• 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…

Listen to this popular show by hitting the player below.

"For December, we have chosen some of our favorite past shows to support you through the holiday season. Enjoy!"

Our conversation will focus on what to do to prepare for those family gatherings so that you don't lose your cool.

 …

• 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…

• On Wednesday, President Saleh of Yemen signed an agreement to end his 33 year rule in exchange for immunity from prosecution from Saudi Arabia, officially handing over power to his Vice President al-Hadi; a move the UN Security Council welcomed. On Thursday, thousands took to the streets in the…

• The UN regional economic body, ECLAC, announced on Wednesday that poverty in Latin America is at its lowest level in 20 years. Among the countries that saw the largest drops in poverty are Peru, Ecuador, Argentina, Uruguay and Columbia, with poverty increasing only in Honduras and Mexico.
• On Wednesday,…

• Security officials in India reportedly killed senior Maoist commander, Molajula Koteswar Rao on Thursday, the latest in a series of senior leaders of the movement to be killed.  More than 100,000 security personnel have been deployed to the remote areas of centre and eastern India to fight…

It goes without saying that experiencing a range of negative feelings is a natural part of being in conflict. When the issues being discussed are difficult for us, or if the other person is making his or her point in an obnoxious and hurtful way, or if there are other reasons we react, we are undoubtedly experiencing different emotions that are not always easy to identify. Understanding what actually leads to heightened emotions when in conflict is not always easy to do either.…