ABSTRACT

Comparative Study of Conflict Resolution Research in
Developed and Developing Countries
Arshi Saleem Hashmi

 

Mapping the fields of conflict and conflict resolution has becomes more than an intellectual exercise. However, there is a difference between "research that seeks to UNDERSTAND and research that seeks to MANAGE". Conflict Resolution has tried to do both with regard to conflicts but it was born especially with the prescriptive desire of devising ways of handling conflicts. One could argue that one aspect has been developed to a larger extent than the other. Nevertheless Conflict Resolution seems to have a precise scope and analysis of the Conflict situations is tailored to finding the means to deal with them. In this sense CR has produced a wealth of models of intervention.

Conflict resolution as both a professional practice and academic field is highly sensitive to developed and developing cultures . In the developed countries or western cultural contexts, such as Canada and the United States, successful conflict resolution usually involves fostering communication among disputants, problem solving, and drafting agreements that meet their underlying needs. In these situations, conflict resolvers often talk about finding the win-win solution, or mutually satisfying scenario, for everyone involved. In many developing countries or non-Western cultural contexts, such as Afghanistan, India, Pakistan, Vietnam, and China, it is also important to find 'win-win' solutions; however, getting there can be very different. In these contexts, direct communication between disputants that explicitly addresses the issues at stake in the conflict can be perceived as very rude, making the conflict worse and delaying resolution. Rather, it can make sense to involve religious, tribal or community leaders, communicate difficult truths indirectly through a third party, and make suggestions through stories. It is therefore important to systematically conduct a comparative analysis of the developed and developing world to approach to bridge that gap.

This paper is an attempt to unfold the complexity in Conflict Resolution Research in different cultural and economic settings, and high or low cultural context. Based on Lederach’s approach of being explicitly attentive to valuation of local capacities and resources, the study would examine the difference when a given conflict resolution approach is presented as a model and without building from the context and the cultural settings, the very strength of it i.e. the expertise provided, proves its very weakness in that it will not allow for a long term sustainability. While the Developed world has moved from traditional methods of CR research to more innovative , multidisciplinary methods based on “pluralist paradigm”, developing world is stuck in the conventional CR through official diplomacy or “ realist paradigm”. It appears that the developed world has devised methods to resolve conflict according to the universal human principles, it’s another debate that the universal principles support their cultural, political and economic settings. The developing world , on the other hand seems to be unwelcoming to ideas that are not indigenous, at the same time there has not been enough effort to contribute in CR research based on indigenous mechanism. This aversion of both universal principles and methods of CR and lack of indigenous CR methods has effected the developing countries negatively.

 

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