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What: The Many Forms of Conflict
Why should we try to understand the nature of conflict? Whether the con-
flicts we study are on a scale as small as two people in a room or as large as
global war, they all have the potential to change relationships—and often,
not for the better. When the conflict is about opposing viewpoints that
may be irreconcilable, it can bring progress to a screeching halt while the
people involved look for common ground, try to find tolerable solutions,
or seek to destroy the relationship.
We see couples arguing in restaurants and supermarkets, children facing
bullies on the playground or in the classroom, work groups and companies
that cannot seem to accomplish their objectives, religious groups clashing
with one another over moral issues, the U.S. Congress locking horns across
political party lines, threats over ideologies that rise to the level of
international terrorism, and civil wars that end in the ousting of a dictator
or the ruler crushing the rebel forces. Everyone faces conflict at some point
in their lives, and we all need the skills to find our way past these road-
blocks to peace and progress.
When you are in a conflict with another person, you know it. You may
have a disagreement with a professor or classmate or a clash with a friend
or romantic partner that moves from a casual word to a quarrel in a matter
of minutes. How you got there, however, may seem like a complete mys-
tery. It is worth stopping to analyze how you came to be in the conflict
and learning the many paths you can take to resolve the conflict to your
satisfaction.
