Recent Beyond Intractability Posts
Including Hyper-Polarization Posts
Posts by BI Section
Lists of recent posts are also available separately for each BI Section:
Hyper-Polarization Discussion Posts | Earlier Constructive Conflict Initiative Blog
Things You Can Do To Help | Conflict Frontiers | Conflict Fundamentals
Beyond Intractability in Context | Colleague Activities
- Entrapment -- This psychological tendency has caused a lot of avoidable pain and suffering--but it is avoidable. #mbi_fundamentals -- Sep 23
- South Sudan youth use peace tech, bicycles to battle COVID-19 misinformation -- A simple, doable, innovative approach to countering local disinformation campaigns. #mbi_colleague -- Sep 23
- Overcoming Oppression With Power -- When persuasion isn't enough, power must be added to overcome oppression. But that doesn't mean violence. #mbi_fundamentals -- Sep 23
- I Predict Your Predictions Are Wrong -- The first key to successfully applying technical expertise to the solution of real-world problems is to understand the limits of that expertise. #mbi_context -- Sep 23
- The Peace Tech Lab -- An interesting organization working to improve "the capacity of civil society to utilize social media platforms in their peacebuilding work" #mbi_colleague -- Sep 23
- Will COVID-19 Transform the Global World Order? -- A conversation with Bruce Jentleson, Professor of Public Policy and Political Science, Duke University and Wilson Center Global Fellow. #mbi_colleague -- Sep 23
- Does Protest Work? -- Thoughtful reflections on the upside and downside of protests and how to determine whether the net effect is positive or negative. -- Sep 22
- Peace Innovation Lab at Stanford -- This lab combines psychology, tech, and business to design practical interventions that increase sustainable, mutually-beneficial social behavior. #mbi_colleague -- Sep 22
- The Mistakes That Will Haunt Our Legacy -- In the midst of our assessment of historical figures by contemporary standards, it's worth thinking about how we will be judged by future standards. -- Sep 22
- Nonviolence and Nonviolent Direct Action -- Evidence suggests nonviolent action is actually more effective than violence because it minimizes backlash. -- Sep 22
- Overcoming Oppression Through Persuasion -- Persuasion doesn't have the risks that come with the use of force, and can be very effective. -- Sep 22
- Americans Are Self-Censoring at Record Rates -- Peacebuilders have long recognized the critical importance of mutual understanding. For this, we need safe spaces for honest conversations. #mbi_context -- Sep 21
- Limiting Escalation/De-escalation -- Escalation often happens very quickly and easily, while de-escalation is typically very slow and difficult. But it is essential, and possible. #mbi_fundamentals -- Sep 21
- Overcoming Oppression: Awakening the Sense of Injustice -- Many have recently awakened to U.S. injustice--but will this awakening last? #mbi_fundamentals -- Sep 21
- Peace Direct -- Working with local communities to stop violence and build sustainable peace. #mbi_colleague -- Sep 21
- How to Identify Flawed Research Before It Becomes Dangerous -- One key to being able to effectively use society's expertise is being able to distinguish reliable from unreliable sources of information. -- Sep 21
- In the Future, Propaganda Will Be Computer-Generated -- Even more reason to find a truly effective way to shut down many new technologies that make it so easy for the powerful to manipulate public opinion. -- Sep 21
- We Are All Algorithms Now -- An exceptionally good explanation of how social networking systems are dominating and warping our view of the world and driving us even further apart. -- Sep 20
- Polarization -- Polarization is insidious and dangerous. Steps should be taken to avoid it when possible, and reverse it when it has already developed. -- Sep 20
- The Future of Civil Society Organisations -- From The International Civil Society Centre, an important report on the future of CSOs during and after the pandemic. #mbi_colleague -- Sep 20
- Maintaining Oppression -- Oppression is maintained through superior power, control of meaning, self-fulfilling prophecies, and distorted relationships. -- Sep 20
- Three-quarters of Americans know only a few people who support the candidate they themselves oppose -- More data on just how politically segregated we have become. Increasingly, all we know about the other side is filtered through inflammatory media. -- Sep 20
- Mapping Responses to Social Media Threats -- Lisa Schirch -- A discussion of social media threats to social cohesion, human rights, and democracy, plus creative options for addressing those threats. -- Sep 20
- International Idea: Supporting Democracy Worldwide -- IDEA, the Institute for Democracy and Election Assistance supports efforts to make democracy work worldwide. -- Sep 17
- Voters’ Attitudes About Race and Gender Are Even More Divided Than in 2016 -- A reminder that we are a long way from a national consensus on issues of race and gender. We need more constructive ways of addressing our differences. -- Sep 17