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Intra- and interstate intractable conflicts are prevalent worldwide. These conflicts have a very destructive aftermath: They cause severe wide-scale damage - material and psychological - to the involved parties, in addition to the extensive casualties. Once the conflicts are resolved by signing peace agreements, the conflict damage should be properly addressed in order to heal relations between the rival parties and promote sustainable peace. This book introduces the first inclusive model that describes the three main processes for addressing conflict damage: an active reconciliation process (ARP), a passive reconciliation process (PRP) and a self-healing process (SHP), while discussing interconnections among the processes. ARP includes collaborative activities related to the conflict practiced by both rival parties in order to heal party relations (e.g., an apology expressed by the perpetrator, revising history textbooks via joint historian commissions, cultural exchanges, operating truth and reconciliation committees, and reparations paid by the perpetrator). In the PRP, in contrast, both former rival parties collaborate for their own instrumental reasons, not related to the conflict (e.g., environmental, economic, and health considerations/ factors?), but as a by-product of this cooperation, their relations ameliorate. Lastly, in the SHP, a party heals the damage it suffered during the conflict without collaborating with its rival. The word "self" refers to the object of the process, the wounded party, as well as stipulating that the healing takes place with no cooperation from the opponent (e.g., by establishing a chain of psychological clinics for victimized members, by practicing commemoration, by renewing damaged infrastructure or by establishing democratic institutions). In other words, the two rival parties (A and B) can separately conduct a SHP and/or collaborate via an ARP or PRP; while third parties can be involved in each of these three processes. As for the structure of the book: part 1 provides a short overview of intractable conflicts, their causes, characteristics and consequences. This facilitates the conceptual foundation for the following chapters. Parts 2-4 each address one of the aforementioned three processes. Specifically, Part 2: Its two chapters, 2 and 3, analyze the characteristics of the ARP; while in Part 3: Chapter 4 provides the general concept of the PRP (using examples from around the world), while Chapter 5 implements the PRP in the specific context of the Israeli-Palestinian conflict. In Part 4 (Chapter 6) the SHP is discussed, initially as a general concept and then its implementation by Israelis-Palestinians from 1948 until the present. After these three processes are well elaborated upon, Part 5 (Chapter 7) describes the inclusive model by integrating the three processes, while discussing their reciprocal relations. Subsequently, Part 6 describes some of the main psychological obstacles in implementing the model, starting with those that relate to the collective memory of the conflict. In this context, a first model that describes the dynamics of the popular memory of conflict is described, based on the first public memory survey conducted among a representative sample of Israeli-Jews (Chapter 9). Onwards, chapter 10 discusses the difficulties encountered by a revisionist historian, using as a case study, the path of the famous Israeli-Jewish historian, Benny Morris. The following Chapter 11 in Part 6 describes many factors that lead society members to support the continuation of intractable conflicts and resist peaceful resolution and reconciliation, such as protected values, national identity, basic needs and the centrality of perceived threat. Finally, Chapter 12 in Part 7 summarizes the book and its implications, including the ways the suggested model can address the aforementioned obstacles. Though all three processes have been discussed in the literature (primarily the ARP), they have never been integrated into one model. This is problematic since the three processes are important, they have been practiced worldwide and they are highly interconnected. The current book addresses this lack, using academic articles and book chapters that have already been published in prestigious venues, in addition to chapters that are published here for the first time. All of the chapters have largely been written by the author of the book. Dr. Nets (usually alone, and at times with other scholars), using case studies from around the world, with partial focus on the Israeli-Palestinian conflict. The book's contribution lies in the fact that it deals with a most central and destructive phenomenon, namely, intractable conflicts, while offering the above model. Moreover, it includes some of the central articles and book chapters that have addressed the APR or that have introduced the other two processes (PRP and SHP), as well as the model. Thus, readers will be able to have all of these fundamental publications that illuminate this central phenomenon (addressing the aftermath of conflicts) in a systematic, diverse and inclusive manner, in one book. |
