First published in dialogicmediation.com

In transformative mediation circles, we often speak of 'listening like a cow'.  (See my two previous posts on this quality of attention here and here.)  In brief, this simile is…

(Originally posted at Social Medi8r.com)

This week I had the privilege of interviewing John Morgan, the author of the book, "Brand Against the Machine".  There is so much…

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

Victoria Pynchon’s new book is an adult primer on the difficult art of resolving, transforming or…

Developing one's voice as a mediator can be tricky business. Our personality, empathy, and humor should shine through with our clients...accompanied by a soupcon of acting.  Maintaining neutrality, suppressing your political/religious/personal views, and poker-facing the bizarre can…

The Ombuds Year in Review: 2011…

Around the holidays, we all promise ourselves things such as self-improvement and behavioral changing. For the past few years, I’ve been promising myself a simple promise: To find something fun, which I really enjoy doing – and to take it very seriously.

I haven’t been successful with this. And, I’m not too hard on myself – I really like my day job that much.  Still, my recurring failure does leave me envious of people who are dead serious about the things they do for…

 …

• On Saturday, the Sunni-backed bloc suspended its participation in Iraq’s Parliament after accusing PM al-Maliki’s Shi’ite led government of concentrating power. On Sunday, the last of the US combat troops in Iraq crossed the border into Kuwait after nearly nine years of war, and…

Folks, I’d like to reflect on the amazing, whirlwind year that’s coming to a close.  We officially became the New York Peace Institute this year, building upon three decades as a Safe…

• The trial of Breanna (nee Bradley) Manning, the soldier allegedly responsible for leaking hundreds of thousands of secret state documents to WikiLeaks began this week in the United States. Manning is charged with 23 counts, including…

One of the things that happens after interpersonal conflict is that some of us bear a grudge. We continue to hold onto negative feelings about the other person and may do so for a protracted period of time. We may show this by ignoring the person, or making derogatory remarks about him or her, directly or indirectly. Or, we may retaliate in different ways. Bearing grudges may be a way of coping, but we usually recognize it also contributes to ongoing dissension.

Some of us…

• Relatives of inmates on a hunger strike in Kyrgyzstanpicketed a pretrial detention centre on Wednesday to demand their relatives’ demands be met. The protesters are calling upon reviews for the inmates’ cases, who they claim have been sentenced for crimes they didn’t commit. On Tuesday, the Kyrgyz Parliament…

I was 10 years old when Star Wars came out, and when Star Trek was on TV in a continuous loop of syndicated reruns.  A common playground topic was which of the two rocked harder, and the debate continues to this day, fueled by schticky banter on youtube between Shatner and Carrie Fisher.

Perhaps in an early display of mediation sensibilities, I embraced both shows, with props to Star Wars…

I took a Latin American politics course in college, and the prof told us, à la Jeff Foxworthy, that if a leader wears sunglasses indoors, he's probably a despot.

Here are some ostensible reasons why some dictators might've rocked the shades:

-- Kim Jong Il, North Korean Dear Leader:  His lady-who-lunches specs added some compensatory bling to…

The world lost a true mensch this week, former Czechoslovak president Vaclav Havel.

Vaclav Havel showed us a world in which one man could be a poet, playwright, protester, political prisoner, peacemaker, and president.  A man who embraced the paradox of dissent and dialogue.  A man who humbly vanquished 50 years of oppression, and then impishly rode his bike through the corridors of…

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

Dr. Abuelaish talks about his education as a Palestinian, becoming a doctor, his work at an Israeli hospital delivering babies and going back and forth over the border to Gaza, and the night that 3 of…

Hello, hope all is well!

This week’s conflict reports will be a little thinner than usual, as I have been feeling a bit under the weather the last couple days and haven’t been reading as extensively as normal. Please be sure to add anything I have missed in the comments below or send via email to apeaceofconflict@gmail.com.

Thanks!

Rebecca

• The New…

• Fatima Bensouda was formally elected as chief prosecutor for the International Criminal Court on Monday. Bensouda was the only candidate running for the election and will take over from Luis Moreno-Ocampo in June.
• The UNDP has released its 2011 Human Development Report. This report projects a…

Models of Standards For Mediator Certification Programs

The Model Standards for Mediator Certification Programs stands on the shoulders of those who…