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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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For years, when disputes between American and Israeli leaders spilled out into the open, actions were taken to tamp down emotions as both sides tried to make things look less dire than they were and were believed to be and worked to improve relationships. Now, though, it looks as though, rather than act to defuse the latest explosion, each side has chosen to escalate, demonstrating not only a classic mistake (not thinking about what “the other” will do when provoked and expecting a different result and being unprepared for the one you get) but revealing the difficulty of negotiating when personality-driven and political issues, such as national elections, overtake important common global issues and interests.
A Strained Alliance: Obama-Netanyahu Rift Grew Over Years
www.nytimes.com
The diplomatic break touched off by Benjamin Netanyahu’s decision to negotiate an address to Congress without first telling President Obama reflects their fundamentally different world views.
A critical issue in conflict resolution analysis has to do with compliance with agreements that are reached. Implementation is a critical element that can often be overlooked in the wake of the euphoria--and satisfaction--that can accompany the reaching of agreement. Note here, the consequences of not planning carefully for monitoring the terms of an agreement or for dealing with the failure to act on its terms.
By Blocking View of the Brooklyn Bridge, a Building Incites a Battle
www.nytimes.com
A development in Brooklyn Bridge Park has affected the view of the Brooklyn Bridge from the Brooklyn Heights Promenade, causing controversy in the neighborhood.
One of the questions we routinely raise with our students is this: What are the elements of a fair, efficient and effective process for resolving disputes? Accordingly, it's more than worth asking whether the NYC's Housing Court, created by the State Legislature, in 1972, as a quick and efficient vehicle to enforce housing codes works well. Almost from the start, the court was overrun by lawsuits brought by landlords to remove tenants. In each borough, only one judge hears cases against landlords; the other judges — in Brooklyn, about a dozen — hear cases for eviction. Fair? Efficient? Effective?
A Year After Suing Their Landlord, Brooklyn Tenants Still Lack Heat
www.nytimes.com
A group of Brooklyn tenants first complained about lacking heat last winter, but many trips to Housing Court later, the issue remains unresolved.
Demonstrating the "what" and "how" of good work and good works, CBI sets a standard for the field of "conflict resolution" as it evolves to embrace integrative, participative decision-making (to reduce the incidence of conflict and its consequences) and to improve the prospects for solid, interest-based resolutions when conflicts do surface (as they inevitably will).
About CBI: Mission | CBI - Consensus Building Institute
www.cbuilding.org
The Consensus Building Institute (CBI) is a not-for-profit organization founded by leading practitioners and theory builders in the fields of negotiation and dispute resolution.
Thinking about religion and violence. The United States Institute of Peace has a provocative discussion on its website that questions the straight-line connection between religion and violence that has been too readily accepted. Greater scrutiny is required. And, a new book, "Fields of Blood: Religion and the History of Violence," makes the same point, asserting the presence of economic and political forces that may be masked by the existence of religious differences.
If we believe, as the book's author, Karen Armstrong, asserts, that "political differences can be resolved and religious ones cannot," our analysis of conflict has to be more certain. Otherwise, we may not seek resolution where it may be possible to achieve it.
Sources of Conflict: Religion or Economic and Political Power?
www.usip.org
“Religion just kept coming up.” “So many places in the world [and] so many press reports talk about Christians and Muslims being in conflict with each other, or Sunnis and Shias,” Smock, who also serves as USIP’s vice president for Governance, Law & Society, said in the September discussion. “And it…