Beyond Intractability: A Free Knowledge Base on More Constructive Approaches to Destructive Conflict
Peacebuilding and Post-Conflict Reconstruction Checklist: Intermediaries
Beyond Intractability checklists offer users involved in various conflict situations lists of "things to think about," along with links to sections of Beyond Intractability that relate to each item. People involved in peacebuilding and/or post-conflict reconstruction and stabilization might want to consider the following questions.
Define Concepts Do you understand what peacebuilding is and how it relates to other peace processes — such as peacekeeping, peacemaking, post-conflict reconstruction and stabilization, violence prevention, nation building, and democratization?
Clarify Goals Are you clear about the disputing parties' underlying goals
and interests? Do you understand how these are different from the parties'
positions and why the distinction is important?
Determine the Conflict Stage Is the conflict latent, developing,
or fully escalated? Has it become intractable? Is the conflict ripe for
resolution, or do the parties involved feel it is in their best interest to
continue with the status quo?
Identify Stakeholders / Interest Groups Have you identified the
many interest or stakeholder groups (as well as individuals) who are involved or likely to become involved in the conflict?
Anticipate Stakeholder Reactions Have you determined how these
groups are likely to react to your work? Who will be allies and supporters? Who will be
opponents? Here it is important to recognize within-group differences in
interests and positions.
Levels of Intervention Have you thought about ways in which
different levels of society can contribute to the peacebuilding effort? Have
you also thought about ways these different levels can work together
effectively?
Culture and Conflict Are cultural misunderstandings contributing
to the conflict? Are there differences between the parties in things like
nationality, language, gender or age? Do you know some strategies for
overcoming cultural differences?
Coalition Building / Conflict Minimization For each of the
various stakeholder groups involved in the conflict (including yourself), have you
considered ways of reducing opposition to their efforts while simultaneously
strengthening their networks of allies and supporters?
Persuasion Do you have a strategy for explaining the
stakeholders' goals and actions to each other? For persuading them that the
other stakeholders' goals are reasonable and equitable?
Power / BATNAs Are you clear about the nature of power and how
it affects the parties' "alternatives to a negotiated agreement?" Are you
clear about the powers available to other stakeholders? Have you been able to
demonstrate to people the powers that the parties are willing to use to defend
their interests? (Here you should consider legal, political, and economic
power as well as the ability to undertake or resist violent assaults.)
Misunderstandings Do you know how much of the current conflict might be
attributable to misunderstandings? If not, do you know how to set up
communication processes that might be able to answer this question? And, do
you know how to set up communication processes that might limit these
misunderstandings?
Emotional and Psychological Dimensions Do you know to what extent the
parties' responses are due to emotional and psychological dimensions, such as
anger, fear or prejudice? Do you know what is causing these reactions and how
to address them?
Fact-Finding Do you know how much of the conflict is
attributable to disagreements regarding the basic facts? If not, do you know
how to set up communication processes that might be able to answer this
question? And, do you know how to set up joint fact-finding processes that
might limit factual disagreements?
Escalation Do you know how much of the conflict is attributable
to escalation and polarization? Have you developed and implemented effective
steps to limit or reverse this effect?
Violence If the conflict becomes violent, do you have a strategy
for de-escalating the violence? If the violence is on a small scale, such as
gang violence in a school, is it possible for you to prevent the violence? If
the violence is on a national or international scale, is there anything you
can do to decrease the suffering caused by the violence or to implement violence prevention programs or strategies?
Dispute Systems Design Do you expect a continuing series
of similar disputes? Do you know about options for developing a system for the
handling of routine disputes?
Peace Agreements Do you know how to design a successful peace
agreement, including things like how to reintegrate ex-combatants back into
society, how to enforce the agreement, and how to create social structural
change?
The point of nonviolence is to build a floor, a strong new floor, beneath which we can no longer sink. A platform which stands a few feet above napalm, torture, exploitation, poison gas, A and H bombs, the works. Give man a decent place to stand. -- Joan Baez
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
Peacebuilding and Post-Conflict Reconstruction Checklist: Intermediaries
