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Conference Report The Transformation of Intractable Conflicts Perspectives and Challenges for Interactive Problem Solving A conference held in honor of Professor Herbert C. Kelman at Harvard University March 27-29, 2014 Edited by Augustin Nicolescou Wilfried Graf June 2014 Photos: © Augustin Nicolescou © Herbert C Kelman Institute All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording or otherwise, without full attribution. The Transformation of Intractable Conflicts Perspectives and Challenges for Interactive Problem Solving This report is dedicated to Herbert and Rose Kelman, who are an inspiration to us all. 1 • Herbert C. Kelman Institute About the Herbert C. Kelman Institute for Interactive Conflict Transformation The Herbert C. Kelman Institute for Interactive Conflict Transformation is the successor of the Institute for Integrative Conflict Transformation and Peacebuilding (IICP), which was founded in 2005 by Mag.a Gudrun Kramer and Dr. Wilfried Graf as a non- profit organization. Since 2011 the Kelman Institute is a cooperation partner of the Centre for Peace Research and Peace Pedagogy – ZFF of the University of Klagenfurt – one of the partners of the Conflict Peace Democracy Cluster (CPDP) for pooling conflict, peace and democracy research in Austria. Starting in 2015, the Kelman Institute will be enter a cooperation partnership with the Faculty of Law at the University of Graz. The Kelman Institute works in peace mediation, dialogue facilitation, training, research, and conflict-sensitive development cooperation in international conflict regions. It has experience working in Sri Lanka, Israel-Palestine, Kyrgyzstan, Colombia, Ukraine, the Great Lakes Region, the South Caucasus, as well as the Austrian Province of Carinthia. The Institute provides the basis for the integration of 40 years of experience in international, social-psychological oriented conflict resolution in Israel-Palestine by Professor Herbert C. Kelman, the experience in international and European diplomacy by Ambassador Wolfgang Petritsch, and the wide-ranging experience in unofficial and official diplomacy of its Board and Institute Affiliates around the world. The Transformation of Intractable Conflicts • 2 Acknowledgements The Herbert C Kelman Institute for Interactive Conflict Transformation would like to thank the speakers and participants who came from all over the world in order to contribute their experiences and expertise and making the conference a resounding success. The Kelman Institute is very grateful for all those who made the conference possible, especially the Austrian Marshall Plan Foundation for its generous grant which made this conference possible. Anwar Sadat Chair for Peace and Development at the University of Maryland and Beyond Conflict for their financial support and cooperation in implementing the conference. Weatherhead Center for International Affairs at Harvard University for its close cooperation and support in implementing the conference, especially Steven Bloomfield, Marina Ivanova, and Sophia Holtz. University of Klagenfurt Center for Peace Research and Peace Education for it support and contribution in organizing the conference. Minda de Gunzburg Center for European Studies at Harvard University for granting the conference the use of its wonderful venue. And all the members of the Conference Organizing Committee and the Local Arrangements Committee for their commitment and effort which went into implementing the conference. 3 • Herbert C. Kelman Institute The Transformation of Intractable Conflicts: Perspectives and Challenges for Interactive Problem Solving conference was held at Harvard University on March 27-29, 2014. Organized by • The Herbert C. Kelman Institute for Interactive Conflict Transformation, Vienna- Jerusalem • The Weatherhead Center for International Affairs, Harvard University In cooperation with • Center for Peace Research and Peace Education, Alpen-Adria University Klagenfurt • The Minda de Gunzburg Center for European Studies at Harvard University • Beyond Conflict Funded by • The Austrian Marshall Plan Foundation • The Anwar Sadat Chair for Peace and Development, University of Maryland Conference Organizing Committee Wilfried Graf (Chair), Steven B. Bloomfield, Donna Hicks, Gudrun Kramer, Augustin Nicolescou, Wolfgang Petritsch, Shibley Telhami, Werner Wintersteiner, Ofer Zalzberg Local Arrangements Committee Donna Hicks (Chair), Steven Bloomfield, Sophia Holtz, Marina Ivanova, Wolfgang Petritsch The Transformation of Intractable Conflicts • 4 Contents Introduction 5 Reframing Negotiations: New Approaches to a Two‑State Solution for the Israeli‑Palestinian Conflict 9 A One-Country / Two-State Solution to the Israeli-Palestinian Conflict 9 Dual Democracies: A Personal Palestinian Perspective 12 Two States Within the Common Homeland 14 Mutual National Recognition in a Common Homeland 18 Interactive Problem‑Solving Workshops 21 Lessons Learned from Israel and Palestine 21 Intra‑National Dialogue and Internal Mediation to Overcome Resistance to Change within Societies in Conflict 25 The Importance of Vertical Integration for Peace 25 Intra-Palestinian Work 26 Intra-Israeli Dialogue 27 From Intra-Group Conflict to Inter-Group Cooperation 28 Initiating a Process of Reconciliation between Conflicting Parties to Support Conflict Resolution 30 Dignity: An Essential Element of Peace 30 Understanding Trust in Conflict Settings 31 The Role of Reconciliation in Conflict Resolution 32 Experiences of the Muslim Jewish Conference in Dialogue between Upcoming Leaders 34 From Unofficial Dialogue to Official Diplomacy 36 Geopolitics and the Human Dimension: Experiences in Iran and Gaza 36 Linkages in the Emerging National Dialogue Paradigm 38 Transmitting Information to Public Policy: Experiences from the US and the Kerry Negotiations 40 The Bureau of Conflict and Stabilization Operations: A Perspective from Official Diplomacy 41 Limits and Possibilities of Interactive Conflict Resolution 43 The Complexity of Deeply Protracted Conflicts: Challenges for Problem-Solving Workshops 43 The Growth and Diversity of Conflict Resolution 45 The Challenges of Follow-up 46 The Challenge of Radical Disagreement: When Dialogue is not Possible 47 The Contributions of Interactive Problem Solving to Peace Research 50 The Landscape of Foreign Policy and Peace Research in the 21st Century 50 Reflections on the Emergence of Peace Research and Conflict Resolution 52 The Environment of Peacebuilding 53 Conference Follow‑Up 55 Appendix 1: Report Notes and References 58 Appendix 2: Conference Program 59 Appendix 3: Speaker Biographies 63 5 • Herbert C. Kelman Institute Introduction This report is based on the conference The Transformation of Intractable Conflicts: Perspectives and Challenges for Interactive Problem Solving, which was held in honor of Professor Herbert C. Kelman at Harvard University from March 27-29, 2014. The conference was made possibly by a grant from the Austrian Marshall Plan Foundation, and by additional support from the Anwar Sadat Chair for Peace and Development at the University of Maryland, The Minda de Gunzburg Center for European Studies at Harvard University, and Beyond Conflict. The conference was opened by Ambassador Professor Vitouch noted in his message, Wolfgang Petritsch, President of the “Being a psychologist by academic training Austrian Marshall Plan Foundation and myself ... I am overjoyed to see Herbert Schumpeter Fellow at Harvard University. Kelman’s approach applied to one of the He welcomed the speakers and participants, most persistent problems of our times. … and thanked Professor Herbert Kelman for Austria as a nation and a member of the being the spiritus rector of the conference, European Union has both a unique historic noting Professor Kelman’s Viennese roots responsibility and a long tradition of political and the tradition of neutrality linked with expertise in fostering conflict resolution. It is a proactive Middle-East policy of the late a pleasure and a privilege to see that the Austrian Chancellor Bruno Kreisky. University of Klagenfurt can, together with leading national and international partner Ambassador Petritsch thanked the conference institutions, contribute to this endeavor.” funders, the Organizing Committee, and the Local Arrangements Committee for making Over 90 participants were in attendance the conference possible. He also read from for this opening session, implemented in a message to the conference from Professor cooperation with the Middle East Seminar Oliver Vitouch, rector of Klagenfurt of the Weatherhead Center for International University, which together with the Herbert Affairs, and the Center for Middle C. Kelman Institute for Interactive Conflict Eastern Studies. The theme of the session Transformation and the Weatherhead Center was Reframing Negotiations: New for International Affairs, organized the Approaches to a Two State Solution for conference. the Israeli-Palestinian Conflict, chaired The Transformation of Intractable Conflicts • 6 by Sara Roy, with Herbert Kelman, George Assousa, Jerome Segal, Ruham Nimri as speakers and Ian Spears as a discussant. One of the functions of interactive problem solving - and other track-two efforts - is to reframe unproductive negotiations in a way that makes them more capable of producing an outcome that is acceptable to both parties and can elicit the support of their general
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