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
- Modernizing Congress: Bringing Democracy into the 21st Century -- A step in the right direction -- developing ways to improve Congress' problem-solving ability (and provide an alternative to partisan gridlock). #mbi_colleague -- Jan 16
- Understand Your--and Others'--Fundamental Human Needs -- What would happen if we focused on meeting the fundamental human needs of our adversary and then asked them to do the same? #mbi_to_do -- Jan 16
- This Has Been the Best Year Ever -- As we struggle with today's very difficult challenges, we should not lose track of the fact that, in many ways, things are getting better. #mbi_context -- Jan 16
- The Presidential Nominating Process Is Absurd -- For those frustrated by the Presidential nominating process, ideas for making things better. #mbi_context -- Jan 15
- Why Chain Exercise -- An exercise for students (and everyone else). Instead of a single cause, think in terms of a chain of causes that explain why things happen. #mbi_activities -- Jan 15
- The Democratic Debates Are a Fantasy World -- For the debate and the campaign, a much better set of questions (if we want a President who can really solve problems (and heal the country). #mbi_context -- Jan 15
- Intellectual humility: the importance of knowing you might be wrong -- A story about an important new effort to get closer to the truth by encouraging people to admit and then work to correct their own misconceptions. #mbi_context -- Jan 13
- A Ridiculously Optimistic History of the Next Decade -- David Brooks has a great new game. Imagine an optimistic future in which we constructively handle our differences (& try to make it happen). #mbi_context -- Jan 07
- How a ‘quantum change’ in missiles has made Iran a far more dangerous foe -- For those who think that the US will easily win a military confrontation with Iran, sobering news that the balance of power has shifted! #mbi_context -- Jan 07
- How Hypocrisy Became Standard Operating Procedure for the U.S. Government -- An analysis of the daunting problems that will have to be solved in order to prevent the kind of hypocrisy revealed by the Afghanistan Papers. #mbi_context -- Dec 18
- The Meaning of Civility -- Before civility can provide an alternative to today's hyper-partisan dysfunction we need a clear image of what it is and isn't. #mbi_frontiers -- Dec 17
- The Economist Who Wants To Ditch Math -- A look at an economist who wants us to move beyond quantitative, rational, econometric models and look at the complexity of human thought. #mbi_context -- Dec 17
- Can social media ‘targetcasting’ and democracy coexist? -- I look at the many implications of an important new word "targetcasting" (as opposed to broadcasting or narrowcasting). #mbi_context -- Dec 13
- When Everything Is a Human Right, Nothing Is -- Amid the ongoing proliferation of "rights," an argument for focusing on building support for a few fundamental rights. #mbi_context -- Dec 13
- News Deeply -- For those who want to move beyond simplistic images of social problems, News Deeply offers tools for more in-depth understanding. #mbi_colleague -- Dec 12
- Coexistence -- We used to talk about coexistence between the US and the USSR. Now, is it time to talk about coexistence between the left and the right? #mbi_fundamentals -- Dec 12
- Human Dignity and Humiliation Studies -- Treating people with simple dignity, a powerful antidote to the destructive energy that arises when people are humiliated. #mbi_colleague -- Dec 12
- Transformative placemaking: A framework to create connected, vibrant, and inclusive communities -- An interesting effort to figure out how, exactly, to create peaceful, prosperous local communities. #mbi_colleague -- Dec 10
- Engineering and Medical Troubleshooting Models -- An argument that medicine not engineering offers a better model for dealing with the complexities of large-scale intractable conflict. conflict. #mbi_frontiers -- Dec 10
- The Doves Were Right. I Was Wrong. -- We need to support those who admit their mistakes and we need to figure out how to more persuasively warn about the dangers of military action. #mbi_colleague -- Dec 10
- The Afghanistan Papers: at War with the Truth -- Like the Pentagon Papers, the Afghanistan Papers reveal another deep betrayal of the public's trust. This time, let's really learn from our mistakes. #mbi_context -- Dec 09
- Teaching Materials -- Free materials that educators can use to help students better understand more constructive ways of handling serious conflict. (Donations appreciated.) #mbi_challenge -- Dec 09
- How a closed-door meeting shows farmers are waking up on climate change -- A hopeful report about much-needed climate change discussions that are occurring away from the partisan spotlight. #mbi_context -- Dec 09
- The Constructive Conflict Imperative -- For students, an article explaining why the promotion more constructive approaches to conflict is central to solving all of society's big problems. #mbi_cci -- Dec 05
- Is Politics a War of Ideas or of Us Against Them? -- A provocative look (with lots of links) at what political scientists see as the complex core of the red/blue divide. #mbi_context -- Dec 05
