Chapter 1: Concepts and Frameworks §

Class: IS404 Created Time: September 28, 2021 2:19 PM Database: Class Notes Database Last Edited Time: November 20, 2021 8:57 PM Type: Lecture

1. Conflict Resolution Models §

1.1. Characteristics of Conflicts §

• Conflict is a universal characteristic of human society, groups, international level that can’t be eliminated
  • This will focus on macro-level conflicts
  • Conflicts is dynamic and can escalate/de-escalate depending on its context

💡 Morton Deutsch differentiate 2 conflicts:

• destructive conflicts is to be avoided

• constructive conflicts are necessary and valuable aspect of human creativity

• Constructive Conflicts: is one that we can minimize the negatives and maximize the positive aspect of it

  • strengthen relations between society members
  • promote peaceful co-existance
  • promote economic development

• Destructive Conflicts: are ones that usually at the stage of violence contact

  • hurt communications, relationship, hostilities, discrimination
  • block social-economic development
  • cost a lot financially and lots of life

1.2. Definition of Conflicts §

• Conflict is the pursuit of incompatible goals by different groups often in related contexts of
  • fights: violent contact, military operations
  • games: competition, fight for resource scarcity
  • debates: the arguments of incompatible goals, ideology, values, perspectives
• The nature of the conflict: party positions in two contexts
  • Consensual Conflict: to fight over the same interests
    • normally economic or material objects (territorial dispute…)
    • disputes that are easier to resolve using economic incentives to reach settlement
  • Dissensual Conflict: more difficult to solve such as values disputes, non-negotiable
    • Conflicts: deeper struggles are harder to resolve need to find common ground for agreement

1.3. Managing a Conflict §

• Managing a conflict’s context could de-escalate it to a lower stage. How?
  • working with society members to address core of conflict to avoid violent uprising
    • conflicts based on old negative emotions could be fixed through reeducation, friendly interactions…

2. Positions, Interests, Needs §

Intractable Conflicts are ones that are avoidable, and happens when the essential needs of countries (survival, security) is denied.

Consensual Conflicts §

• Consensual Conflicts can be resolves by figuring out and differentiating
  • position held by a party
  • their underlying interests and needs to find common interest for negotiation
• How to find the underlying interest and needs
  • can be learned by interactions and communication with the party (info exchange)

💡 Ex: Egypt and Israel’s conflict

• Position: both want control of Sinai region (incompatible)

• Interest/Need:

  • Egypt wants to keep territorial integrity
  • Israel worry about state security

• Israel could rain security through different means or at some compromise

• Position can be changed

• Interests can be met in multiple approaches

Dissensual Conflicts §

• non-negotiable conflicts
• Satisfaction of the basic/essential needs of one country could reinforce the security of another country
  • States will work cooperatively if both is basic needs are satisfied

💡 US & USSR reached survival and security needs by Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty

3. Johan Galtung’s Framework Model §

• Solving a conflict involves a set of dynamic changes
  • de-escalation of conflict behavior
  • a change in attitude
  • transformation of the relationship or clashing interest at the core of the conflict strucutre
• Conflicts can come from the combination of three triangles: conflict, violence, & peace in society

Conflict Triangle §

• 3 forms of violence
• Contradiction: is the actual or perceived incompatibility of goals. It happens all the time in society which must be dealt with, addressed, transformed to avoid negative attitude
  • When the social structures (institutions, law, government) cannot fulfill social values (8 pillars of positive peace), there will be negative attitude to the social structure
• Attitude: the perception of different parties, often influence by emotions
  • Negative attitude, if left unaddressed can lead to negative conflict behavior (discrimination)
• Behavior: cooperation or coercion through conciliation or hostility.
  • Violent conflict behavior come from threats, coercion, or destructive attacks and behavior

Violence Triangle §

• To gain structural/long term peace you must remove all 3 forms of violence
• Structural Violence: a form of violence where some social structure or social institutions may harm people by preventing them from meeting their basic needs (children die from poverty, inequality)
  • The responsibility of the state to satisfy its peoples basic needs
  • Restructure society: distribute resources to those who needs it
• Cultural Violence: is the cultural aspects in society that justify the structural violence the state is doing to the people
  • Cultural discrimination by policy makers to benefit one over the other from negative attitude
• Direct Violence: use of physical force, killing, intentional, and visible damage
  • crackdowns, murder of innocents
  • results from the violent behavior of conficts

Peace Triangle §

• 3 forms of peace: can be formed using
• Peace building: reforming structure of society to remove structural contradiction and to aim for sustainable growth for society
• Peace making: educating about understanding one another’s differences, relationship building, remove negative emotions from supposed ‘enemy’
• Peace keeping: third party uses peaceful means to resolve conflicts between the parties based on three principles
  • the consent of the parties involved
  • the impartiality of the peacekeeping force
  • the non-use of force except in self-defense or defense of mandate

💡 Ex: Khmer Rouge joined the Cambodian election, not eliminated through violent means.

4. A Conflict Escalation and De-escalation Model §

• A conflict is dynamic

  • it can widen by drawing in other parties
  • deepen and spread by generating secondary conflicts within main parties or outsiders

• How a conflict scales up and scales down:

• 💡 Conflict Escalation and De-escalation

  • Difference
    • Contradiction
      • Polarization
        • Violence
          • War
        • Ceasefire
      • Agreement
    • Normalization
  • Reconciliation

• De/escalation can skip steps either up or down

Hourglass Model for Conflict Resolution §

1:42:42

5. Hourglass Model Conflict Resolution §

6. Theories and Frameworks §

• Classifications of Theories

1. Internal Theory of Conflict: they locate the source of the conflict for the characteristics within the nature of the protagonists.
   • Individual Characteristic Theories: practice, conditions that influence individual’s behaviors’ violent/peaceful
   • Culture, Racism, Religions, Ideology differences
   • How individuals form into groups of like minded to achieve similar goals
2. Relational Theory of Conflict: look for sources in relations between the conflicting parties/groups/members
   • Interactions groups and their members interact within & among the other groups
     • How they come up with certain POV or behavior
     • Power relationship, nature of interaction between groups
   • Theory: Cause Benefits, Relational Theory, Constructivism
     • Adam Smith: how an individual pursue their interest according to their social interactions
3. Contextual Theory of Conflict: social, cultural, outside environments that condition and structure the actions that happen in the conflict
   • Prominent Theory: Marxism: the broken capitalism system forces the rich to subconsciously oppress the poor.
   • Institutional Arrangements that keeps the poor poor and the rich rich

More Causes of Conflicts §

• Niccolò Machiavelli: conflict is the result of the human desire for self-preservation and power
• Thomas Hobbes: the three principal causes of quarrels in a state of nature were (internal)
  • competition for grain
  • fear of insecurity
  • defense of honor
• [David Hume]: the underlying condition for human conflict were
  • scarcity of resources
  • limited altruism: lack of reciprocal actions

7. Edward Azar’s Theory of (PSC) §

• Protracted Social Conflicts (PSC): are conflicts from pursuit of basic human needs
  • Rights & freedom
  • Security & survival
  • Recognition & acceptance
  • Economic particiation
• If these are absent: these social groups form into complex parties to ensure their needs separate from one another
  • could lead to ethnic conflicts: each groups look for their own benefits at the cost of another group’s interest (win-lose)
• Why does it lead to Protracted Social Conflicts?
  • It’s protracted because it’s hard to deal with
  • Not obvious for solution: need to find shared interest, needs, and fears

Four Preconditions for PSCs §

1. Comunal Content: The identity differences between social, cultural, and religious groups that are treated differently in the context of society. Leading to multi-communal, fragmentation, discrimination, that divides society into having negative perceptions of one another.
   • Possible Solution: identity differences could be re-categorized into common identity
2. Deprivation of Human Needs: Failure to satisfy basic needs leading to dissatisfied social groups who are marginalized and will pursue their interests despite opposition from occupier.
   • Possible Solution: work on institutional restructuring for equal treatment, equal distribution of resources, unbiasedness
3. Governance and State Roles: Monopolization of power, limited resources, limited capacity of stay in control, and a crisis of legitimacy. Have R2P. If power is used to oppress or malicious ways, citizen groups will
   • Possible Solutions: change structure of governance and need to work with IOs and make sure all citizens are equally cared for an equally represented without bias or corruption.
     • Remove social injustice, atrocities, equal treatment, fight against corruption
4. International Linkage: economic dependency on assistance from foreign states and political-military linkage is influenced by foreigners,
   • Possible Solutions: build institutions to remove global dependency to stimulation domestic economic growth independently

8. An Interpretive Framework for Conflict Analysis §

Sources of Contemporary Conflict: a framework

1. Global:
   • North-South ideological, wealth/economic divide
   • Environmental Constraints: South China Sea, oil, fisheries resources
   • Weapons Proliferation: nuclear weapons, contest of military might
   • Ideological Contestation: Cold War, communism vs liberalism
2. Regional
   • Spillover effects between neigboring countries
   • Cross-border social demography, similar ethnicities grouping together across countries for same purpose?
3. States:
   • Weak Societies: from cultural divisions, ethnic imbalances
   • Weak Economies: from poor resources base, relative deprivation
   • Weak Politics: social/political differences between partisan gvernment, and doubts in regime illegitimacy
4. Conflict Party: Group mobilization, intergroups dynamics
5. Elite/Individual: leaders who have powers to influence supports.
   • Exclusionist policies they form policies that benefit one group but hurt others
     • Factional Interests
   • Greedy practice by elites

💡 At what level does the conflict analysis project looking at out of the 5 different levels

• Afghanistan Conflict Brief and Theoretical Perspectives

Financial Resources Needed to Finance a Conflict §

• To convince neighboring states to stop trading with the conflicting parties