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


Introduction: The third side recognizes and respects all the other sides, says William Ury. It is "a container for creative contention" that allows for the transformation of the conflict.


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

A Container for Creative Contention
William Ury
Director of the Global Negotiation Project, Program on Negotiation, Harvard Law School
Interviewed by
Julian Portilla
2003

Q: That what I was going to ask you, because all this - whether you're on one side or the other, you consider yourself as someone who is advocating for the whole, and you think your way is the best way.

A: Yeah, but the difference between the third side was very well expressed at the conference which was one of the first times where Chavistas and Anti-Chavistas came together at a conference of maybe a hundred people for a day. Some were politicians, legislators, some were civil society, some were from universities, some were young, some were old, women, men, from different sectors, women's groups and so on, church groups, and there was a bishop there who said, "Let me just get three things straight: Number one, the 'other' exists. Number two, the 'other' has interests; they have needs. Number three, the 'other' has power. Whether we like it or not, let's just recognize those three things."

Q: Speaking to both sides?

A: To both sides. And to me, that's the voice of the third side, saying, "Look, both sides exist." The third side has respect for both sides and respect for the whole. The third side is a container for contention -- for creative contention. The third side is a container within which the conflict, the real issues, between the rich and the poor, and so on, can be actively engaged and transformed. In other words, the forum can be transformed from the destructive violence, or terrorism or coups into dialogue, negotiation, democracy. The aim of the third side isn't so much resolution, as the transformation of the conflict.

 
The absence of risk is a sure sign of mediocrity. -- Charles de Foucauld

Featured Links
Organizations Making Noteworthy Contributions to Efforts to Promote More Constructive Conflict
Gateway Development
Gateway Development


Other Resources from
Beyond Intractability
Taming Intractable Conflicts
Taming Intractable Conflicts

The trick for the mediator is identifying what conflicts it pays to become involved in, how to go about it, and when. Crocker et al. explore some limitations and pitfalls for mediators and go on to suggest how they may most effectively contribute at different stages of the conflict.

Nobel Peace Prize Winners

Linus Carl Pauling
Linus Carl Pauling

California Institute of Technology chemist, and 1962 Nobel Peace Laureate

Beyond Intractability Version IV
Copyright © 2003-2007 The Beyond Intractability Project
Beyond Intractability is a Registered Trademark of the University of Colorado
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
Campus Box 580, Boulder, CO 80309
Phone: (303) 492-1635; Fax: (303) 492-2154; Contact
University of Colorado at Boulder