In this article, the results of three experiments designed to evaluate the impact of an electronic mediator on negotiating behavior are reported. The mediator is a web-based tool that serves three mediation functions: diagnosis, analysis, and advice. The diagnosis provides information about progress toward or away from agreements. The analysis identifies the possible sources of problems in each of several areas of negotiation. The advice is linked to the source of the problem and based on empirical research. In all of the experiments, role-playing negotiators attempted to reach agreement on seven issues discussed in a simulation of a conflict that resembles the pre-war conflict between the United States and Iraq. The first experiment consisted of a comparison between the e-mediation support technology and a condition in which negotiators reflected separately about the negotiation without the technology. Results indicate that access to the technology produced significantly more agreements and resulted in more positive perceptions of the outcomes than the reflection condition. However, perceptions of the betweenround periods were more positive for reflection-condition negotiators. In the second experiment, we compared the e-mediation technology with a condition in which negotiators only received the advice in paper form. Access to the technology resulted in more agreements than advice-only, although the differences were smaller than those obtained in the first experiment, and perceptions of outcomes were more positive for advice-only negotiators. The third experiment compared two forms of e-mediation (separate and joint) with a scripted live mediator. Results show that joint e-mediation out-performs live mediation on some measures; both these conditions resulted in more agreements, and more integrative statements, than separate e-mediation. The live mediator was perceived more favorably than both the separate and joint e-mediators. Possible explanations for these results are discussed along with an agenda for further research on e-mediation.

In July and August 2010, Pakistan faced floods on an unprecedented scale that affected some 20 million people. Focus group interviews conducted in severely affected communities demonstrated a decline in the availability of accessible renewable resources to the point of increasing the potential for civil violence. These manifestations of environmental scarcity included strained landlordtenant relations and other forms of structural inequity that magnified the devastating socioeconomic effects of the floods. The article concludes with recommendations for conflict-sensitive measures to facilitate post-disaster recovery and defines humanitarian relief as an integral part of national security and conflict prevention in Pakistan.

Th is article presents a method of applied practice that engages contested historical meanings of intercommunal and international confl ict. Th e concept of confl ict history is introduced to describe a worldview of a confl ict-aff ected community that seeks a coherent explanation of theT his article endeavors to answer questions arising from practical experiences in facilitating confl ict resolution dialogues and capacitybuilding workshops: How can communities undergoing deeply rooted confl icts come to terms with the multifaceted meanings of their collective history? How can they use their memories of the divided past as a basis of self-refl ection and a source of strength to transform their long-standing confl icts? How can they discover and activate peace potential in their collective understandings of history based on a learnable and teachable method of inquiry and dialogue? To answer these questions, I introduce the concept of confl ict history, which I defi ne as an evolving cognitive universe of a confl ict-aff ected society that seeks to develop a coherent explanation as to how the confl ict has emerged and evolved into its present form. Th is question of how inevitably leads to other related questions, such as what events and issues have contributed to shaping and reshaping the confl ict,

No abstract

This article develops a theory of functional coexistence, a sustained negative peace which enables conflict parties and intermediaries to resist premature settlement and stay constructively engaged in an enduring state of nonresolution.The case studies of China-Taiwan relations and the divided Europe and Germany during the Cold War illustrate essential qualities of functional coexistence. These qualities include the dynamic nature of the perceived boundaries of controlled interactions between adversaries who deny their opponents' legitimacy and, in extreme cases, even their right to exist. Key lessons from the case studies are:(1) the need to build historical awareness of the shifting boundaries of mutually acceptable conflict behavior, (2) the imperative of finding a constructive way of staying engaged in intractable conflict, (3) the role of a multi-layered, structural view of conflict intervention capable of resisting the inertia of hegemonic stability and submissive inaction, and (4) the importance of making use of short-term actions to facilitate long-term social change.