The Handbook of Conflict Resolution (3rd ed)

by Peter T Coleman

  The implication of latent attractors for both conflict or peace is that our actions in a conflict can have very different effects on three distinct aspects of the peace and conflict landscape: the current situation (the levels of hostility and harmony in relations right now), the longer-term potential for positive relations (positive attractors), and the longer-term potential for negative relations (negative attractors). This suggests that we need to develop separate but complementary strategies for (1) addressing the current state of a conflict, (2) increasing the probabilities for constructive relations between the parties in the future, and (3) decreasing the probabilities for destructive future encounters. Most attempts at addressing destructive conflict target numbers 1 and 3 but often neglect to increase the probability for future positive relations. But without sufficient attention to the bolstering of attractors for positive relations between parties, progress in addressing the conflict and eliminating future conflict will be only temporary.

  For example, if there is a long history of interaction between disputants, there may be other potential patterns of mental, affective, and behavioral engagement, some of which foster positive intergroup relations. Accordingly, identifying and reinforcing latent (positive) attractors, not simply disassembling the manifest (negative) attractors, should be the aim of both conflict prevention and intervention. A classic approach to this is the identification or development of joint goals and identities in an attempt to establish a foundation of cooperation and eventually trust between parties (Sherif et al., 1961; Deutsch, 1973; Worchel, 1987). Thus, even if dialogue, reconciliation processes, trust-building activities, and conflict resolution initiatives appear to be largely ineffective in situations of protracted struggles, they may very well be acting to establish a sufficiently strong attractor for moral, humane forms of interactions that may provide the foundation for a stable, peaceful future. The gradual and long-term construction of a positive attractor may be imperceptible, but it prepares the ground for a positive state that would be impossible without these actions.

  Of course, establishing latent attractors for peace is only part of the story. The most obvious need is to quell the current state of violence and contain actively destructive processes. This is often done by introducing peacekeeping troops or other forms of regional or international military or police support. However, even when systems de-escalate and appear to move into a state of peace, it is critical that we recognize that the potential for destructive interactions (destructive attractors) is still functioning. Here, it is important that we work actively to begin to deconstruct and dismantle the negative attractors. This entails decoupling some of the reinforcing feedback loops that perpetuate the conflict, thereby lowering the level of supercoherence in the system.

  There are a variety of strategies for delinking reinforcing feedback loops that contribute to complexity collapse and escalation (see Coleman, 2011). For instance, if the structure of conflict binds together perceptions of all the out-group members, showing positive examples of specific out-group members can increase complexity since a single judgment cannot accommodate all the out-group members. Another tack is to find an important (e.g., high-status, charismatic) in-group member who does not share the in-group’s view of the conflict. If this person is sufficiently central that he or she cannot be marginalized within the group, the homogeneity of the in-group’s perspective will be destabilized. These are best determined through the initial mapping of the escalatory system.

  Another strategy for dismantling destructive attractors is to reinstate the salience of individual elements, devoid of their higher-level integration with other elements. Psychological research provides clues regarding this “disassembly process” (Vallacher, Nowak, Markus, and Strauss, 1998; Vallacher and Wegner, 2012). For example, disruptions to ongoing action tend to make people sensitive to the overlearned details of the action, as do instructions to focus on the details of a narrative rather than focusing on the narrative’s larger meaning. When habitual actions and generalized judgments and beliefs are deconstructed in this way, people become vulnerable to new interpretations that provide an avenue of emergence to a coherent perspective. In effect, the tack is to recapture the complexity of a conflict attractor and reconfigure the elements to promote a more benign form of coherence.

  Guideline 10: Restabilize through Dynamic Adaptivity

  Research by Dörner (1996) has taught us a lot about decision making, change, and leadership in complex systems that raises important considerations for fostering sustainable solutions in intractable conflict. His research has shown that participants were able to improve the well-being of the communities they worked with when they (1) made more decisions: they assessed the situation and set a course but then continually adapted, staying open to feedback and reconsidering their decisions and altering their course. They were found to make more, not fewer, decisions as their plans unfolded; finding more possibilities for developing their community’s well-being as the situation evolved. Effective decision makers also (2) acted more complexly: they understood that the problems they were addressing were closely linked with other problems, and so their actions would have multiple effects. Therefore, they introduced many more actions when attempting to achieve one goal. In addition, effective decision makers (3) identified the central issues early on and stayed focused on addressing them, but (4) did not develop a single-minded preoccupation with one solution. If the feedback data informed them that a solution was too costly or ineffective, they altered their approach.

  In the end, it is important to remember that intractable conflicts are different. They follow a unique set of rules and dynamics that make them particularly damaging and unresponsive to standard forms of diplomacy and intervention. The dynamic perspective conceptualizes this difference in terms of basic generic processes that underlie their immense complexity. However, human experience is clearly unique in many respects, and one should never lose sight of the idiosyncratic factors relevant to any particular conflict. Furthermore, much work needs to be done to continue to translate dynamical concepts and principles into hypotheses and develop rigorous and reliable empirical methods to test these hypotheses in order to ultimately increase the efficacy of these strategies for increasing probabilities of peace.

  IMPLICATIONS FOR TRAINING

  Space does not allow detailed discussion of the needs for training in this area. However, the ten guidelines outline many of the objectives to address in a comprehensive training program for practitioners working with intractable conflict. In summary, such training should address

  Understanding nonlinear networks of causation. Developing a basic understanding of how complex, nonlinear systems function, stabilize, and change, including becoming familiar with ideas of emergence, self-organization, attractors, repellers, feedback loops, networks, and unintended consequences.

  Enhancing complex thinking, feeling, acting, and identification. Learning the difference between divergent and convergent thinking and developing the skills for employing both in an iterative fashion when addressing complex, long-term problems. Also, enhancing our capacity for (1) emotional complexity, that is, increasing the degree to which we experience a broad range of emotional events and are able to make subtle distinctions within emotion categories; (2) behavioral complexity, defined as the array of differentiated and even competing behaviors people display; and (3) social identity complexity, or the capacity to identify with contradictory group memberships.

  Thinking globally and locally, and understanding how they are connected. The theory of action identification holds that identities of action vary from low-level identities that tell how an action is done (such as chewing and swallowing) to higher-level identities that indicate the action’s consequences (such as getting nutrition or gaining weight). Understanding these differences is important for learning how to “work down below”—that is, how to identify and address the component parts of problems without their getting snarled in general principles. This is critical to
altering attractor landscapes.

  Understanding latent processes. Understanding how implicit (latent) processes (such as implicit intergroup attitudes and beliefs) operating psychologically and socially can provide important insight into how latent attractors develop and change over time.

  Managing the tensions between short-term and long-term thinking and action. Seeing how crisis intervention and long-term planning often work at cross-purposes and learning how to strike an effective balance are critical for managing the long-term dynamics of intractable conflicts.

  Learning to see both the opportunities and the dangers ahead. The dynamical systems approach suggests that conflict and peace often coexist. It is important to understand how our chronic prevention orientations (concerns with safety) versus promotion orientations (thinking about our hopes and dreams) affect our perceptions of social conflicts, and the importance of both for visualizing and attaining sustainable solutions. This can help us to appreciate the challenges and opportunities for working on constructive and destructive attractors simultaneously.

  Leveraging multilevel strategies. Increasing probabilities for peace often requires thinking and working at different levels (psychological, social, structural, institutional, cultural) simultaneously. This necessitates an understanding of the activities and interventions possible at different levels, the differences in the time they take to unfold in a system, and a sense of the mechanisms that link these initiatives across levels (Coleman et al., forthcoming).

  Together these skills constitute a set of building blocks for developing the capacity to employ the dynamical systems practices effectively. These are all learnable skills—skills that many of us already possess but that most of us would benefit from developing further.

  CONCLUSION

  There are no simple solutions to intractability. Once conflict reaches this level of destructiveness, we can only hope to contain the violence and bloodshed and begin the considerable work of repairing the damage to people, places, and relationships. This is a daunting task, but there is hope—hope in prevention. Intractable conflicts usually have a long history of escalation prior to reaching crisis and entrenchment. We must find ways to intervene earlier, when disputants can still see the humanity and the validity of the other’s needs. Unfortunately, it is typically the squeaky wheel of crisis that grabs the attention of the media, the international community, and our systems of governance. Therefore, we must be proactive in establishing early-warning systems at the community, regional, national, and international levels. Their charge would be to monitor emerging disputes and focus our attention on situations before they become impossible to address. Our greatest hope in working intractable conflicts is to find the means to avert them.

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