Challenging Cross-Cultural Notions of Perceptions of Interstate Conflict Resolution between Arab/Muslims and Westerners

Abstract

This article challenges the hypothesis that Western and Arab/Muslim approaches to conflict resolution are radically dissimilar. Reevaluating cross-cultural compatibility, we demonstrate that Arab/Muslim and Western conceptualizations of conflict resolution share profound similarities. We demonstrate this through two methods. First, while contemporary cross-cultural comparisons are limited to the Western structural approach, we integrate the social-psychological and spiritual approaches to contradict the current theoretical reductive tendencies. We establish that the socialpsychological and spiritual approaches are more accommodating of fundamental principles and practices emphasized in Arab/Muslim literature, and address important criticisms commonly leveled at Western theory. Second, we employ survey research to qualify laypersons' perceptions of sixteen conflict resolution principles and ten conflict resolution mechanisms commonly recognized at the structural level to qualify cross-cultural comparability. Combined, our research identifies fundamental theoretical and practical cross-cultural parallels between Arab/Muslim and Western conceptualizations of conflict resolution at the theoretical and practical levels.