Beyond Intractability: A Free Knowledge Base on More Constructive Approaches to Destructive Conflict

Introduction: Carolyn Stephenson, a peace researcher at the University of Hawai'i, talks about alternative definitions of pursuing "security."

This rough transcript provides a text alternative to audio. We apologize for occasional errors and unintelligible sections (which are marked with ???).

Alternative Methods for International Security
Carolyn Stephenson
Professor of Population Studies, College of Social Sciences, University of Hawai'i

Interviewed by
Julian Portilla
2003

Overall, I've been working in an area that I call Alternative Methods for International Security. I'm interested not only in conflict resolution, but in the variety of methods that can change the way we go about pursuing security. Conflict resolution and mediation is a sub-part of that, is one important part, but also things like nonviolence, nonviolent social movements, nonviolent economic sanctions, political sanctions that are not military, and then things like UN peacekeeping and so on. The question that I'm involved in is, "How do you get the mix of these methods that brings about a kind of international social system that gets rid of war but gets you security in a better way?"

Mankind must put an end to war, or war will put an end to mankind. -- John F. Kennedy

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Beyond Intractability Version IV
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Project Acknowledgements

The Beyond Intractability Knowledge Base Project
Guy Burgess and Heidi Burgess, Co-Directors and Editors
c/o Conflict Information Consortium (Formerly Conflict Research Consortium), University of Colorado
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