IS404 Reflection 1: Chapter 2 §

Class: IS404 Created Time: October 12, 2021 12:18 PM Database: Assignment Database Last Edited Time: October 20, 2021 10:17 AM References: CMRAI-C2 Managing intractable conflict Status: Done Type: 📑

CMRAI-C2 Managing intractable conflict

The chapter discusses the process of managing a conflict from preventing conflicts, containing conflicts, dealing with its destruction, and its aftermath. Communication is said to be the key in keeping a tenuous but peaceful relations between adversaries from flaring into all out violent conflicts. As in the case of the United States and the Soviet Union in the Cold War, they communicated effectively and accurately understand one another’s limitations, and capabilities, therefore, never had direct conflicts. In these long-term conflicts, actions needs to be taken to stop it from turning violent. Negative perceptions and attitudes towards one another may become engrained by generational heritage. Education, teachings of emphatize with others, and understanding compromises could lead to positive behavioral changes to stop disparaging against old adversaries. Actions can also be taken to reduce the incompatible goals, find alternate win-win approaches, or compromises and increase compatibilities of goals to better relations and reduce chance of violence. The chapter mentions the usual approach to resolve a conflict comes in three steps. 1) to identify the specific types of issue of tension. 2) to discover the underlying core reason for the conflict. and 3) to form systems or processes to eliminate those core reasons. Peaceful resolutions are the ideal way to achieve this, without the need of violence to achieve their own goals. However, conflicts should be stopped before it started in the first place. Conflict preventions are more effective, cheaper to maintain, and easier than stopping an on-going conflict, especially violent ones. It also causes massive destruction and costs of life. Normally these conflicts flare from fear and distrust between actors. These can be dealt with multiple ways. Institutional arrangements could bring about more equality and address issues of distraught in society. Humanitarian interventions could also intervene to reduce the commonaility of innocent civilian deaths. Finally, international interventiosn could be deployed to help states without proper order or governance to have social order and protection for civilians. Although coercive diplomacy could be used, it strictly must be paired with long-term planning. However, political and economical issues should not take a back seat, to have the state one day not rely on external assistance anymore.