Intractable Conflict Research Articles

Re-thinking trauma: Local journalism, peace-building and continuous traumatic stress (CTS) on the violent margins of Colombia

The study of trauma in journalism tends to assume that trauma exposure (whether it has been a single event or a series of cumulative episodes) is past and finite. However, this article argues that the notion of trauma exposure as temporally located in the past fails to adequately capture the experiences of local, indigenous journalists living and working in contexts of protracted conflict or violence. There is a growing, if contested, acknowledgement that existing conceptualizations of traumatic stress, such as post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD), have limited utility in conditions of ongoing violence and danger. In contrast, and based on a participant observation study conducted over three years, this article proposes a spectrum of continuous traumatic stressors and charts the continuous traumatic stress (CTS) of four local reporters in Colombia, living and working in a context of intractable conflict. In this setting, where local journalists have become agents for peace, CTS conjoins the mental wellbeing of individual reporters with their capacity for peace-building.

Mirroring the Conflict Situation of the Oil-rich Niger Delta Region of Nigeria on the Screen: A Thematic Analysis of the Film - Black November

This study examines the potentials of film in managing conflict in the oil rich Niger Delta region of Nigeria. This is against the backdrop that since the commencement of oil production in the region in the 1960s to date, it has continued to experience one form of armed conflict or the other. These manifest in several ways such as kidnapping of foreign oil workers, vandalization of oil facilities and confrontation with security operatives by militants, leaving adverse effects on the Nigerian economy which depends on crude oil as the major source of income. The paradox of plenty or resource curse that has come to characterize the region and how it can be addressed, therefore, is what prompts the current study. Using the Nollywood film- Black November, the study demonstrates that film is an instrument that can be used effectively to manage conflicts in the region. From the viewpoint of Singhal and Rogers’ Entertainment-Education approach, the study adopts thematic analysis to identify and discuss the various themes embedded in the film. Findings indicate that several forces are behind the intractable conflict in the region as contained in the film, such as exploitation of resident communities by multinational oil companies, environmental degradation occasioned by oil spillage and gas flaring, and gross injustice, insincerity and human rights abuse by security operatives that make the people lose faith and confidence in both them and the government which they represent. Other causes include betrayal and corruption on the part of community leaders and the burning fire of patriotism in the youth who are determined to fight for their rights. Given the rich thematic embodiment of the film, the study concludes that film has potentials which, if effectively harnessed, will go a long way in managing conflicts in the society.

Social Cohesion From the Top‐Down or Bottom‐Up? The Cases of South Sudan and Burundi

Both Burundi and South Sudan experience intractable conflicts which national and international actors struggle to resolve. Efforts to consolidate the nation‐state and foster social cohesion seem to be unsuccessful. As has been well documented in the literature, top‐down efforts to facilitate social cohesion by international and national actors are not enough to foster sustainable peace. Yet the dynamics and actors involved in bottom‐up interventions for social cohesion are less well understood than elite interventions. This article contributes to a deeper understanding of the bottom‐up interventions and explores the vertical integration between top‐down and bottom‐up efforts at social cohesion that exist along the local, national, and international trajectory in the two cases. Particularly in contexts such as South Sudan and Burundi, which are characterized by societies that are held together through complex social and relational networks, and in which informal governance and conflict resolution mechanisms hold high levels of legitimacy, this under‐researched aspect of social cohesion may hold critical insights in terms of consolidating nation‐states. The article provides an argument for the consideration of bottom‐up approaches for more integration of social cohesion mechanisms.

Pacing emotional labour of qualitative research in an intractable conflict environment

Qualitative field research in any type of terrain calls for a practice‐oriented reflection on the researcher's emotional labour management in relation to the context of the field before, during, and beyond data collection. Intractable conflict environments (ICE) are characterised by long‐running social crises still unresolved. This particularity makes such contexts risk‐prone in terms of unpredictable dangers and unexpected outcomes, hence, the requirement for thorough ethical evaluation of field research designs. Field researchers, often working on their own, are expected to safely make ethically sound decisions while gathering high‐quality data within complex social realities of which they are often socio‐culturally not savvy. This inevitably exacerbates the emotional burden on the researchers and makes fieldwork challenging. Although feminist geographers notably have significantly contributed to highlighting the social dynamics of fieldwork by initiating and deepening discussions of the emotional and ethical challenge, discussions have rarely gone beyond underlining the need for recognition of the field researchers' emotional labour. Despite academic consensus for reflexive analysis and field diary‐keeping, little has been discussed on how to systematically manage this effort during the research process. In this paper, building on the first author's PhD fieldwork experience in Israel and the West Bank area, we propose a paced field research organisation method – PFROM – which systematically accommodates time and space for the researcher's engagement with and detachment from the field research's intensity. Applying the concept of pacing – intentionally distributing focused attention in such a way that will reduce fatigue prior to the completion of a task – this framework systematically integrates reflexivity within research designs. The PFROM provides researchers with a tool applicable beyond intractable conflict contexts which has the potential to enhance their emotional labour management.

Reconfiguration of state–society relations: The making of uncompromising nail households in urban housing demolition and relocation in Dalian, China

Based on an ongoing housing demolition and relocation project in Dalian, this article describes uncompromising nail households, who have resisted resettlement through intractable conflict and prolonged bargaining. Building upon a state–society approach, this article reveals a new relationship between state, society and governance in the institutional background of neoliberal urbanism in China. Uncompromising nail households within this transforming governance system are able to individually equip and maintain their resistance. The article identifies heterogeneous uncompromising nail households: ‘hard’, who maintain a firm stance throughout the bargaining process; and ‘hardened’, who increase resistance during the process of bargaining. These findings contribute to understanding of the reconfiguration of state–society relations, and demonstrate significant contradictions between the central and local states in the dynamics of change in neoliberal urbanism in China.

How do conflict narratives shape conflict- and peace-related outcomes among majority group members? The role of competitive victimhood in intractable conflicts

Previous research in the Turkish–Kurdish conflict context highlighted two opposing conflict narratives: (a) a terrorism narrative and (b) an independence narrative. In this article, we argue that these narratives are relevant to protracted and asymmetrical intergroup conflict (e.g., independence struggles), and therefore have consequences for conflict- and peace-related outcomes regardless of conflict contexts. We tested this generalizability hypothesis in parallel studies in the context of Turkish–Kurdish (Study 1) and Israeli–Palestinian relations (Study 2) among majority group members (Turks and Jewish Israelis, respectively). We also investigated competitive victimhood as a potential mediating variable in the relationship between conflict narratives on the one side and support for non-violent conflict resolution, forgiveness, and support for aggressive policies on the other, in parallel studies with the two aforementioned contexts. We argue that the terrorism narrative is essentially a negation of the narrative of the other group, and the independence narrative is a consideration of that narrative; therefore, competitive victimhood would be lower/higher when the narrative of the other is acknowledged/denied. Results point to the crucial relationship between endorsing conflict narratives and conflict- and peace-related outcomes through competitive victimhood, and to the possibility that these conflict narratives may show some similarities across different conflict contexts.

Triple exclusion: Life stories of Jewish migrant academics from the former Soviet Union at a contested university under siege

Three decades have passed since the commencement of the largest influx of immigration in the history of the State of Israel, during which approximately one million Russian-speaking Jews from the Former Soviet Union (FSU) immigrated to Israel. Thousands of these immigrants held academic positions in the FSU and sought to continue their work in Israeli academia, which at that time lacked the capacity to include them. Many of the immigrants were directed to work and sometimes live in the West Bank, a contested region acknowledged by the international community as occupied Palestinian land. This study examines the life stories of scholars who emigrated from the FSU and are currently employed at Ariel University, an institution located in the Israeli city of Ariel in the West Bank. Drawing on semi-structured interviews with sixteen academics, this study explores their experiences of immigration, its effects on their academic career in Israel, and their integration into Ariel University in light of the intractable Israeli-Arab conflict. The construct of triple exclusion is used to bring together three layers of participant experiences - as Jews in Soviet society, as Russian-speaking immigrants in Israel, and as academics working at a contested institution. The study provides a nuanced analysis of each of these three layers of exclusion, offering insights for further research in the field of academic mobilities. Moreover, it reveals that many of the interviewed academics de-politicise the conflict, as a survival strategy, and thus contribute to the normalisation of the Israeli presence in the occupied territories of the West Bank.

Post-ISIS Era and the State Dissolution in the Middle East: Iraq as a Case

Since its establishment, the modern Iraqi state has witnessed instabilities, insurgencies, continuous cyclic violent conflicts among its heterogenic components. The emergence of IS group in Iraq was the latest and at the same time one of the darkest episodes in the series of modern Iraq's turbulent history. This bloody and horrible violent wave that embodied in the form of such terrorist organization, which committed all kinds of brutality against humanity, forced ordinary Iraqi people from all its heterogenic populations, together with experts to question the possibility of peaceful coexistence, stability, and continuance in living together within the border of an integrated Iraq. Unlike most experts that tend to deal with each of Iraq's violent waves separately and prescribe particular prescriptions for each of them, this paper argues that those continuous, persistent, and intractable conflicts were just symptoms, and the cause of modern Iraq's problems had proceeded from misperception and miscalculations of both exogenous state builders (Great Britain and the USA) during their efforts for state-building in Iraq in the 1920s and 2003 respectively. According to this paper, in the case of Iraq's state-building, non-ethnic solutions (assimilation, and integration), and even ideal ethnic solutions like federation have been experienced without any tangible progress regarding durable and long-standing stability in Iraq. By keeping the fact that primordial ethno-sectarian affiliations are beyond transformation in mind, the study endorses the 'soft partition plan' presented as the latest proposal for a new state-building process in Iraq which supported by some scholars, academics, and essential international political figures that have their fingerprint on the global level.

Expanding structurational divergence theory by exploring the escalation of incompatible structures to conflict cycles in nursing

Intractable workplace conflicts that impede individual and organizational success are common, yet little is understood about how such cycles are formed. Structurational divergence (SD) theory explains intractable conflict cycles resulting from incompatible meaning structures. SD-nexus is the interpenetration of equally compelling but incompatible structures, creating unresolvable conflicts, thus escalating the SD-nexus to the SD-cycle of intractable conflict: unresolvable conflict, immobilization, and erosion of development that perpetuates the unresolvable conflicts. The presence of both SD-nexus and SD-cycle is diagnosed as SD. SD has been studied in nursing, contributing to negative occupational outcomes (e.g., burnout, bullying, role conflict, low job satisfaction, and high turnover). No research has examined how SD-nexus escalates to SD-cycle. This study presents an exploratory secondary analysis of data from a previous study. Communication-related variables that are significantly correlated with SD were used to determine which may be associated with SD-nexus-to-SD-cycle escalation. Results suggest that nonconfrontational conflict management style and taking conflict personally may escalate SD. Future research examining these variables, along with self-efficacy and other variables gleaned from the literature, is recommended.

Developing ReApp: an emotion regulation mobile intervention for intergroup conflict

ABSTRACT People living in areas of intractable conflicts experience extreme negative emotions which ultimately lead to support of aggressive policies. Emotion regulation and particularly cognitive reappraisal has been found to be effective in reducing negative emotional experiences and shifting policy preferences. Therefore, it is important to develop scalable, evidence-based interventions aimed at regulating negative emotions in such contexts. In this paper, we introduce ReApp – a mobile game, aimed at training people to regulate their emotions using cognitive reappraisal. We examine the game's effectiveness in reducing negative emotions and support for aggressive policies in the context of the Israeli-Palestinian conflict. Results indicate that people who played ReApp experienced lower levels of anger and disgust, and were less supportive of aggressive political policies targeted at the outgroup. We believe that games such as ReApp could potentially influence mass audiences and by that promote conflict resolution.

The Normalization of Hatred: Identity, Affective Polarization, and Dehumanization on Facebook in the Context of Intractable Political Conflict

Our study uses a qualitative analysis of social media discourse on a Facebook page to demonstrate how the phenomena of affective polarization and dehumanization are manifested through participation in a homogeneous enclave, or echo chamber. We employ Northrup’s theory of identity in intractable conflict to show how users express their desire for psychological and physical separation from the other and use dehumanizing language that normalizes potentially dangerous levels of hatred during their participation on a Facebook page. This study contributes to our understanding of the link between identity, affective polarization, and dehumanization.

Oil pollution and water conflicts in the riverine communities in Nigeria’s Niger Delta region: challenges for and elements of problem-solving strategies

ABSTRACT In Nigeria’s Niger Delta, oil pollution has significantly harmed the natural environment on which the local people in the Niger Delta depend for their livelihood and sustenance. The direct consequence of oil pollution is that it has led to multidimensional and protracted conflicts in oil-bearing communities. Drawing on fieldwork data, this article examines the ways in which oil pollution harms water resources and fuels conflicts in the local communities. It explores the socio-economic dynamics of the conflicts and insecurity, and how they are aggravated by the ineffectiveness of the measures adopted by the state to manage the conflicts. It argues that the role of local actors in the ecological dislocation have been downplayed and not factored into the measures devised to tackle the intractable conflicts. This article demonstrates how the network of interactions among localised, national and globalised actors aggravate environmental pollution and the complex conflicts in local communities.

Negotiating on Behalf of Previous Generations: Justice in Post-Conflict Contexts

Abstract The focal point of this essay is the duration of intractable conflicts. The mere passage of time has no magical effect on conflicting notions of justice. On the contrary, a succession of crises and tensions accentuates entrenched positions concerning historical grievances. First, we present the processes through which parties defend a particular notion of justice on behalf of previous generations as rational games that depend, to a large extent, on parties’ interests. Second, we examine these processes from a moral perspective. Rather than emphasizing strategic dynamics that are based on political interpretations of the past, we focus on ethical quandaries related to the “paradoxical absence” of those who remain at the center of the justice claims. Third, we go beyond rational and moral dimensions to focus on the emotional weight of traumatic events and their long-lasting impacts on victims’ descendants.

Perspectives on The Soviet Union and the Horn of Africa during the Cold War

Perspectives on <i>The Soviet Union and the Horn of Africa during the Cold War</i>

International Peacemaking in Venezuela's Intractable Conflict

Can international peacemaking efforts succeed in an intractable conflict such as the one in Venezuela? In this paper we put forward a conceptualization of peacemaking processes that underlines their ability to creatively change the terms of a conflict. Then we look at the four dialogue and negotiation processes that have occurred during the government of Nicolás Maduro. Our review shows that, while it is clear that the Maduro government uses dialogue processes as a delay tactic through which it can divide and demobilize the opposition, clear progress has been made in the mediators’ ability to generate concrete articulation and discussion of the conflicting parties’ demands. However, international allies on each side of the conflict are affecting the calculations of the two sides, working against an agreement.

Failed Decolonization of Africa and the Rise of New States: Cartography of the War in Southern Cameroons Ambazonia

The decolonization of Africa is widely looked upon as a past event, but the imprints left behind are still making news headlines today. The process has been the root cause of many conflicts across Africa. Some European colonial powers have maintained control over their colonies using indirect means while some African states have annexed their neighbours. This paper is aimed at examining the decolonization of Southern Cameroon and creating a cartography of the ongoing independence war. To put the analysis in context, similar conflicts across Africa have been reviewed. Empirical and non-empirical methods including cognitive analysis, crowd sourcing and applied research methods were used to gather information and verify/authenticate facts. Geographic information system and remote sensing were used to collect, analyze, and present damaged structures observed through satellite images. I found that United Nations General Assembly Resolution 1514 of 14 December 1960 and Resolution 1608 of 21st April 1961 were not implemented as instructed. Some colonized people were refused the right of self-determination causing intractable conflicts with huge loss of lives. In the Southern Cameroons, over 3000 people have been officially declared killed, over 38,000 are refugees in Nigeria and over 1.5 million persons are internally displaced, as of April 2019. Keywords: Armed Conflict, Cartography, Southern Cameroons, colonialism.

Encuadres mediáticos del Perdón y Reconciliación en el contexto del conflicto armado colombiano

Debido a su duración e intensidad, el conflicto armado colombiano puede ser analizado como un conflicto intratable. La intratabilidad involucra el desarrollo del ethos del conflicto (EDC), un conjunto de creencias sociales compartidas por la mayoría de los miembros de la sociedad, de manera que es usualmente exhibido en el discurso mediático. Este estudio describe, a través de la lexicometría unidimensional y multidimensional, cómo el edc permeó el discurso de cuatro de los principales medios de comunicación en Colombia (El Tiempo, El Espectador, Noticias Caracol, Noticias RCN); específicamente, cómo el EDC caracterizó el encuadre del perdón y la reconciliación durante el proceso de paz entre el Gobierno colombiano y las FARC-EP (2012-2017). Los resultados sugieren que el edc en Colombia se transformó con los diálogos de paz, probablemente promoviendo una orientación hacia la paz. Sin embargo, simultáneamente, algunas de las creencias del edc que contribuyen a la intratabilidad también fueron presentadas en el discurso mediático.

The Israeli Peace Camp

75 Journal of South Asian and Middle Eastern Studies Vol. 43, No.3, Spring 2020 The Israeli Peace Camp Galia Golan* Israel has a very active civil society that includes quite a large array of peace organizations. In fact, the longer the occupation of the West Bank (including East Jerusalem) and the Gaza Strip that began in 1967 lasts, the more such groups multiply. However, this is not a contradiction. Rather the growth of this sector of civil society is commensurate with the growing frustration and even despair of many in the Israeli public regarding the possibilities for a peaceful resolution to the Israeli-Palestinian conflict and an end to the occupation. Therefore, individuals and groups have sought new, untried methods to promote the cause of peace, created new frameworks and the possibility of addressing more and different audiences. This article will try to address the various types of groups, their distinctive features, and their roles over the years with regard to this intractable conflict. What will be more difficult to ascertain is the efficacy of these groups.1 Indeed it is often impossible to judge the impact of civil society and social movement groups, especially those with the amorphous goal of peace. It is also almost impossible to draw a direct line of causality between groups’ actions and governmental decisions. Leaders are hesitant to credit a movement, or anyone but themselves, with the success of achieving peace. Moreover, many factors are at play in reaching a successful conclusion such as a peace agreement and end to the conflict. These might include the *Galia Golan is Darwin Professor emerita of the Hebrew University of Jerusalem, where she was chair of the Political Science Department. More recently, she was Head of the Program in Diplomacy and Conflict Studies at the Interdisciplinary Center, Herzliya. Golan has published 10 single-authored books, most recently Israeli Peacemaking Since 1967: Factors for the Breakthroughs and Failures. She has co-authored Non-state Actors in the Middle East: Factors for Peace and Democracy and co-edited Spoilers and Coping with Spoilers in the Israeli-Arab Conflict. Golan is the recipient of many honors, including the Israel Political Science Association 2007 Award for “Lifetime Contribution,” the 2019 Scholar/Activist Award from the International Studies Association, the International Studies Association “Distinguished Scholar” Award 2016, and the 1995 New Israel Fund “Alice Shalvi Women in Leadership” Award. 1 See Galia Golan, “The Impact of Peace and Human Rights NGOs on Israeli Policy,” in Galia Golan and Walid Salim (eds.), Non-State Actors in the Middle East for Peace and Democracy, Routledge, 2013, pp. 28-41. 76 parties themselves; third parties; the domestic, regional, and global environments; public opinion and public discourse; the media; and more. All this makes it difficult, if not impossible, to determine the contribution of peace groups in Israel, as well as anywhere else, to the end product. There were always peace groups in Israel, even in the pre-state Jewish community in Palestine before the United Nations granted statehood in 1948. The pre-state group, Brit Shalom, for example, was not an activist organization but, rather, a collection mainly of intellectuals (most notably, Martin Buber) who believed that Jews and Arabs could and should live together peacefully in a joint state. Intellectual groups like this were not uncommon while more activist peace organizations were often sponsored by local Communists.2 However, all of these, including the Communist groups, remained relatively limited in numbers. A virtually one-man peace protest appeared in the wake of the 1973 Yom Kippur War: a lone reserve officer, Mottie Ashkenazi, stood outside the Prime Minister’s residence, accusing the government of having failed to provide readiness in case of an attack such as that which occurred on October 6, 1973 when Egyptian and Syrian armies attacked Israel. Although this protest contributed, at least in part, to the resignations of Prime Minister Golda Meir and key players in her government some months later, no movement developed or ensued. (See Tamar Hermann for a detailed study of the history of the peace camp in Israel.3 ) In fact, the first, and only mass peace organization, Peace Now, was not created until some...

Disaster resilience as communication practice: remembering and forgetting lessons from past disasters through practices that prepare for the next one

ABSTRACTCommunities learn important lessons about their vulnerabilities from disasters. A crucial aspect of resilience is how communities apply past lessons to prepare for future events. We use a practice lens to examine how communities remember and forget lessons through everyday communication surrounding their preparedness activities. We analyze two cases of disaster preparedness in one community. The first site, a local Office of Emergency Management, adapted national policies to the community while also keeping local disaster lessons in mind (i.e. remembering lessons). The second site represented an intractable conflict between the U.S. Forest Service and a community group that inhibited the implementation of a large-scale wildfire mitigation project (i.e. forgetting lessons). We frame resilience as a communicative accomplishment and apply practice methods to ‘zoom in' on communication micropractices, and ‘zoom out’ on trans-local communication practices. The findings highlight how communities remember and forget local lessons in everyday activities.

Scenarios of Intractability: Reframing Intractable Conflict and Its Transformation

Scenarios of Intractability: Reframing Intractable Conflict and Its Transformation