Limiting Violence and Intimidation - For Practitioners - Violence-Limiting Tools

Heidi Burgess


Violence-Limiting Tools

Violence Prevention Options for the Destructive Escalation Phase

A general article on limiting escalataion is available here. In addition, one can:

Violence Limiting Options for the Stalemate Stage

The stalemate stage is both the most difficult and at times the most hopeful. It is here where the violence and the destruction from the conflict may have reached its peak, but at the same time, it is the point when the parties may come to realize that neither (or none) of them can prevail unilaterally, no matter what they do. It is then that trying alternative approaches begins to make more sense.(This point is commonly referred to as reaching "ripeness." Although it can be difficult to encourage decision makers to transform violent approaches to conflict into nonviolent ones, the stalemate stage is often the most likely time to foster such a transition. Some articles describing how such a transformation might be encouraged include:

Violence Limiting and Prevention Tools for the De-Escalation Stage and Peacebuilding Stages

Scholar-practitioner John Paul Lederach asserts that peace agreements are not the end of conflict or conflict resolution, but actually the middle. "Intractable conflicts", he says, "take just as long to get out of, as they take to get into." For that reason, much work must be done to consolidate the peace settlement detailed in any peace agreement. If people assume that the peace agreement has been signed, so the conflict resolution work is done, they will almost always be disappointed as people who want to derail the peace agreement (commonly called "spoilers") will re-ignite violence for their own, usually selfish ends. In a large sense, the steps needed to consolidate the peace are the subject of most of the other challenges analyzed in the Governance Forum. However, a few overview articles are included here, describing particularly important ideas: