Beyond Intractability: A Free Knowledge Base on More Constructive Approaches to Destructive Conflict
Violence -- Overview
By
Charles (Chip) Hauss
September 2003
Violence and Conflict
Violence is important virtually
by definition. In some respects,
Visitors to this site who read the newspaper or follow the news
on radio and television will have no trouble realizing that there is the whole field of conflict
a link between conflict and violence. On the day this paper was
resolution is about finding
written, we in the Washington, D.C. area were obsessed with a
alternatives to violence.
sniper who had killed nine apparently randomly selected victims
in the preceding two weeks, a foiled suicide bomb attack in
Israel, and the United States government's ongoing preparation to launch a war against Iraq.
Not all intractable conflicts involve violence, and even for those
that do the violence is not necessarily constant. Thus, in mid2002, there was little or no fighting in Bosnia or Burundi and had
not been for some time. Nonetheless, violence is often a part of
intractable conflicts at one point or another in their histories.
Not all violence is part of an intractable political conflict. For
instance, there have been no hints of political motivations lying
behind the sniper attacks in the Washington region. However,
much violence in today's world is political; indeed, depending on
the estimates one believes, it took in excess of 100 million lives
around the world during the twentieth century.
Additional insights into violence
are offered by Beyond
Intractability project
participants.
Violence can take many forms. In its classic form, it involves the use of physical force -- beating or
torturing prisoners of war, raping women in the enemy camp, and, of course, the bombing and shooting
that has made warfare so tragic since the dawn of the industrial age. Some observers claim that
violence exists whenever force is used or threatened. For space reasons, this essay is limited to
physical and political violence.
Why Violence is Important
Violence is important virtually by definition. While other aspects of conflict are damaging (e.g., the
psychological costs of hating another individual or group), violence takes by far the heaviest toll.
Estimates of deaths from war and other forms of political violence for the twentieth century top one
hundred million. The economic costs of that violence are incalculably large. And, those costs can
endure long after the fighting stops. People are still contracting diseases from the biological and
chemical weapons used during the Iran-Iraq war of the 1980s. Dozens of people are killed or wounded
daily from the million or more landmines still in the ground left over from long-concluded conflicts.
What Can Be Done About Political Violence
In some respects, the whole field of conflict resolution is about finding alternatives to political violence.
People and governments have, of course, turned to war and violence throughout history. However, that
does not mean we are doomed to a life of political violence. The most recent authoritative statement
about human nature, the Seville Statement[1], holds that we have built-in capacities for cooperation as
well as for confrontation. And, while conflict resolution is a relatively new field, we have learned a lot
about how violence can be ended and prevented from happening in the first place.
The Role of Individuals
Some, but by no means all, experts and
practitioners agree with the folk singer, Tom
Paxton, who's song about peace, includes
the refrain, "let it begin with me."
Average citizens may not have the political
clout to convince soldiers and politicians to
put down their weapons. They can,
however, have an important impact in two
key ways.
First and most obviously, they can speak out
against violence. The history of the twentieth
century is filled with examples of men and
women forming political movements that
changed the course of history. These
include such obvious examples as the
campaign to gain independence in India or
to end the war in Vietnam. Other examples
are harder to document, but important nonetheless, including protest movements that slowed the
nuclear arms race in the 1960s and again in the 1980s and the work of the International Committee to
Ban Land Mines, which won the Nobel Peace Prize in 1997.
Second, individuals can practice alternatives to violence in their daily lives. Here, too, it is impossible to
document the impact of individuals' actions. Nonetheless, the work of organizations like the Beyond
War Movement in the 1980s (now the Foundation for Global Community) introduced several hundred
thousand people to basic principles of conflict resolution. That work has made the use of conflict
resolution principles more common at the workplace, in families, and in local communities. While this
may not have had a dramatic or direct political impact, there is little doubt that it has made terms like
"win-win" part of our everyday conversation and placed them squarely on the national political agenda.
Thus, during their speeches the night the Supreme Court's ruling determined the 2000 U.S. presidential
election, both George W. Bush and Al Gore used the term "common ground," something which would
have been unimaginable a few years earlier.
Officials
Political officials are always involved in decisions to start and stop using organized political violence.
They may not be the initial instigator of the violence. Thus, it was a mentally disturbed Bosnian Serb,
Gavrilo Princip, who killed Archduke Ferdinand of Austria-Hungary and set Europe on the path to World
War I. But the decisions to actually go to war and then to end a war are always made by political and
military leaders.
Traditionally, the decision to start violence occurred when one side either thought it could win or
believed that it had no alternative other than to fight. The violence ended when one side or the other
won.
Since World War II, however, very few wars have ended with a clear-cut victory for either side. Instead,
conflicts reach what is called a mutually hurting stalemate when leaders on both sides realize that they
can continue fighting but cannot win or at least cannot do so at an acceptable cost. At that point, they
become open to at least the possibility of a negotiated solution. No one has put this better than Nelson
Mandela in his autobiography, "it was clear to me that a military victory was a distant if not impossible
dream. It simply did not make sense for both sides to lose thousands if not millions of lives in a conflict
that was unnecessary. It was time to talk."[2]
In other words, the realization that a conflict has reached such a stalemate marks a major turning point
in its history. The existence of such a state of affairs, however, is no guarantee that peace talks will
begin, let alone succeed, as the tragic violence in Israel and Palestine since 2000 so clearly
demonstrates.
And, it is often hard for leaders who have often built their careers around the violence associated with
the causes they espouse to turn to peace talks without losing face. Nonetheless, recent history is filled
with examples of people who have done just that, including the leaders of the Irish Republican Army,
the African National Congress, and the Israeli Prime Minister Yitzhak Rabin.
More generally, there is growing awareness on the part of political leaders that they need to develop
alternatives to war, including on the part of the military. For example, all Canadian cadets take courses
on peacekeeping at the Royal Military College during their second year of study. The Canadians,
Germans, and Scandinavian countries have all established special schools for training troops for
peacekeeping operations. Similarly, the Bush administration has introduced a whole section on
confidence and security building measures on the State Department's Web site.[3]
Third Parties
Help from neutral "third parties" is almost always required to bring intractable conflict to a peaceful end.
Indeed, the negotiations between the ANC and the apartheid government in South Africa are one of the
few examples in which the parties to a dispute solved it on their own.
Third parties are needed precisely because they are neutral and do not have a vested interest in the
outcome. To the degree that they are considered biased toward one side or the other (e.g., the United
States in the Middle East) it becomes harder for them to have a positive impact.
Third parties operate in a number of ways. Some operate in an official capacity, as was the case with
George Mitchell and his colleagues in Northern Ireland; sometimes they operate in a purely personal
and voluntary capacity, as former President Jimmy Carter has done frequently since he left office in
January 1981. Some involve taking the leaders of the parties to meetings in a single place as in the
talks at Wright-Paterson Air Force Base that led to the Dayton Accords ending the fighting in BosniaHerzegovina in 1995. Sometimes, diplomats engage in shuttle diplomacy, flying from capital to capital
to help forge an agreement, which National Security Advisor Henry Kissinger did during the 1973 ArabIsraeli war.
However they operate, third parties can be helpful in a number of respects. Because they are neutral,
they can gain the respect of both sides and even help build a degree of trust among the adversaries,
which both Mitchell's team in Northern Ireland and the Norwegian diplomats who helped produce the
Oslo agreement of 1993 were able to do. Because they are not themselves mired in long-standing
positions about the dispute, they can help "reframe" the issues in new ways that make interest-based
negotiations possible. Last but by no means least, because they are typically people with respected
international reputations, their very presence makes the case for peace more credible.
Conclusion
While alternatives to violence are growing in popularity, we should not exaggerate their importance. At
any moment, there are still between 20 and 40 wars raging around the world. Violence and intractable
conflict seem certain to remain a prominent and tragic part of the human condition for generations to
come.
For more information about violence and intractable conflict, please continue on to read the following
essays:
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Interpersonal Conflict and Violence
War
Terrorism
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Suicide Bombers
War Crimes
Genocide
Refugees
Victimhood
Humiliation
[1] The Seville Statement on Violence available at http://www.ppu.org.uk/learn/texts/doc_seville.html or
for a complete listing http://www.unesco.org/shs/human_rights/hrfv.htm
[2] Nelson Mandela, The Long Walk to Freedom, (Boston: Little Brown), 1994.
[3] "Confidence and Security Building Measures" at the US Department of State website.
http://www.state.gov/t/pm/csbm/
Use the following to cite this article:
Hauss, Charles (Chip). "Violence -- Overview." Beyond Intractability. Eds. Guy Burgess and Heidi
Burgess. Conflict Research Consortium, University of Colorado, Boulder. Posted: September 2003
<http://www.beyondintractability.org/essay/violence/>.
Sources of Additional, In-depth Information on this Topic
Additional Explanations of the Underlying Concepts:
Online (Web) Sources
Nenon., Julie. "Viable Ways for Changing Violence at the Community Level." Online Journal of
Peace and Conflict Resolution, Vol. 3, No. 2 , June 2000
Available at: http://www.trinstitute.org/ojpcr/3_2nenon.htm.
This article discusses violence in terms of social norms that people living in a community go by. The
authors argue that certain messages regarding violence can spread through a community unchecked,
unless there is a proactive effort to prevent violence from becoming an accepted norm in a community.
Lesser, Ian O. Countering the New Terrorism. RAND.
Available at: http://www.rand.org/pubs/monograph_reports/MR989/.
This page provides online access to all of the chapters of Countering the New Terrorism, which focuses
on ways to respond to the new forms of violence exacted by international terrorists.
"A Logical, Yet Abstract Response to Increasing Violence." Conflict Prevention Newsletter, Vol.
2, No. 3 , 1999
Available at: Click here for more info.
This article looks at the UN proposal for a year of policy-making and reflection for a Culture of Peace.
The article examines the potential of such a response and argues that the notion of a Culture of Peace
is an abstract, but logical way to respond to increasing levels of violent conflict around the world.
Galtung, Johan. "After Violence: 3R, Reconstruction, Reconciliation, Resolution: Coping With
Visible and Invisible Effects of War and Violence." ,
Available at: http://www.transcend.org/TRRECBAS.HTM.
This work offers a comprehensive examination of the effects of violence in warfare contexts. It maps
out the visible and invivisible effects of direct violence on a variety of entitities including space, nature,
humans, society, the world, time, and culture. The author provides an in-depth look at the issue of who
is guilty for the perpetration of violence, using examples such as Auschwitz and Hiroshima. After the
thorough examination of perpetration of and respsnibility for violence, the author discusses the recovery
processes of reconstruction and reconciliation.
Reconciliation After Violent Conflict: A Handbook. International Institute for Democracy and
Electoral Assistance (IDEA).
Available at: Click here for more info.
This lengthy publication offers a rough guide for how to go about promoting reconciliation in the
aftermath of violent conflict. Though the authors recognize that there is no prescription for this difficult
task, this handbook is loaded with thoughtful suggestions. IDEA's mission involves the promotion of
sustainable democracy around the world, and this handbook is aimed specifically at the tasks that must
be accomplished in post-violence situations in order for democracy to blossom. IDEA considers
addressing the legacy of violence and rebuilding shattered relationships as a primary task.
Offline (Print) Sources
Wright, Quincy. A Study of War, 2nd Edition. Chicago: University of Chicago Press, 1965.
Quincy Wright's book still stands as one of the seminal works on the study of war. His is one of the first
efforts to quantify and systematize the study of war. It is valuable both for its place in the history of war
studies and the insight it provides into the nature of violent conflict.
Opotow, Susan. "Aggression and Violence." In The Handbook of Conflict Resolution: Theory
and Practice. Edited by Deutsch, Morton and Peter T. Coleman, eds. San Francisco: JosseyBass, April 15, 2000.
The author sets out by outlining various forms of aggression and violence and their common causes.
She emphasizes the role that social context, particularly morals and norms, plays in triggering
aggression. In the final section, the author suggests that education programs must be developed to
train people to minimize violence and manage aggression when it occurs.
Sandole, Dennis J. D. Capturing the Complexity of Conflict: Dealing With Violent Ethnic
Conflicts in the Post-Cold War Era. Pinter Pub Ltd, April 1, 2000.
This book explores the terrain of ethnic conflicts in the post-cold war era, focusing specifically on the
causes, conditions, and perpetuation of violent conflict and war.
Barkan, Steven E. and Lynne L. Snowden. Collective Violence. Boston: Allyn & Bacon, March 1,
2000.
This book redefines current approaches to the study of collective behavior and social movements,
focusing on the characteristics, history, and structure of violent groups to better understand how this
violence can be minimized.
Hall, Harold V. and Leighton C. Whitaker, eds. Collective Violence: Effective Strategies for
Assessing and Intervening in Fatal Group and Institutional Aggression. Boca Raton: CRC Press,
June 1, 1999.
This book looks at collective violence, the effect media has on violence, and institutional violence.
Arendt, Hannah. On Violence. New York: Harcourt Brace International, 1970.
This work explores the nature of violence and its relationship to conflict, power, and politics.
"Terrorism and Political Violence." , .
Terrorism and Political Violence is an academic journal that "reflects the full range of current scholarly
work from many disciplines and theoretical perspectives. It aims to give academic rigour to a field which
hitherto has lacked it, and encourages comparative studies. In addition to focusing on the political
meaning of terrorist activity, the journal publishes studies of various related forms of violence by rebels
and by states, on the links between political violence and organized crime, protest, rebellion, revolution,
and human rights. Symposia are a regular feature covering such subjects as: terrorism and public
policy; religion and violence; political parties and terrorism; technology and terrorism; and right-wing
terrorism." -From Publisher Click here for more info.
Scarry, Elaine. "The Difficulty of Imagining Other Persons ." In The Handbook of Interethnic
Coexistence. Edited by Weiner, Eugene, ed. New York: Continuum Publishing, 1998.
The author addresses the problem of violence and cruelty toward foreigners. She argues that the way
we act toward others depends on how we see them. Click here for more info.
Vayrynen, R., ed. To Settle or to Transform? Perspectives on the Resolution of National and
International Conflicts. London, Newbury Park, New Dehli: SAGE Publications, 1991.
The author offers a different approach to analyzing and handling violence. He suggests studying the
functions of political violence. In this way the issues of social structure will be incorporated in the
conflict resolution process. Click here for more info.
Burton, John W. Violence Explained: The Sources of Conflict, Violence and Crime and Their
Prevention. New York: Manchester University Press, July 1997.
John Burton argues that one of the main sources of conflict and violence is the denial of human needs.
He examines the adversarial institutions of society leadership, legislatures, the work place, the legal
system and the international relations system, and considers what each would be like if it was designed
to solve basic human needs problems.
Graham, Hugh Davis and Ted Robert Gurr. Violence in America: Historical and Comparative
Perspectives, Revised Edition. Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage Publications, July 1979.
This revised edition of Violence in America, is a reworking of this 1968 bestseller, with nine entirely new
chapters. The revised edition takes into account the radical changes in American society and American
violence between the late 60s and late 70s. The work should be of interest to anyone concerned with
the interpretation of America's turbulent past and the assessment of its future.
Gottesman, Ronald, ed. Violence in America: An Encyclopedia. New York: Charles Scribner's
Sons, February 1, 2000.
This is an encyclopedia of essays on violence in the United States examining the social conditions
involved and analyzing cause and effect. Topics include interpersonal violence, specific events, social
conditions, and cultural trends.
Scheper-Hughes, Nancy and Philippe Bourgois, eds. Violence in War and Peace: An Anthology.
New York: Blackwell Publishers, December 2003.
This edited volume presents anthropological studies that attempt to make sense of human-upon-human
violence. The volume's contents provide a thorough exploration of social, literary, and philosophical
theories of violence.
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Examples Illustrating this Topic:
Online (Web) Sources
Conflict and Hope in Northern Ireland.
Available at: http://www.cnn.com/SPECIALS/2000/n.ireland/index.html.
This page offers access to a broad array of information regarding the long-standing violent conflict in
Northern Ireland.
Parry, Nigel. "A Personal Diary of the Israeli-Palestinian Conflict." ,
Available at: http://nigelparry.com/diary/.
This site presents the personal diary of journalist Nigel Parry, as he experienced the Israeli-Palestinian
conflict in a variety of settings in the Middle East over several years. It conveys to some degree, the
impact of the ongoing violence in this conflict.
Ethnic Cleansing in Kosovo: An Accounting. U.S. State Department.
Available at: Click here for more info.
This page offers a multi-part description of the genocidal events that took place in Kosovo.
"Hate Crime: The Violence of Intolerance." , 1900
Available at: http://www.usdoj.gov/crs/pubs/htecrm.htm.
This extensive article defines the term "hate crime," gives actual examples of hate crimes, discusses
hate crimes as they are associated with schools, housing, and business issues, and details the
practices that the Community Relations Service (CRS) uses to prevent tensions from escalating into
racial and ethnic conflict or civil disturbances.
Chambers, Stan. Rodney King and the Los Angeles Riots. CitiVU.
Available at: http://www.citivu.com/ktla/sc-ch1.html.
This page presents a first-hand account of journalist California Stan Chambers' coverage of the L.A.
riots. The widespread violence erupted following the aquittal of Rodney King's arresting officers in April
of 1992.
Tiananmen Square, 1989: The Declassified History.
Available at: http://www.gwu.edu/~nsarchiv/NSAEBB/NSAEBB16/documents/index.html.
This is a historical account of the Chinese Army attack on a student demonstration in Tiananman
Square on June 4th, 1989.
"Case Study: The Nanjing Massacre, 1937-38." , 1900
Available at: http://www.gendercide.org/case_nanking.html.
The Nanjing Massacre, also known as "The Rape of Nanking," is a rare example of simultaneous
gendercides against women and men. It is generally remembered for the invading forces' barbaric
treatment of Chinese women. Many thousands of them were killed after gang rape, and tens of
thousands of others brutally injured and traumatized. Meanwhile, approximately a quarter of a million
defenseless Chinese men were rounded up as prisoners-of-war and murdered en masse, used for
bayonet practice, or burned and buried alive.
Hatred in the Hallway: Violence and Discrimination Against Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, and
Transgender Students in U.S. Schools. Human Rights Watch.
Available at: http://www.hrw.org/reports/2001/uslgbt/toc.htm.
In this report, Human Rights Watch documents attacks on the human rights of lesbian, gay, bisexual,
and transgender youth who are subjected to abuse on a daily basis by their peers and in some cases
by teachers and school administrators. These violations are compounded by the failure of federal,
state, and local governments to enact laws providing students with express protection from
discrimination and violence based on their sexual orientation and gender identity. The assessment of
the treatment of youth is, according to international law, as set forth in the International Covenant on
Civil and Political Rights (ICCPR); the International Covenant on Economic, Social, and Cultural Rights;
the Convention on the Rights of the Child; the Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of
Discrimination against Women; and other international human rights instruments.
Dowty, Alan and Michelle Gawerc. "The Intifada: Revealing the Chasm." Middle East Review of
International Affairs (MERIA), Vol. 5, No. 3 , September 2001
Available at: http://meria.idc.ac.il/journal/2001/issue3/jv5n3a4.html.
This piece discusses the Palestinian uprising or intifada, that began in September 2000. It analyzes the
phenomenon by looking at the perception and activities of Palestinians, and talks of differing
Palestinian and Israeli views on the course of the peace process. It also discusses the standpoints of
leaders and of public opinion toward these events.
"Nanjing Massacre." , 1900
Available at: http://www.cnd.org/njmassacre/.
This site provides access to a variety of information documenting the Nanjing Massacre of 1937-38.
This atrocity was perpetrated by the Japanese Army in China during WWII.
Smith, Anthony. "Violence in Papua: The Role of Military Elements in Perpetuating Violence."
Foreign Policy in Focus , November 27, 2002
Available at: http://www.fpif.org/commentary/2002/0211papua.html.
This article discusses Papua (formally known as Irian Jaya), a part of Indonesia that has been in a state
of low-level conflict for many years, as many native people would like Papua to gain sovereignty.
Although many concessions have been made by the Indonesian government, the military continues to
violate many of the agreements and violence and oppression continue to be a part of everyday life for
Papuans.
Violence in the Workplace.
Available at: http://www.cdc.gov/niosh/violcont.html.
This document reviews what is known about fatal and nonfatal violence in the workplace to determine
the focus needed for prevention and research. The document also summarizes issues to be addressed
when dealing with workplace violence in various settings such as offices, factories, warehouses,
hospitals, convenience stores, and taxicabs.
Quam, Michael D. "Creating Peace in an Armed Society: Karamjoa, Uganda." , 1996
Available at: http://web.africa.ufl.edu/asq/v1/1/3.htm.
This article describes the past two decades of chaos and violence that has racked the Karamoja area in
northeast Uganda. It details the impacts of violent conflict as well as ways in which local leaders have
attempted to respond.
Godoy, Angelina Snodgrass. "Lynchings and the Democratization of Terror in Postwar
Guatemala: Implications for Human Rights." Human Rights Quarterly , August 2002
Available at: Click here for more info.
This article examines the precipitous rise of lynching in Guatemala following the end of the country's
36-year civil war. The author argues that these lynchings are the result of such extreme state terror that
social life has been permanently altered.
Early Warning, Timely Response: A Guide to Safe Schools. U.S. Department of Education.
Available at: http://cecp.air.org/guide/guide.pdf.
This guide to safe schools was published by the U.S. Department of Education in response to several
violent acts that took place in American schools in the late nineties. The guidebook discusses the
qualities of safe schools, outlines early warning signs of potentially violent situations, provides advice
on how to help troubled students, and also offers advice on how to respond to crisis in the school
setting.
Chandran, Suba and Alok Kumar Gupta. "India: Caste Violence and Class in Bihar: The Ranvir
Sena." , 2002
Available at: Click here for more info.
This article discusses violent conflict between upper and lower castes in the Bihar region of India. The
lower caste in Bihar gained some political power in recent times, and this has led to ongoing tension
and violence between clashing caste members.
Yimsut, Ranachith. "The Tonle Sap Lake Massacre." , 1900
Available at: http://www.edwebproject.org/sideshow/stories/ronnieyimsut.html.
A survivor of the Khmer Rouge describes the violence he witnessed.
Offline (Print) Sources
Curle, Adam. Another Way: Positive Response to Contemporary Violence. Oxford: Jon
Carpenter Publishing, April 1, 1996.
"The end of the Cold War has not brought peace to the planet as was briefly hoped. Instead, horrifying
and often seemingly pointless violence is all too common. Curle argues that much contemporary
violence stems from alienation. Political processes alone cannot end such violence. Lasting peace
requires "widespread changes of heart." [p. 5] Based largely on his experiences in the former
Yugoslavia, Curle argues that such changes are possible, and offers a model approach to
peacemaking in an era of alienation." -Tanya Glaser
Danieli, Yael, ed. International Handbook of Multigenerational Legacies of Trauma. New York:
Plenum Press, January 1, 1998.
This volume is a compellation of essays that examine the costs and effects of violent conflict, genocide,
and slavery.
Gurr, Ted Robert and Monty G. Marshall. Peace and Conflict 2003: A Global Survey of Armed
Conflicts, Self-Determination Movements, and Democracy. College Park: Center for International
Development and Conflict Management, 2003.
The Effects of Violence on Peace Processes. Washington, DC: United States Institute of Peace
Press, November 1, 2001.
This book examines the fact that ethnic violence is extremely difficult to curtail. Cease-fires tend to
break down and peace agreements are regularly violated. Darby argues that even when blatant political
violence is ended by a cease-fire, it tends to re-appear in new forms and continues to threaten peace
processes. "He analyzes the nature and impact of four interrelated kinds of violence: violence by the
state, violence by militants, violence in the community, and the emergence of new violence-related
issues during negotiations. For each kind of violence, the author draws out the policy implications,
suggesting how the "guardians" of the peace process can defeat would-be spoilers and change a
culture of violence. The volume concludes by distilling five propositions on the relationship between
violence and peace processes (Amazon.com)." The author employs five specific cases to demonstrate
his points: Northern Ireland, South Africa, Sri Lanka, Israel-Palestine, and the Basque country. Click
here for more info.
Colletta, Nat J. and Michelle L. Cullen. Violent Conflict and the Transformation of Social Capital:
Lessons from Cambodia, Rwanda, Guatemala, and Somalia. World Bank, March 2000.
This book discusses the impacts of intrastate violence on social cohesiveness, communal trust, and
other values that add up to "social capital". The authors argue that other parts of society may be more
easily rebuilt after violent conflict, but that social captial is more difficult to replenish and is essential to
social and economic development after conflict. The work discsusses the cases of Cambodia, Rwanda,
Guatemala, and Somalia to illustrate the devastating impacts of violent conflict on social capital and
how these impacts may affect the future of a society.
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Audiovisual Materials on this Topic:
Online (Web) Sources
The Mideast: A Century of Conflict Part 3: Partition, War and Independence. 1900.
Available at: http://www.npr.org/news/specials/mideast/history/history3.html.
By 1946, Great Britain decided to let the newly established U.N. decide what would happen to
Palestine. They decided to partition Palestine into two states. The Arabs rejected the proposal, and the
fighting continued. In May 1948, the Zionists declared independence. In response, four Arab states
invaded the new state of Israel. In the following war, three-quarters-of-a-million Palestinians fled and
became refugees.
Offline (Print) Sources
Alonso's Dream . Directed and/or Produced by: Lacourse, Daniele and Yvan Patry. First Run
Icarus Films. 2000.
This film presents a contemplative and critical look at the impact the Zapatista uprising and paramilitary
violence have had on the Mayan people. Click here for more info.
Rwandan Nightmare. Directed and/or Produced by: Gallimore, Simon. First Run Icarus Films.
1994.
This video argues that the recent genocide in Rwanda was the consequence of a political power
struggle, rather than of ethnic hatred. Click here for more info.
War and Peace . Directed and/or Produced by: Patwardhan, Anand. First Run Icarus Films. 2002.
This film highlights the effects of violence on not only the different parties associated with a conflict, but
also on bystanders to the conflict and to the rest of the world. Click here for more info.
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Beyond Intractability Version IV
Copyright © 2003-2010 The Beyond Intractability Project
Beyond Intractability is a Registered Trademark of the University of Colorado
Project Acknowledgements
The Beyond Intractability Knowledge Base Project
Guy Burgess and Heidi Burgess, Co-Directors and Editors
c/o Conflict Information Consortium (Formerly Conflict Research Consortium), University of Colorado
Campus Box 580, Boulder, CO 80309
Phone: (303) 492-1635; Fax: (303) 492-2154; Contact