The Death of Conflict Resolution

This
plenary was somewhat different from the other evening plenaries in that there
were no speakers invited to give their considered views on the subject. Rather
it was an interactive session which allowed all the Triennial participants to
use their own experience to explore the issue of the current state of conflict
resolution and the implications for the peace movement.

A specific analysis was not used as the basis for the exploration, but it was
proposed that for this discussion conflict resolution should be understood as a
series of procedures characterised as inclusive, equal and focused on the
concerns of all those involved. These procedures have a potential to encourage
parties in conflict to engage in a joint decision-making process to deal with
their differences and disputes.

A series of issues were also proposed for participants to consider and there
were invited to use a variety of discussion methods to bring out contrasting
assumptions and perspectives, and participants actively used the opportunity to
disagree and exchange views. Among the issues raised were:

1. the attraction of conflict resolution for some in the peace movement at
   the end of the Cold War as it seemed to offer the possibility of direct
   involvement in complex intractable disputes were there were no unambiguous
   "good guys" or "bad guys".
2. the potential of conflict resolution to neutralise power imbalances
   between parties because the emphasis on agreed solutions seems to make all
   parties equal but in practice it gives more influence to those able and willing
   to resort to coercion and violence.
3. in the same way, the limited capacity of conflict resolution to cope with
   issues of justice and adequately incorporate a human right perspective because
   conflict resolution depends on the willingness of all parties to co-operate and
   is open to the charge of being morally ambiguous.
4. the possibility that conflict resolution can deal with the dynamics of
   inter-personal conflict but is unable to deal with the forces inherent in
   inter-national conflict.
5. ways in which the insights of a conflict resolution approach might still
   be relevant to peace activists if its current inadequacies are recognised and
   dealt with.

The session was not intended to produce agreed conclusions but
nonetheless some points did emerge:

• conflict resolution has seldom been implemented fully
• conflict resolution does tend to encourage parties in conflict to accept
  the current balance of power
• the application of conflict resolution approaches to some conflicts may
  actually do harm in the long term.
• conflict resolution tends to problematise relationships rather than the
  problems
• the term conflict resolution has become so stretched that it has become
  virtually meaningless.

1998 WRI Triennial index page