changing relationships, negotiation, mediation, and dialogue.

Peaceful Change Strategies: Many distinguish between the "soft path" of negotiation and the "hard path" of force. This essay argues that this is a false dichotomy and that both strategies should be combined in order to transform conflict.

International Violence Prevention

NGO Activities: NGO activities refers to the actions of non-governmental organizations (NGO's)that are used to transform, resolve, or manage conflicts.

Peacemaking: Peacemaking is the term often used to refer to negotiating the resolution of a conflict between people, groups, or nations. It goes beyond peacekeeping to actually deal with the issues involved in the dispute, but falls short of peace building, which aims toward reconciliation and normalization of relations between ordinary people, not just the formal resolution that is written on paper.

Track I Diplomacy: Track I diplomacy involves the actions of official government representatives.

IGO Diplomacy: IGO activities are actions taken by international governmental organizations (IGO's) to transform, resolve, or manage conflicts.

Diplomacy, Track II / Citizen Diplomacy: Diplomacy is the formal negotiation process that takes place between officials of two or more countries.

Addressing Injustice: Injustice ranges from isolated cases of theft and murder to discrimination that has soaked into the structures of a society. Depending on the grievance, injustice can be very difficult to recognize and eliminate. Yet remedying injustice is key to much conflict resolution.

Dealing with Extremists, Spoilers: In large-scale conflicts there are often individuals who take militant, non-compromising, and often violent approaches to the problem. They are committed to driving the escalation spiral until total victory is attained. Although they are often seen as heroes, extremists can prevent the de-escalation of a conflict.

Demobilization: Demobilization is the first step in the transition from war to peace. In a successful demobilization, soldiers transition peacefully back to civilian life, and learn to earn livelihoods through means other than war.

Peace Agreements: In a peace agreement, the parties attempt to outline their new relationship in writing. These resources describe issues and options to be considered when crafting such agreements.

Sanctions and Incentives: Sanctions are punishments that are used to try to influence other nation-states' behaviors. Examples are embargoes and prohibitions from attending international events.

Power-Sharing: In a power sharing agreement, all the major parties in a society are represented in the government instead of just one. Power sharing has the potential to heal a deeply divided society, but it can also lead to deadlock and more conflict.

Preventive Diplomacy: Preventive diplomacy refers to official diplomatic discussions or actions that are designed to prevent violent conflicts or the escalation of existing conflicts.


Peacekeeping: Peacekeeping is the prevention or ending of violence within or between nation-states through the intervention of an outside third party that keeps the warring parties apart. Unlike peacemaking, which involves negotiating a resolution to the issues in conflict, the goal of peacekeeping is simply preventing further violence.

Peacebuilding: Peacebuilding refers to a wide range of processes that are used by individuals, organizations, and governments to create, transform, and maintain peaceful relationships. It aims to reconcile and normalize the relations between people who have been adversaries.

Transformation:Many people believe that conflict happens for a reason and that it brings much-needed change. Therefore, to eliminate conflict would also be to eliminate conflict's dynamic power. In transformation, a conflict is changed into something constructive, rather being eliminated altogether.

Empowerment: Saul Alinsky wrote, "I tell people to hell with charity, the only thing you'll get is what you're strong enough to get." These resources discuss what empowerment is, how it can be accomplished, who should do it, when, and what the outcomes might be.

Reconciliation: Reconciliation is seen as the ultimate goal of peacebuilding, in which parties re-establish relationships and attempt to move beyond the past.

Class Assignment/Homework:

Pulling the last film from the projector, Wilson flipped on the lights and hobbled his way back to the front of his desk.

“Okay, as you can see, there is a lot to this process but I want to give you a taste of how it can work and how the different steps fit together. So, today we’re going to break in to teams of two, with one group of three. I am then going to put up a scenario on the board for your group to work on, starting here in class to be turned in next week for credit.”

Turning towards the board, he picked up some chalk and began to write…poor students.

“What you need to turn in to me is a detailed outline of a peace process proposal for the following scenario. I want you to identify the major sources of the conflict, address them in your peace proposal and then detail the best case scenario short term and long term were your proposal to be accepted and instituted.”

Scenario: There are two countries; Country Cat and Country Dog. These two countries neighbor each other. Country Cat is smaller than Country Dog but Country Cat controls port access to the major trade water way. Country Cat and Country Dog have basic fundamental society differences being that they are Cat and Dog. Dog is bigger than Cat, and has greater land resources and this makes Cat feel defensive but Dog can not affect trade without the cooperation of Cat. Cat fears that Dog is going to attack to gain access to trade route and Dog is becoming desperate enough to initiate aggressive actions. Plot out a peaceful solution to both Cat and Dog’s situation.

Teams:
Marie D'Ancanto / Summer Roberts
Pippi Longstocking / Teddy Altman
Belthazor / Blair Sandburg
Tyler Durden / Jim Ellison
Phoebe Halliwell / Layla Williams / Luke Skywalker
Peter Petrelli / Annette Hargrove
Tori Hanson / Conner McKnight
Naomi Wildman / Lana Lang
Elizabeth Weir / Haruhi Fujioka

"Also, don't forget to study as there will be an interactive test next week in the Danger Room."

[Class shamelessly cribbed from The Conflict Resolution Information Resource. Please wait for The OCDs are raring to go and class is in session!!]

Re: Project Groups

[identity profile] water-wonder.livejournal.com 2007-01-29 07:19 pm (UTC)(link)
"That would definitely help the situation." Tori nodded, in agreement. "So, hopefully Dog will back down and dispel any means of attack, therefore getting Cat to trust them and maybe allowing in a peaceful sharing of the trade route."

Re: Project Groups

[identity profile] connernotconnor.livejournal.com 2007-01-29 07:25 pm (UTC)(link)
"We might have to talk them down. Offer the -- hey, maybe the trade route can be a neutral zone?"

Re: Project Groups

[identity profile] water-wonder.livejournal.com 2007-01-29 07:34 pm (UTC)(link)
"True, that's probably a possibility." Tori agreed. She smiled and nodded. "That could work. That could definitely work." She liked that idea.

"Then, both Cat and Dog CatDog! could have equal access, without anyone losing or gaining land." Hopefully, they'd both be happy with the plan.

Re: Project Groups

[identity profile] connernotconnor.livejournal.com 2007-01-29 08:53 pm (UTC)(link)
Conner turned to a fresh page in his notebook and scrawled Major Sources of Conflict across the top of the sheet. "CatDog! Okay, just to make sure we've got all our bases covered, the biggest thing is that they have cultural differences, right? Cats are all . . . 'la la la, I'm a cat, I'm so cool and composed' and dogs are 'you cats are so stuck-up.'"

Re: Project Groups

[identity profile] water-wonder.livejournal.com 2007-01-29 09:02 pm (UTC)(link)
Tori laughed at Conner's description of the Cat and Dog attitudes. "I believe that is the biggest problem, yes." She nodded. "Another problem is that Dog has more land, while Cat controls a smaller area."

Re: Project Groups

[identity profile] connernotconnor.livejournal.com 2007-01-29 09:06 pm (UTC)(link)
Conner chewed on his pencil and, through a mouthful of eraser, asked, "Any chance we can get Dog to give up some . . . no, that might make them resent Cat more. Crap. Um . . ."

Re: Project Groups

[identity profile] water-wonder.livejournal.com 2007-01-29 09:26 pm (UTC)(link)
"Yeah, I don't think taking away or giving back land is going to make things easier." Tori added, agreeing with Conner. "Is it at all possible to have Dog give some resources to Cat, in exchange for being able to use the trade route peacefully? Without anyone attacking?"

Re: Project Groups

[identity profile] connernotconnor.livejournal.com 2007-01-29 09:52 pm (UTC)(link)
"As a fair exchange, yeah," Conner agreed. "But we're gonna have to make sure something's set up to keep an eye on the whole exchange thing, so they don't start up trying to cheat each other out of resources or accusing each other of cheating." He scribbled that down in the Long-Term Solutions column.

Re: Project Groups

[identity profile] water-wonder.livejournal.com 2007-01-30 01:38 am (UTC)(link)
"Good idea. That's just what we need. Fighting to start up and accusations flying around." Tori mused.

Re: Project Groups

[identity profile] connernotconnor.livejournal.com 2007-01-30 02:43 am (UTC)(link)
"Yeah, that's the last thing we want to deal with. Should we have a plan in place to try and stop Dog from going aggressive?"

Re: Project Groups

[identity profile] water-wonder.livejournal.com 2007-01-30 02:47 am (UTC)(link)
"Right." Tori agreed and nodded. "Yeah, I think we should have some thing, just in case. But hopefully, the resources in exchange for the trade route will keep both parties happy and keep the peace."