file:///E|/E-Book/PSYCHOLOGIA/de-escalation_stage.htm
The story of the human
race is characterized by
efforts to get along much
more than by violent
Beyond Intractability: A Free Knowledge Base on More Constructive Approaches to Destructive Conflict
disputes, although it's the
latter that make the
history books. Violence is
actually exceptional. The
human race has survived
because of cooperation. --
Gerard Vanderhaar
De-escalation Stage
Featured Links
Organizations Making
Noteworthy Contributions
to Efforts to Promote More
By Constructive Conflict
Louis Kriesberg
September 2003
Center for Human
Rights and Conflict
Resolution
Other Resources from
Beyond
Intractability
A User's Guide for Third
Siders
The Third Side concept
was developed by William
Ury. Third Siders are
All conflicts, even intractable ones, eventually wind down and are to some degree
people who try to see both
transformed, so that they become regarded as tractable. Collective identities do change,
sides of a conflict and
sometimes abruptly, when state borders change or when states break up or even dissolve,
encourage cooperative
as did the Soviet Union and Yugoslavia at the end of the twentieth century. Even without
solutions, fair fights, and
border changes, the content of a collective identity can and does change in the course of
decision making that
large-scale conflict. For example, the meaning of being South African changed as the
advocates solutions which
wrongness of apartheid became a matter of wide consensus among all peoples of South
meet everyone's interests
Africa. Adversaries may come to recognize shared identities, sometimes induced by threats
and needs as much as
from a common enemy.
possible.
Conflict de-escalation and transformation are often also associated with reduced
grievances, at least for members of one side. This change occurs as relations between the
adversaries change, in the course of the struggle. Thus, some rights that one party sought
may be at least partially won, and that party's goals are then accordingly softened.
Goals also change as they come to be regarded as
unattainable or as requiring unacceptable burdens. Goals
may then be recast so that they may be achieved with
reasonable means. They may even be recast so as to
provide mutual benefits for the opposing sides. For
example, Frederik Willem de Klerk, as president of South
Africa, led in reformulating the goals of the National
Party, Afrikaners, and whites of South Africa to create a
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new, post-apartheid state.
Nobel Peace Prize
Winners
The methods that adversaries believe they can use
effectively in a conflict do not become progressively more
destructive as a conflict persists. As with goals, those
methods, after a time, may become too costly or
ineffective. Supporters may cease to be supportive, when
Carolyn Stephenson says
norms are violated or costs become too burdensome.
that both escalation and de-
(This was certainly the case in the United States as the
escalation are need to
war in Vietnam wore on.) The methods may come to be
resolve conflicts.
seen as counterproductive for the goals sought,
particularly if alternative methods, promising more
constructive outcomes, seem feasible. (Much more information about de-escalation can be
found in the primary essay on this topic.)
Use the following to cite this article:
Kriesberg, Louis. "De-escalation Stage." Beyond Intractability. Eds. Guy Burgess and Heidi
Frederik Willem de Klerk
Burgess. Conflict Research Consortium, University of Colorado, Boulder. Posted:
One of the 1993 Nobel
September 2003 .
Peace Prize Laureates
Sources of Additional, In-depth Information on this Topic
Additional Explanations of the Underlying Concepts:
Online (Web) Sources
De-escalation.
Available at: http://www.colorado.edu/conflict/peace/treatment/de-esc.htm.
This page outlines various strategies for reducing the intensity of a conflict and provides
links to online essays and examples of de-escalation.
"International Conflict Resolution: The U.S.-U.S.S.R. and the Middle East Cases--
Book Summary." University of Colorado: Conflict Research Consortium, 1900.
Available at: Click here for more info.
This is a summary of International Conflict Resolution, by Louis Kriesberg. The book
presents an analysis of international conflict de-escalation and negotiation by investigating
Arab-Israeli and U.S.-USSR de-escalation efforts.
Glaser, Tanya. "Social Conflict: Escalation, Stalemate and Settlement - Book
Summary." University of Colorado: Conflict Research Consortium, 1900.
Available at: Click here for more info.
This is a summary of the book Social Conflict, by Dean G. Pruitt and Sung Hee Kim. In the
work, the authors describe how people engage in social conflicts. The authors describe the
sources of conflict, identify five basic conflict strategies, and explore processes of conflict
escalation and resolution. (This summary refers to the first edition of the book.)
"Step-by-Step De-escalation (GRIT)." International Online Training Project on
Intractable Conflict ,
Available at: http://www.colorado.edu/conflict/peace/treatment/grit.htm.
De-escalation is much more difficult to implement than is escalation. One strategy for
starting a de-escalation spiral is what Charles Osgood called GRIT--graduated reciprocal
reductions in tension. This involves one side making a small conciliatory gesture, which
they hope is matched by a conciliatory response. If it is not, a second or third small
gesture can be made to indicate one's interest and willingness to de-escalate the conflict.
Once the opponent reciprocates, another slightly more important conciliatory step can be
taken, and if that is matched, the pattern can be continued, resulting in a cycle of
conciliation in place of the former cycle of escalation.
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Jameson, Jessica K. "The Escalation and De-escalation of Intractable Conflict."
Communicating War and Terror ,
Available at: Click here for more info.
This article examines Terrell Northrup's theory of conflict escalation, and raises important
questions that must be asked if we want to gain insights into the events of September
11th.
Offline (Print) Sources
Bonoma, Thomas V. Conflict: Escalation and De-escalation. Beverly Hills, CA: Sage
Publications, 1975.
This monograph is part of the Sage Professional Papers in International Studies Series,
number 02-033.
Kriesberg, Louis. "De-escalating Conflict." In Constructive Conflicts: From
Escalation to Resolution, 2nd Edition. New York: Rowman and Littlefield,
November 2002. Pages: 190-233.
This chapter examines the processes of de-escalation. It discusses some changing
conditions that can contribute to de-escalation and suggests policies by which this process
can be sustained and forwarded.
Husbands, Jo L. "Domestic Factors and De-Escalation Initiatives: Boundaries,
Process and Timing." In Timing the De-Escalation of International Conflicts.
Edited by Kriesberg, Louis and Stuart J. Thorson, eds. Syracuse, NY: Syracuse
University Press, 1991.
Kriesberg, Louis. International Conflict Resolution : The U.S.-USSR and Middle
East Cases. New Haven, CT: Yale University Press, May 1, 1992.
This book presents an analysis of international conflict de-escalation and negotiation by
investigating Arab-Israeli and U.S.-USSR de-escalation efforts. Click here for more info.
Kriesberg, Louis. "Nature, Dynamics, and Phases of Intractability." In Grasping
the Nettle: Analyzing Cases of Intractable Conflict. Edited by Dosi, Giovanni, ed.
Washington D.C. : U.S. Institute of Peace, April 30, 2005.
The chapter reviews factors that contribute to intractibility at each stage of a conflict. In
addition, it discusses steps that may be taken to reduce the sense of intractibility.
Zartman, I. William and Johannes Aurik. "Power Strategies in De-Escalation." In
Timing the De-Escalation of International Conflicts. Edited by Kriesberg, Louis
and Stuart J. Thorson, eds. Syracuse, NY: Syracuse University Press, 1991.
This piece considers whether positive or negative inducements are more effective exercises
of power to produce de-escalation. The authors present various cases studies and discuss
them in light of the foregoing question. They maintain that the initial decision to de-
escalate is usually brought about by failed escalation rather than constraints imposed by
one's adversary. And while threats can motivate parties to move toward agreement, the
provision of incentives is ultiamtely more conducive to long-term de-escalation.
Pruitt, Dean G., Jeffrey Z. Rubin and Sung Hee Kim. "Stalemate and De-
escalation." In Social Conflict: Escalation, Stalemate, and Settlement, 2nd
Edition. New York: McGraw Hill College Division, January 1, 1994. Pages: 150-167.
This chapter explains why stalemates occur and describes how parties move from
stalemate to de-escalation. Stalemates emerge for a variety of reasons, including
exhaustion of resources unwillingness to incur continued costs. One way for parties to
move out of stalemate and into de-escalation is through problem-solving. In this chapter,
the authors stress the role that increased communication and the development of
superordinate goals can play in moving adversaries toward problem-solving and de-
escalation. Click here for more info.
Mitchell, Christopher R. "The Anatomy of De-Escalation." In Conflict Resolution:
Dynamics, Process and Structure. Edited by Jeong, Ho-Won, ed. Brookfield, VT:
Ashgate Publishing Company, 1999.
Mitchell breaks down the larger concept of de-escalation into constituent parts to show
that de-escalation processes are not the mirror images of the processes that lead to
escalation in the first place. This arises from the fact that the people involved in the
conflict are different, cognitively speaking, from the people that they were prior to the
escalation.
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Fisher, Ronald J. The Social Psychology of Intergroup Conflict and International
Conflict Resolution. New York, NY: Spring-Verlag, January 1990.
The Social Psychology of Inter-group and International Conflict Resolution explores the
"causation, escalation, de-escalation, and resolution" of inter-group conflicts from the
perspective of social-psychology. Click here for more info.
Rubin, Jeffrey Z. "The Timing of Ripeness and the Ripeness of Timing." In Timing
the De-Escalation of International Conflicts. Edited by Thorson, Stuart J., ed.
Syracuse, NY: Syracuse University Press, 1991.
The author says that although the concepts of "timing" and "ripeness" are crucial to the
successful de-escalation of international conflicts, these concepts are sometimes dismissed
by social scientists because of their highly subjective nature. He defines timing as the
importance of doing things in one sequence or at one time rather than another. He defines
ripeness as "the right time" (to do something). [online abstract]
Kriesberg, Louis. "Timing and the Initiation of De-Escalation Moves." Negotiation
Journal 3, 1987.
Kahn, R. L. and Roderick M. Kramer. Untying the Knot: De-escalatory Processes in
International Conflict. San Francisco: Jossey-Bass, 1990.
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Examples Illustrating this Topic:
Online (Web) Sources
Nordquist, Kjell-Ake. "Boundary Conflicts and Preventive Diplomacy." Carnegie
Commission on Preventing Deadly Conflict, 2002.
http://wwics.si.edu/subsites/ccpdc/pubs/zart/ch2.htm.
This essay examines several cases where preventive diplomacy was used to de-escalate
boundary disputes.
Glaser, Tanya. "Factors Prompting De-Escalation in the Cold War--Summary."
University of Colorado Conflict Research Consortium.
Available at: Click here for more info.
This page is a summary of Louis Kriesberg's article, Factors Prompting De-Escalation in the
Cold War. Kriesberg argues that de-escalation initiatives are influenced by domestic
circumstances, by the international context and by the relations between the protagonists.
He examines the domestic factors which influenced American de-escalation initiatives
during the Cold War.
Glaser, Tanya. "Factors Prompting De-escalation in the Middle East--Summary."
University of Colorado Conflict Research Consortium.
Available at: http://www.colorado.edu/conflict/peace/example/krie7432.htm.
This is a summary of Louis Kriesberg's article, Factors prompting De-escalation in the
Middle East. Kriesberg argues that de-escalation initiatives are influenced by domestic
circumstances, by the international context and by the relations between the protagonists.
He examines all of these factors in relation to the Israeli-Arab conflict.
Offline (Print) Sources
Kriesberg, Louis. "Factors Prompting De-Escalation in the Middle East." In
International Conflict Resolution. Edited by Kriesberg, Louis, ed. New Haven: Yale
University Press, 1992.
"Kriesberg argues that de-escalation initiatives are influenced by domestic circumstances,
by the international context and by the relations between the protagonists. He examines
all of these factors in relation to the Israeli-Arab conflict." -Tanya Glaser, reviewer
Rasler, Karen. "Shocks, Expectancy Revision, and the De-escalation of Protracted
Conflicts: The Israeli-Palestinian Case." Journal of Peace Research 37:6,
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November 1, 2000.
"This article introduces an evolutionary framework for the de-escalation of protracted
conflicts. Key variables are political shocks, expectancy revision, policy entrepreneurship,
third-party pressure, and reciprocity. The model is tested in the context of the Israeli-
Palestinian case, 1979-98." --Sage Publications Click here for more info.
Timing the De-escalation of International Conflicts. Syracuse, NY: Syracuse
University Press, July 1991.
Timing the De-Escalation of International Conflicts is a collection of essays which explore
the context, policies and strategies of effective conflict de-escalation. Click here for more
info.
Levy, Yagil. Trial and Error: Israel's Route from War to De-Escalation. New York:
State University of New York Press, 1997.
This work follows the major events of the Israeli conflict dating from 1946 to 1996. It
discusses the policy of state expansion, the six-day war, the Watershed Years, and the
period of escalation to de-escalation.
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Audiovisual Materials on this Topic:
Offline (Print) Sources
War and Peace in Ireland . Directed and/or Produced by: MacCaig, Arthur. First
Run Icarus Films. 1998.
This film follows the conflict in Northern Ireland through its different stages. It gives a
picture of how violence escalated during the 1960s, how negotiations helped ease the
violence in the 1980s, and how cease fires in the 1990s brought with them the prospect of
peace. Click here for more info.
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Beyond Intractability Version II
Copyright © 2003-2005 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 Research Consortium, University of Colorado
Campus Box 580, Boulder, CO 80309
Phone: [phone]; Fax: [phone]; Contact
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