• Global Witness announced that it had left the Kimberley Process, an international diamond regulatory group, because it refused to address links between diamonds, violence and tyranny. Even if these certification schemes manage to address problems at mines, in many cases, the materials must pass roadblocks and pay “taxes” that directly line the pockets of warlords.
• The United…

After a few months’ break, I’m back hunting the web for companies and service providers out there who are offering services which would be very familiar to ODR practitioners and researchers – but do so without making any mention of ODR, and beneath the radar of the ODR field in general. As earlier parts of this hunt have discussed, these…

Mladic, Qaddafi, Saleh and Assad like Tsunamis or Hurricanes?

Dr. Janice McRae, Werner Institute Blog

I like to compare things.  Not everyday things like apples and oranges, but unusual pairings…

When it comes to the wide range of changes that can occur in our professional and personal lives, anything that shifts the status quo – negative or positive – is known to exacerbate feelings of insecurity, vulnerability and other emotions. At these times, many of us are conscious of why we are anxious. For others, our feelings are at an unconscious or subconscious level. We just feel uncomfortable, upset or off-balance and are not quite sure what is specifically bothering…

Mladic, Qaddafi, Saleh and Assad like Tsunamis or Hurricanes?:…

• The top military commander in the US announced that he believes the eurozone is at great risk and warned that any breakup of the bloc could have serious consequences for the Pentagon. He warned of the potential for civil unrest after 26 of the 27 EU countries agreed to forge a tighter fiscal union.
• On Sunday, opposition leader Sergei Udaltsov…

• At least 25 people were killed in Syria on Saturdayin clashes between…

• On Friday, heads of state from across Latin America and the Caribbean flew into Venezuela for the inaugural meeting of the Community of Latin America and Caribbean States or CELAC. The group is designed to counter US influence and improve regional ties.
• On Friday, the ruling party in Guyana…

Habits we use when it comes to interpersonal conflicts are like other habits that we come to repeat without much thought. They are rote behaviours that reflect what we have learned about how to cope with situations. Conflict habits have to do among other things, with how we manage our emotions when we are provoked. Habits may show up in how we communicate, and how we defend things that are important to us. Some work for us and others do not.

Generally, we do not recognize…

• A massive strike saw the closure of shops all around India on Thursday, in protest of a new policy to allow big-box retailers into the country.  On Sunday, a landmine attack reportedly by Maoist rebels in eastern…

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• Former President of Cote d’Ivoire Laurent Gbabgo was taken into custody by the International Criminal Court on Wednesday amid fears that “victor’s justice” could stoke further tensions in the fragile “reconciliation” process. The ICC is…

• The Global Campaign for Aid Transparency released its 2011 Pilot Aid Transparency Index that highlights the shortcomings of international aid in an effort to make it more transparent.
• Friday marked the International Day for the…

Even when we are aware that we aren’t helping matters, many of us still repeat our habitual and unproductive ways of reacting when we are in conflict. Contrary to what some believe, most of us have choices about how we manage conflict. Unless we are intentional about learning new ways of engaging in conflict that work for us and those around us, we will continue to rely on the old ways of managing conflict. We may even realize that what we consider impulsive and out of our control is…

JAMS, the largest private provider of mediation and arbitration services worldwide, today announced the addition of Hon. Peter D. Lichtman (Ret.) to its panel. Judge Lichtman will be based in the JAMS Los Angeles Resolution Center. He will serve as an arbitrator, mediator and special master for disputes in a variety of areas including Business/Commercial, Class Action/Mass Torts, Construction Defect, Employment, Entertainment and Sports, Family Law, Insurance, Intellectual Property,…

Have a look at my latest blog posting at PsychologyToday.com on metaphors.  I invite conflict resolution practitioners to check it out from the lens of the work you do.  If you are  guiding people through conflict and disputes, are you aware of the metaphors you use?  Are you aware of the metaphors they use?

Do your metaphors help you in trying to help a situation go from confrontational towards collaboration?

Have you noticed the metaphors used in this post?

I…

As a professional peacemaker, I tend to look at conflicts from the perspective of the people instead of politics. In the process of mediating thousands of conflicts, large and small, I find that conflict dynamics tend to fall into predictable patterns. This is especially true in family business conflicts. The same themes arise over and over again such that the conflict dynamics are predictable and systematic.

 While reading about the Syrian uprising some months ago, I read a brief…

• A court in Belarushanded down a four-and-a-half year prison sentence to prominent human rights activist Ales Byalyatiski for tax evasion on Thursday in a move that was seen as politically motivated. The UN human rights panel criticized the country on Friday for…