Why do some conflicts persist? How can they be transformed?

“According to Kriesberg and Dayton (2012), 40% of civil wars between the years 1989 and 2005 that ended in peace agreements returned to violence within five years”

Kriesberg and Dayton, 2012, wrote about the five core ideas to understand social conflicts with the reason as to how and why some conflicts persist and how they might be transformed. It is important to note that not all conflicts are the same and no one can predict how a conflict might take shape. Conflicts are universal (Kriesberg and Dayton, 2012) to all beings and to all communities, nations or states and thus should be seen as a way of relationship among people, this can either be a good relationship or a bad one depending on the whether it is a constructive conflict or a destructive one (Kriesberg and Dayton, 2012).

It can be said that the reason why some conflicts persist would be because of the social construction that are in place in every society be it, identity, race, religion, values, beliefs, class, language, nationality, political affiliation, among other social constructions mentioned by Redekop, 2002. These social constructions that are almost inevitable in society have led Redekop to come up with the five human identity needs (meaning, action, recognition, security and connectedness).

We would be focusing on Ethnic and Identity needs as to why some conflicts persist. These type of conflicts are usually generational and resistant to peace agreements despite efforts to resolve them like the conflicts in Democratic Republic of Congo and Sudan.

Identities of a people are formed in relationships with the help of the dominant culture (although in many cases, the conflict is usually between the dominant culture and the oppressed one that leads to a protracted conflict). This would be a reason as to why conflict resolution has taken a center stage in the international system, perhaps since World War II, in an era where new nations have begun to deal with establishing national identities and operating within them, and sometimes trying to determine the identity of others thereby leading to a protracted conflict in which the people of the oppressed nation do not want to be controlled by others and want to determine its own fate, even since the growth of the modern State, it has proven to be a more complicated and certainly more challenging aspect of conflict resolution. In ancient times what was a simple war between two nations or between two groups within a nation, has been transformed today into a multi-faceted conflict which in addition to the immediate adversaries, involve numerous other states through the network of globalized economies and migratory populations, as much as the international organizations, that today play a significant role in regulating relations between states. These have now made it more difficult and deeper rooted, which in some cases now make resolution not attainable, as interests of different parties might not be fully met (it is important to note here that, compromise, sometimes work in resolution but the different parties have to be willing to give up something).

According to Kriesberg and Dayton, 2012, protracted conflicts move through different stages and we can understand this through the conflict cycle especially with the unique way protracted conflicts, escalate and de-escalate at various times in the life of a conflict (Kriesberg and Dayton, 2012).

Protracted conflicts as this entry analyzes with identity and ethnicity, is linked with the feelings (Emotions) the disputants feel e.g., fear causes the need for security; anger produces the need for meaning; depression is the root of a need for self-esteem; the need to latency produces satisfaction; the need for stimulation produces boredom and violence is produced when certain needs are deeply frustrated and all these feelings have the potential to drive a conflict for long as identified (Mayer, 2012).

As indicated by Mayer, 2012, history also plays a very important role in the identity of people and provides them with momentum for action towards any situation. People that have experienced foreign intervention in their countries are more likely to defend themselves as they have seen the dangers of interventionism and will fight to protect their lands or resources from others. As conflicts analysts, it would be beneficial to always consider history, not as a way of the conflict not reaching a resolution but as a means to understanding the disputants identity (Mayer, 2012). It is important to note that the neglect of the aspirations of different groups of peoples living within states (marginalized groups), leads into demands that are often expressed through violent means. We have seen examples of this play out through terrorism in the latter half of the 20th century.

Terrorism, has established itself as a political strategy, increasingly used by groups seeking to establish their separate identities; by those who feel victims of a perceived injustice to which they respond by challenging the authority of the State - their own, or that of an outside State, which is perceived as the perpetrator of the injustice.

Identity gives people meaning, it makes a community out of a group of people, and it brings intimacy and autonomy (Mayer, 2012). Identity as a need drives human action that can lead to a protracted conflict and according to Redekop, 2002 can grow into deep-rooted conflict. This can be transformed by a close look into what a selected people need: be it their survival needs, their interests, or their identity needs. Most of the time it cannot be done through negotiation process, but through an incremental process of change in which people, groups, or organizations gradually achieve a different level of understanding and acceptance of the other party. Most of the intervention efforts should be based on the relationships and system of communication among disputants.

Examples of Identity conflicts that are still persisting can be said to be the fight for equality and freedom. These causes conflicts in some situations where citizens are demanding to have a respected identity and equal services as we have seen evident in the case of the African-American civil rights movement in the 1950s that officially ended in 1968, but it is still evident today as it is playing out in the Ukraine/NATO versus Russia. This shows us (conflict analysts), that identity still is a major role in protracted conflicts with the issue here being one of sovereignty and security.

A good understanding of the other side by both nations would lead to a gradual de-escalation of the rhetoric and war games.

See you tomorrow!

- Ope

References

Kriesberg, Louis and Bruce W. Dayton. Constructive Conflicts: From Escalation to Resolution, 4th ed. Lanham, MD: Rowman & Littlefield, 2012.

Mayer, Bernard. The Dynamics of Conflict: A Guide to Engagement and Intervention, 2nd ed. San Francisco: Jossey-Bass, 2012.

Redekop, Vern Neufeld. From Violence to Blessing: How an Understanding of Deep-Rooted Conflicts Can Open Paths of Reconciliation. Novalis, 2002.