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
- Constructive Demonstration Strategies -- Primal screams don't change policy or public opinion. Demonstrators should know their goals--and the best way to accomplish them. #mbi_cci -- Sep 01
- Power and Rights v. Interest-Based Approaches to Political Discussion -- The shift from single to multiple truths happens automatically when we ask questions that do not require a single correct answer. #mbi_colleague -- Sep 01
- The Base-Mobilization Trap -- The inflammatory tactics that make mobilize-the-base politics so effective are tearing us apart In ways that will be very difficult to reverse #mbi_cci -- Sep 01
- Stand Up for the Wrongly Accused! -- If you're going to fight for justice, you must also fight for the innocent. #mbi_context -- Sep 01
- Is Contact Tracing Working in the U.S.? -- The failure of contact tracing in the US is one reason why COVID-19 is as much a conflict problem as it is an epidemiological problem. -- Aug 31
- (When) Should We Escalate? -- What determines whether escalation of the conflicts over police brutality and systemic racism is beneficial? What can be done to make it as constructive as possible? #mbi_cci -- Aug 31
- Why We Can’t “Just All Get Along”: Dysfunction in the Polity and Conflict Resolution and What We Might Do About It -- We can't "all just get along!" and this is why--and what can be done about it. -- Aug 31
- Games for Peace -- Games for Peace is pioneering the use of Video Games for fostering dialog and trust between young people in conflict zones. #mbi_colleague -- Aug 31
- What Happens When We Have an Election That Both Sides Absolutely Positively Can't Afford to Lose? -- Seeing the possibility of electoral defeat as totally unacceptable justifies the use of the most extreme and dangerous forms of political combat. #mbi_cci -- Aug 30
- State of Peacebuilding 2019: Seven Observations -- One of the leading peacebuilding scholars reflects on seven areas where the peace building field is making important advances. #mbi_colleague -- Aug 27
- What Motivates Voters More Than Loyalty? Loathing -- This 2018 article reminds us again of what happens when fear and hatred become the principal drivers of political opinion and action. #mbi_context -- Aug 27
- The "Primal Scream" Syndrome and the Havlick Solution -- Self-righteous expressions of anger risk making things worse rather than better unless they are accompanied by real problem-solving. #mbi_cci -- Aug 27
- Protesters target D.C. diners, triggering backlash after heckling woman -- This is the kind of thing that can quickly undermine a movement's effectiveness while also driving the escalation spiral closer to overt violence. #mbi_context -- Aug 26
- The Crane Brinton Effect -- The key to successful revolutionary (or evolutionary) change a broadly agreed-upon vision for a better society in which most everyone would like to live. #mbi_fundamentals -- Aug 26
- Burnout, splinter factions and deleted posts: Unpaid online moderators struggle to manage divided communities -- An story about the difficulties encountered by volunteers who are trying to facilitate constructive online conversations across political divides. #mbi_colleague -- Aug 26
- Republicans: The Party of No Content -- Apparently, our us-vs-them politics has reached the point where the GOP doesn't feel a need to explain how they would solve the nation's problems. #mbi_context -- Aug 25
- Conflict Styles -- Competition, collaboration, compromise, avoidance, and accommodation all have costs and benefits. Know which is best when! #mbi_fundamentals -- Aug 25
- Local Voices Network -- A unique physical-digital network designed to foster conversation in communities and in the media that improves our understanding of one another. #mbi_colleague -- Aug 25
- There’s a Question My Confederate Ancestors Taught Me To Ask -- Amid today's renewed condemnation of those who fought for the Confederacy, it's worth asking what we would have done had we been in their situation. #mbi_context -- Aug 24
- Heidi Burgess and Guy Burgess: Framing the Events of Spring and Summer 2020 -- It's time "we, the people" start taking control of our frames, focusing on shared frames instead of the polarizing ones we are being fed. #mbi_fundamentals -- Aug 24
- China’s Artificial Intelligence Surveillance State Goes Global -- As we struggle with past injustices, we must also fight the injustices of the future. Chinese-style authoritarianism could easily come here. #mbi_context -- Jul 29
- Mass Media -- Everything we know about world events is filtered through the media. When those filters are flawed we can wind up fighting against our interests. #mbi_fundamentals -- Jul 29
- Persuasion -- A promising effort to create a space outside of the typical left/right media silos for persuasive argument regarding today's tough issues. #mbi_colleague -- Jul 29
- Let’s throw the kitchen sink at covid-19 and get back to normal by October -- A sobering, but hopeful, reminder of how much better things could be if we could get past our divisive politics and actually work together. #mbi_context -- Jul 28
- Constructive Escalation -- By choosing one's conflict strategies carefully, it is possible to build support without the destructive consequences that usually accompany escalation. #mbi_fundamentals -- Jul 28