Process: The Dynamics and Progression of Conflict

The main focus of this article is to talk about the progression of conflict. Lederach illustrates this progression with a Curle’s “matrix” approach. This says that the progression can go from education to confrontation to negotiation to sustainable peace. The adaptation of this chart has different roles that a third party can play at the different stages. I don’t necessarily think that this chart encompasses every stage that a conflict goes through; what about escalation and stalemates. I definitely don’t think that conflict is a linear progression. This chart also makes sustainable peace look so attainable and almost easy (after all, it is just the opposite end of education without too many visual bumps in the path). I think short-term peace agreements, and the possibility of not reaching sustainable peace need to be included in any model of conflict. Other than my issue with the visual representation of conflict, I think that the article made a lot of good points. One of which being the idea that you cannot rely on an individual or single team to transform conflict; this goes back to the Track III way of dealing with conflict and the need to incorporate many levels of society in the peace process.