Welcome
Welcome to the Web site for the Center for Negotiation and Conflict Resolution (CNCR). The Center is part of the Bloustein School of Planning and Public Policy, located at Civic Square, New Brunswick, New Jersey. CNCR is at the forefront of a movement that believes disputes can be settled by constructive negotiation and consensus-building and problem-solving approaches instead of by force or adversarial argument.
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The complexity of negotiations often challenge what may be our intuitive sense about things. Take climate treaties. As this column points out, voluntary agreements are more likely to attract nations and lead to greater compliance than binding agreements.
Surprisingly, a Voluntary Climate Treaty Could Actually Work
nytimes.com
The binding nature of international agreements like the 1997 Kyoto Protocol can do more harm than good by dissuading countries from joining.
The Centre for Argument Technology is having an intriguing session at the beginning of March which is worth keeping a close eye on: The Centre, at the University of Dundee, Scotland, is organizing a workshop on practical applications and uses of technology in mediation practice.
"Most areas of professional activity are supported by bespoke software tools — but not dispute mediation. The subtlety and sophistication of the process and the highly charged, sensitive atmosphere that often accompanies mediation have effectively acted as barriers to development and deployment of useful technology.
The Leverhulme Trust has funded a project at the Centre to explore and ultimately rectify this situation, and are bringing together academics (including Prof. Mark Aakhus from Rutgers University in the US, Prof. Sara Greco Morasso from the University of Italian Switzerland in Lugano and Prof. Charlie Irvine from Strathclyde University in the UK) and practicing mediators from across the UK to identify key challenges and avenues to solutions, in order to build a roadmap for worldwide research and development in this crucial area."
Stay tuned!
No nation can thrive as a democracy without a fair, accessible and efficient system of justice. Conflicts have to be resolved for citizens by processes they trust....
Taliban Justice Gains Favor as Official Afghan Courts Fail
nytimes.com
After paying bribes and enduring long delays while pursuing resolution in Afghanistan’s government courts, a growing number of citizens are turning to an informal justice system that includes tribal elders and the Taliban insurgents.
Brooks describes the interplay of ego and conflict in contexts that are trivial (e.g. online comments on blogs/columns) and in those that are monstrous (e.g. war against the Islamic State) and reflects on how in all cases, "conflict inflames the ego, distorts it and degrades it." Admirable people, to Brooks, are those who reject the "logic of honor codes and status rivalries.... They enter a more civilized logic, that doesn't turn us into our enemies."
nytimes.com
The best way to successfully respond to hate, even from the likes of ISIS, is to step outside the logic of vengeance.
Fascinating to consider how few leaders have ever negotiated the end of their own system but that is precisely what F.W. deKlerk did. The transition of South Africa from white minority rule--and the loathsome system of apartheid--which deKlerk negotiated with Nelson Mandela ended deKlerk's presidency and ushered in participative democracy.
‘The Other Man,’ F. W. de Klerk’s Role in Ending Apartheid
nytimes.com
“The Other Man: F. W. de Klerk and the End of Apartheid,” a Nicolas Rossier documentary, assesses the actions of the man who presided over South Africa’s transition to a democracy.