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In questioning traditional assumptions of the inevitability of war and conflict the main contention is that resolution of conflict is to be achieved by a collaborative, analytical problem-solving approach, involving both a set of theoretical assumptions about society (and conflict in particular), informed by modern social science and a set of practical procedures for intervening in a conflict situation. The proposed framework for resolution is distinguished from the processes of adjudication, arbitration, conciliation, mediation and settlements. Such processes all involve elements that conflict with the concept of "resolution" itself, which implies an outcome freely acceptable to all parties. This handbook covers all phases of involvement in a conflict situation, including the selection of a situation, the identification of the parties involved, and the setting up and use of "workshops".
The handbook works from a premise that locates the problem as violence itself, and not a particular group of people or set of issues. Targetting, as it does, deep-rooted conflict (defined as recurring conflict arising from parties holding ostensibly non-negotiable values), this handbook is relevant, in the light of the ongoing conflicts of, amongst other, Northern Ireland, Israel and Palestine, and the Armenians and Azeris. Offering a blueprint for the restructuring of thought on resolution, it also tackles questions of intervention: debates ranging on the situation in Somalia and the former Yugoslavia beg reassessment of such roles and issues.
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Chapter 1 - Conflict as a Resolvable Problem
Chapter 2- Conflict Resolution as a Complex Process
Chapter 3 - Resolving Intractable Conflicts
Chapter 4 - The Logic of a Collaborative Analytical Approach
Chapter 5- Diagnosing The Situation
Chapter 6 - Contacts: Access to the Parties
Chapter 7 - Arrangements for the First Workshop
Chapter 8 - The Conduct of a Workshop
Chapter 9 - The Results of the Workshop
Appendix Two - A Brief Guide to the Work of Some Pioneering Scholar-Practitioners
Appendix Three - A Guide to the Republic of Zandia
Interview with Dr. Christopher Mitchell (short version)
Interview with Dr. Christopher Mitchell (Full version)
