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Related to recognizing related disputes, it must be borne in mind that some
protracted conflicts have a long history of going through cycles of intensity. They may
flare up for a while, de-escalate although not necessarily resolved, and at the slightest
trigger flare up again. Therefore it is important to understand whether a conflict is new
or whether it has historical connections. Then there are usually strong emotional
connections to it. For example, people may want to retaliate for a certain past action or
situation. Or they may have stereotypes about people who behaved in a certain way in
the past, and expect them to behave similarly now, even though things may have
changed. Therefore understanding the historical context helps to rise above the past and
focus on the present.
Stages Of Conflict
Conflict rages through various stages I.e. it escalates into violence and deescalates
resulting into latent periods. It is important to know at which stage the conflict
IS or III which direction it IS going. Hams and Reilly
(http://www.idea.int/publicarions/democracy and deep rooted conflict/home.hrm
mention four stages through which conflict moves i.e.
discussion, polarisation,
segregation and destruction.
The Discussion Stage
This is the beginning stage where the conflicting parties are communicating,
directly debating and "still close enough to work together", although they are
disagreeing. They still have positive, mutual perceptions of and respect and trust for
one another. The issues under discussion are "substantive and objective" and are
expected to lead to a win-win solution. During this stage the best method would be to
cooperate in order to come to a joint solution i.e. use the cooperative decision-making
method.
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