OTHER TITLES IN THE PEACEWORKS SERIES

Coercive Prevention: Normative, Political, and Policy Dilemmas, by Bruce W. Jentleson (No. 35, October

2 0 0 0 )

Women in War and Peace: Grassroots Peacebuilding, by Donna Ramsey Marshall (No. 34, August 2000)

Grappling with Peace Education in Serbia, by Ruzica Rosandic (No. 33, April 2000)

Three Dimensions of Peacebuilding in Bosnia: Findings from USIP-Sponsored Research and Field Projects,

edited by Steven M. Riskin (No. 32, December 1999)

Building Security in Post–Cold War Eurasia: The OSCE and U.S. Foreign Policy, by P. Terrence

Hopmann (No. 31, September 1999)

New Approaches to International Negotiation and Mediation: Findings from USIP-Sponsored Research,

edited by Timothy D. Sisk (No. 30, August 1999)

Training to Promote Conflict Management: USIP-Assisted Training Projects, edited by David Smock (No.

29, July 1999)

The Challenge of Regional Cooperation in Central Asia: Preventing Conflict in the Ferghana Valley, b y

Anara Tabyshalieva (No. 28, June 1999)

Territorial Conflicts and Their Resolution: The Case of Ecuador and Peru, by Beth A. Simmons (No. 27,

April 1999)

The Quest for Democratic Security: The Role of the Council of Europe and U.S. Foreign Policy, by Heinrich

Klebes (No. 26, January 1999)

Nagorno-Karabakh: Searching for a Solution, by Patricia Carley (No. 25, December 1998)

Removing Barricades in Somalia: Options for Peace and Rehabilitation, by Hussein Adam and Richard

Ford, with Ali Jimale Ahmed, Abdinasir Osman Isse, Nur Weheliye, and David Smock (No. 24,

October 1998)

Muddling toward Democracy: Political Change in Grassroots China, by Anne F. Thurston (No. 23,

August 1998)

Preventing Genocide in Burundi: Lessons from International Diplomacy, by Stephen R. Weissman (No.

22, July 1998)

The China Challenge in the Twenty-First Century: Implications for U.S. Foreign Policy, by Chen Jian (No.

21, June 1998)

Private Peacemaking: USIP-Assisted Peacemaking Projects of Nonprofit Organizations, edited by David R.

Smock (No. 20, June 1998)

Sovereignty after Empire: Self-Determination Movements in the Former Soviet Union, by Galina

Starovoitova (No. 19, October 1997)

Keynote Addresses from the “Virtual Diplomacy” Conference, by Richard H. Solomon, Walter B. Wriston,

and George P. Shultz (No. 18, September 1997)

Greek-Turkish Relations and U.S. Foreign Policy: Cyprus, the Aegean, and Regional Stability, by Tozun

Bahcheli, Theodore A. Couloumbis, and Patricia Carley (No. 17, August 1997) 

U.S. Responses to Self-Determination Movements: Strategies for Nonviolent Outcomes and Alternatives to

S e c e s s i o n , by Patricia Carley (No. 16, July 1997)

Creative Approaches to Managing Conflict in Africa: Findings from USIP-Funded Projects, edited by David

R. Smock (No. 15, April 1997)
OF RELATED INTEREST

Many other publications from the United States Institute of Peace address issues of relevance to training

in particular and conflict prevention in general.

RECENT INSTITUTE REPORTS INCLUDE:

New Approaches to International Negotiation and Mediation: Findings from USIP-Sponsored Research,

edited by Timothy D. Sisk (Peaceworks No. 30, August 1999)

Training to Promote Conflict Management: USIP-Assisted Training Projects, edited by David R. Smock

(Peaceworks No. 29, July 1999)

Private Peacemaking: USIP-Assisted Peacemaking Projects of Nonprofit Organizations, edited by David R.

Smock (Peaceworks No. 20, June 1998)

Creative Approaches to Managing Conflict in Africa: Findings from USIP-Funded Projects, edited by David

R. Smock (Peaceworks No. 15, April 1997)

To obtain an Institute report (available free of charge), write United States Institute of Peace,

1200 17th Street NW, Suite 200, Washington, DC 20036-3011; call (202) 429-3832; fax (202) 429-6063;

or e-mail: usip–r e q u e s t s @ u s i p . o r g .

RECENT BOOKS FROM USIP PRESS INCLUDE:

The Enemy Has a Face: The Seeds of Peace Experience, by John Wallach (2000)

Herding Cats: Multiparty Mediation in a Complex World, edited by Chester A. Crocker, Fen Osler

Hampson, and Pamela Aall (1999)

Negotiating Across Cultures: International Communication in an Interdependent World, revised edition, by

Raymond Cohen (1997)

Building Peace: Sustainable Reconciliation in Divided Societies, by John Paul Lederach (1997)

Peacemaking in International Conflict: Methods and Techniques, edited by I. William Zartman and

J. Lewis Rasmussen (1997)

Preventing Violent Conflicts: A Strategy for Preventive Diplomacy, by Michael S. Lund (1996)

Nurturing Peace: Why Peace Settlements Succeed or Fail, by Fen Osler Hampson (1996)

To order books, call 800-868-8064 (U.S. only) or 703-661-1590, or fax 703-661-1501.

Pe a c ewo rks 36

United Stat e s

Institute of Pe a c e

1200 17th Street NW

Washington, DC 20036
United States 

Institute of Pe a c e

Conflict Management

Tra i n i n g

A d vancing Best Pra c t i c e s

Robert M. Schoenhaus
Peaceworks No. 36. First published January 2001.

The views expressed in this report are those of the author or contributors alone. They do not

necessarily reflect views of the United States Institute of Peace.

United States Institute of Peace

1200 17th Street NW, Suite 200

Washington, DC 20036-3011

Phone: 202-457-1700

Fax: 202-429-6063

E-mail: usip_requests@usip.org

Web: www.usip.org
C o n t e n t s

I n t ro d u c t i o n 5

Part I: Preparing for Tra i n i n g

1. Training for Conflict Analysis and Strategy Development 10

2. Training Negotiators to Work Effectively Across Cultures 14

Part II: Training Practices 

in Current Popular Disciplines

3. Best Practices in Training Negotiators 18

4. Best Practices When Training Mediators 22

5. Training in Nonviolent Intervention 25

Part III: Issues Critical to Effe c t i ve Tra i n i n g

6. Ethical Dilemmas in Conflict Resolution Training 29

7. Designing Training Materials: A Few Best Practices 32

8. Evaluation in Conflict Resolution Training and Practice 35

About the Pa r t i c i p a n t s 39

About the Institute 41

I n t ro d u c t i o n

On June 27–28, 2 0 0 0 , the Un i ted States In s ti tute of Pe ace con du cted a sym po s iu m

de s i gn ed to ex p l ore the best training practi ce s ,c u rrent and futu re , in sel ected

a reas of c ri tical import a n ce to the growing con f l i ct managem ent com mu n i ty.

The meeting bro u ght toget h er more than fifty funders , provi ders , and con su m ers of

training to ex a m i n e ,a f f i rm ,a n d , in many instance s , qu e s ti on the ef fectiveness of tod ay ’s

training practi ces and the sys tems that su pport them . Ei ght topics were sel ected and ei gh t

p a pers were com m i s s i on ed to frame the discussion for this even t . Com m ents were taken

in both plen a ry and bre a ko ut sessions on both days . It was evi dent thro u gh o ut the

co u rse of the sym po s ium that the group also wanted to ex p l ore po ten tial probl ems and

a l tern a tive soluti on s , as well as to recogn i ze some things that have current and lasti n g

va lu e . This report , prep a red by the In s ti tute’s Training Program staff, su m m a ri zes those

p a pers and discussions and of fers some insights into the core con cerns of the con f l i ct

m a n a gem ent com mu n i ty and the abi l i ty of training practi ti on ers to be su ccessful in the

com p l ex envi ron m ent in wh i ch they opera te tod ay. The papers , as su bm i t ted to the sympo s iu m ,a re ava i l a ble thro u gh the In s ti tute’s Training Progra m .

The com p l ex i ties of con f l i ct managem ent training and practi ce , as evi den ced in this

s ym po s iu m , ref l ect an em er gi n g, dy n a m i c , and som ewhat fractu red com mu n i ty that is

m oving tow a rd con s en sus and, even tu a lly, a holistic approach to dealing with group conf l i ct and failed state s . This movem ent was cert a i n ly evi dent in the papers and discussion ,

and is captu red to some ex tent in this report , wh ere con s en sus on key issues su ggests a

clear path ahead . The main conver gen ce in thinking occ u rred in the fo ll owing are a s :

◗ There was gen eral ack n owl ed gm ent within the group that all training is interventi on to some ex ten t , in terms of both the con f l i ct itsel f and the soc i ety in wh i ch that

con f l i ct ex i s t s . As su ch , we as formu l a tors and exec utors of training are faced wi t h

ethical con s i dera ti ons and ch a ll en ges rel a ted both to the “ who and why ” of a parti cular training and to our re s pon s i bi l i ty for the outcome of the skills and inform a ti on

we impart .

◗ The qu e s ti on of what approaches to training in con tem pora ry con f l i ct managem en t

a re curren t ly needed should be based on the natu re of con tem pora ry con f l i cts and

the role of the intern a ti onal com mu n i ty in them , for this reveals what types of s k i ll s

a re curren t ly requ i red and in dem a n d . Vi ewed in this ligh t , it would appear that the

s k i lls most com m on ly taught in the field are no lon ger adequ a te to cover the bu rgeoning re s pon s i bi l i ties that are being undert a ken in current intern a ti onal con f l i ct

en ga gem en t s .

◗ Successful training and practi ce must focus on cl e a rly def i n ed and obt a i n a ble obj ectives or goa l s , both internal to the training event and ex ternal with rega rd to the

5
6 Introduction

effect of the training or interven ti on , as tra n s l a ted to the broader soc i ety. These goa l s

should be practical en o u gh to be attainabl e .

◗ Successful training and practi ce also requ i re an excell ent understanding of the participants in the training and the indivi du a l s , gro u p s , or soc i eties that the training or

i n terven ti on is inten ded to influ en ce . This understanding requ i res re s e a rch into wh o

t h ey are , h ow they learn , wh ere they stand curren t ly (atti tu des and beh avi or ) ,a n d

what other influ en ces are likely to su pport or interfere with our training ef fort s .

◗ With these unders t a n d i n gs , a program of i n f lu en ce (instru cti on ,n onvi o l ent interven ti on , or po l i ti c a l , econ om i c , or military acti on) can be de s i gn ed and implem en ted to help the participants get from wh ere they are now to wh ere they need to be in

order to have their goals sati s f i ed (pre su m a bly everyone shares a com m on goa l ) .

◗ We cannot train indivi duals wi t h o ut training the stru ctu res in wh i ch they opera te ,

so that the stru ctu re recogn i zes and su pports their ef fort s . This finding su ggests a

n ew directi on for aw a reness training and a mu ch gre a ter ef fort at syner gi s ti c a lly

coord i n a ting the ef forts of the stru ctu res so that their indivi dual “p i eces of the pe ace

proce s s” can be mel ded into a holistic and ef fective ef fort .

◗ Soc i etal con f l i cts are com p l ex and of ten deep ly roo ted in tra u m a , oral history, a n d

et h n i c , rel i gi o u s , and cultu ral iden ti f i c a ti on . These probl ems are not easily or qu i ck ly

re s o lved , and our interven ti on s , wh et h er in the form of training or som ething more

d i rect,n eed to be su s t a i n ed and eva lu a ted over the long term .

The purpose of this Pe aceworks is not on ly to captu re these conver gent lines of t h o u gh t ,

but also to repre s en t , in small measu re , the ri chness of the discussion and interacti on that

h el ped these points of con s en sus to em er ge and be recogn i zed .E ach of our nine aut h ors ,

opera ting indepen den t ly and focusing on a specific aspect of con f l i ct re s o luti on tra i n i n g,

s tru ck ch ords that were com m on to all and re s on a ted with the audien ce as a wh o l e .

In Pa rt I, we look at the front end of the training proce s s , focusing on analysis and

c ro s s - c u l tu ral com mu n i c a ti on skill s . Mi ch ael Lund undertook the difficult task of l oo k i n g

at the prec u rs or to all ef fective training—the analysis of the con f l i ct , the parti e s , and the

type of training that is best su i ted to ach i eving the obj ectives of the parti e s . Using his

u n i que abi l i ty to step back from a topic and tru ly ob s erve it, he su ggests that the natu re of

c u rrent con f l i cts and the depth of the intern a ti onal com mu n i ty ’s en ga gem ent in them

h ave ch a n ged , and that the training that we have been providing on the “m i c ro” l evel

n eeds to expand and be com p l em en ted by training at the “m ac ro”l evel . Doing so en t a i l s

recognizing the stru ctu res that are alre ady in place and that could be put in place to fac i l it a te early con f l i ct iden ti f i c a ti on and warn i n g, and mutu a lly training the actors wi t h i n

those stru ctu res to recogn i ze and ef fectively com mu n i c a te indicators and warn i n gs that

a re “he a rd” by re s pon s ive govern m en t s .

Ch ri s toph er Moore loo ked at the univers a lly recogn i zed probl ems assoc i a ted wi t h

training nego ti a tors and others to work ac ross cultu ral lines. Cu l tu re matters wh en parti e s

f rom different cultu res approach con f l i ct re s o luti on from differen t ,s om etimes incom p a ti-
Introduction 7

ble pers pective s . Moore noted that in a training con text it is important to analy ze and understand the cultu ral issues attach ed to all the parti c i p a n t s — i n cluding the instru ctors — i n

order to settle on a training met h odo l ogy that works for everyon e , and there was univers a l

a greem ent among other pre s en ters and many of the practi ti on ers in atten d a n ce on

Moore’s salient points and lessons learn ed .

We could have easily inclu ded a discussion of eva lu a ti on in this part , because planning

for a su ccessful eva lu a ti on should be built into the early analysis and planning process for

a ny tra i n i n g. Before the training com m en ce s , for ex a m p l e , it is nece s s a ry to have establ i s h ed not on ly clear obj ective s , but also a current baseline that su ggests wh ere the parti c ipants in the training are in rel a ti on to the obj ective s . Movem ent tow a rd the obj ective ,

m e a su red after the training is given ,i n d i c a tes su cce s s ;m ovem ent aw ay indicates a need to

re - a n a ly ze the training de s i gn com pon ents for the futu re . Th o u gh we have ch o s en to discuss eva lu a ti on on ly in Pa rt III, it re a lly pervades the en ti re proce s s .

In Pa rt II, we ex p l ore some of the training practi ces that form the core of tod ay ’s conf l i ct managem ent tra i n i n g. The paper and pre s en t a ti on on training nego ti a tors of fered by

Robert Ri c i gliano picked up these themes and high l i gh ted the fact that nego ti a ti on tra i ni n g, l i ke other forms of tra i n i n g, is a means to an en d , not an end in itsel f . It is cri tical to

effective training to understand the goals of the parti c i p a n t s , the con text in wh i ch those

goals are set , and the ways in wh i ch the participants receive and process inform a ti on (cultural pred i s po s i ti on) that may lead to pers onal and or ga n i z a ti onal ch a n ge . To ef fectively

use new skills and insigh t s ,s ome ch a n ge is inevi t a bl e , and nego ti a ti on training is a ch a n ge

proce s s . Keeping this in mind, an intere s ting probl em is po s ed : If n ego ti a ti on training is

p a rt of a process of i n d ivi dual and group ch a n ge , is it not, t h erefore , also an interven ti on

in the overa ll con f l i ct re s o luti on proce s s , to the ex tent that the training participants play a

role in that proce s s ?

The probl ems become even more com p l ex wh en we ad d ress training for med i a tors .

Linda Si n ger poi n ted out that, as most ef fective med i a ti on is con du cted in priva te , few

role models are ava i l a ble for those who aspire to be con f l i ct managers . Th ere are ,h owever,

certain skill sets that can be iden ti f i ed and taugh t . Training for med i a tors ,l i ke med i a ti on

i t s el f , is de s i gn ed to ch a n ge beh avi or. For this re a s on , as with nego ti a ti on tra i n i n g, the focus should be on providing participants with an opportu n i ty for hands-on ex peri en ce

with immed i a te and su pportive feed b ack . The con s en sus among intern a ti onal med i a ti on

tra i n ers is that ef fective med i a ti on tra i n ers should possess the fo ll owing qu a l i ties (note :

m a ny, if not most, of these qu a l i ties are needed by practi ti on ers of ef fective med i a ti on as

well ) :

◗ a sense of pers pective ;

◗ k n owl ed ge of effective te aching con cepts and skill s ;

◗ training in adult learn i n g ;

◗ a thoro u gh knowl ed ge of m ed i a ti on ga i n ed thro u gh practi ce and con ti nuous tra i ni n g ;

◗ an abi l i ty to move from the abstract to the con c rete and back aga i n ;
8 Introduction

◗ k n owl ed ge of the current state of the med i a ti on field and the trends determining its

f utu re ;

◗ an abi l i ty to ad a pt su ccessful con cepts and met h odo l ogy to new cultu res and the

p a rticular needs of the tra i n ees in the room ;

◗ a back ground in curri c u lum devel opm ent and an abi l i ty to put material into meani n gful con tex t s ;

◗ a de s i re and skill to coach others ;

◗ a wi ll i n gness to share con tro l , to be flex i bl e , and to co ll a bora te with tra i n ees and co -

tra i n ers ;

◗ an abi l i ty to assem ble nece s s a ry learning tools and re s o u rces and to know wh ere

t h ey are and how to use them ;

◗ the talent to hold a gro u p’s atten ti on and to inspire ;a n d

◗ an abi l i ty to model the med i a ti on — to “walk the walk.”

G eor ge Lakey delved into the difficult su bj ect of what con s ti tutes third - p a rty nonvi o l en t

i n terven ti on (TPNI) and what can be done to understand and train for this form of conf l i ct interven ti on . Cl e a rly, TPNI invo lves risk both to the pers ons who undert a ke it and to

the con f l i ct re s o luti on process and fra m ework in wh i ch the acti on is undert a ken . To mitiga te this ri s k , adequ a te analysis of the situ a ti on and the goals of the interven ti on is cri ti c a l ,

as are thoro u gh training and com m i tm ent on the part of those who would be actors .

Th ere have been some well - p u bl i c i zed instances of i n d ivi duals who have , wi t h o ut tra i ni n g,succe s s f u lly used their official statu re and po s i ti on to establish cred i bi l i ty in TPNI. For

ex a m p l e , Con gressman Th omas Fogl i etta was able to accom p a ny Korean po l i tician Ki m

D ae Jung on his retu rn to Korea in 1985, po s s i bly saving his life so that he could becom e

pre s i dent of that co u n try tod ay. Training appe a rs more likely to be sought by unof f i c i a l

p a rti e s ,h owever, who do not feel pro tected by their po l i tical or profe s s i onal ro l e .

In Pa rt III, we look at issues that are cri tical to well - de s i gn ed and ef fective tra i n i n g. In

the discussion of h ow to com pel an ethical re s ponse in a con f l i ct situ a ti on thro u gh nonvio l ent interven ti on ,Wa ll ace Wa rf i eld reveals the ethical dilemmas in con f l i ct managem en t

tra i n i n g.In a training envi ron m en t , an ethical dilemma may be po s ed wh en practi ti on ers

do u bt wh et h er their pers onal and profe s s i onal pers pectives and inten ti ons are in line wi t h

t h eir indivi dual acti ons (internal et h i c s ) . In ad d i ti on , ethical con s i dera ti ons arise wh en

con s i dering what the training means for the rel a ti onship bet ween the tra i n ers and the

p a rti c i p a n t s , as well as among the participants them s elves (ex ternal et h i c s ) . If this is not

en o u gh to think abo ut , Wa ll ace su gge s ted , we also have to deal with the ethical implications of the training process—the ends/means paradox and the issue of n eutra l i ty — a s

well as the very serious qu e s ti on of wh et h er we have an ethical re s pon s i bi l i ty for the outcome of the training and how it affects the stru ctu re of the con f l i ct to wh i ch the parti c ipants wi ll be retu rn i n g. Ref l ex ive practi ce , def i n ed as the process of ex p l oring a pattern of

acti on , making ad ju s tm ents du ring the acti on , or thinking abo ut past acti on ,i s , in the

view of the aut h or, the gen eric skill that en a bles a tra i n er to anti c i p a te and re s pond to et hical dilem m a s .
Introduction 9

Barb a ra Wi en and Pete Sw a n s on com bi n ed their ef forts to produ ce a ri ch and ch a ll en ging cornu copia of training practi ces and de s i gn con s i dera ti on s . Recognizing that thei r

efforts were not all - i n clu s ive , the pre s en ters were non et h eless able to focus on some core

pri n c i p l e s ,i n cluding their bel i ef that hands-on training that draws upon the ex peri en ce s

of the participants (el i c i tive) is more likely to have a lasting ef fect . Key to su ccessful tra i ning de s i gn is answering three qu e s ti on s : Who is the audien ce? What is the inten ded outcome? How mu ch time wi ll be devo ted to the training? Wi en and Sw a n s on revi s i ted som e

of the sym po s iu m’s earl i er top i c s , pre s en ting their insights into training de s i gns for negoti a ti on ,m ed i a ti on , and cro s s - c u l tu ral com mu n i c a ti on , while discussing some cre a tive app l i c a ti ons and exercise tech n i ques that tra n s cend specific training disciplines (that is, ro l e

p l ayi n g, vi deo t a p i n g, s torytell i n g, and the “Ah Ha h ! ”m et h od of l e a rn i n g ) . In actu a lly des i gning an exercise or role play, it is important to iden tify the obj ectives to be ach i eved , to

ch oose the ri ght “l a n d s c a pe ,”and to cre a te vivid and balanced ch a racteri z a ti on s . It is also

i m portant du ring the actual con du ct of the exercise to con trol the tem po and flow by sel ective releases of i n form a ti on and, wh ere appropri a te , by the cre a tive use of the exerc i s e

“m ed i a”poo l .

Af ter all else is said and don e , we need ,m ore cri ti c a lly tod ay than at any other ti m e , a

m et h odo l ogy for eva lu a ting the ef fectiveness of wh a tever training has been con du cted .

Ma rc How a rd Ross took on this ch a ll en ging task and poi n ted out that eva lu a ti on is not

just abo ut wh et h er proj ects ach i eve their goa l s , but is also abo ut making explicit the underlying premises upon wh i ch the goals are based . The immed i a te job of eva lu a ti on is to

dec i de what worked and what did not; the more com pelling role is to make sense of why

successes or failu res occur and, t h ereby, to recom m end altern a tive co u rses of acti on for

the futu re . Tra i n ers have a natu ral fear of being taken to task, and po s s i bly den i ed funding,

for failing to ach i eve fixed re sults in the com p l ex world of con f l i ct re s o luti on . But measu ring po s i tive movem ent is po s s i bl e , and the seeds are planted early in the process of tra i ning de s i gn and audien ce analys i s . If you are clear in your obj ectives and you can acc u ra tely

determine wh ere the training participants are in rel a ti on to that obj ective , you have a

good ch a n ce of de s i gning a program that wi ll incorpora te the ri ght con tent and exerc i s e s

to produ ce the re sult (movem ent) de s i red .

E ach of the pre s en t a ti ons that fo ll ow is divi ded into three part s : (1) a su m m a ry of t h e

ori ginal paper; (2) an en c a p su l a ted discussion of the paper, wh i ch inclu ded rem a rks by sel ected com m en t a tors and gen eral discussion in bre a ko ut gro u p s ; and (3) com m ents by

the aut h or of this Pe aceworks on the su b s t a n ce of the pre s en t a ti on and the rel a ti on s h i p s

a m ong top i c s .

This sym po s ium was an excepti onal event that we hope wi ll be repe a ted in the futu re .
1 0

O n e

Training for Conflict Analysis and Strat e gy

D eve l o p m e n t

The qu e s ti on of what approaches to training in con tem pora ry con f l i ct managem ent are curren t ly needed must be based on a con s i dera ti on of the natu re of

con tem pora ry con f l i cts and the scope of i n tern a ti onal invo lvem ent in them , for

this reveals what types of s k i lls are curren t ly requ i red and in dem a n d . Vi ewed in a

glob a l – h i s torical pers pective ,a ll recent vi o l ent con f l i cts are essen ti a lly tra n s i ti o n con f l i ct s ,

ref l ecting the inabi l i ty of m a ny soc i eties to cope with the po l i tical and econ omic stre s s e s

and strains that occur wh en a wo u l d - be new world order comes into con ten ti on with an

exi s ting autoc ra ti c ,p a tri m on i a l , on e - p a rty, or statist arra n gem en t .

The lively ficti on known as the “ i n tern a ti onal com mu n i ty ”h a s , in re s pon s e , tren ded

tow a rd becoming more en ga ged in miti ga ti n g, term i n a ti n g, a n d ,i n c re a s i n gly, preven ti n g

a va ri ety of d i f fering con f l i ct situ a ti on s , exercising wi der, deeper, and lon ger invo lvem en t

in these war- torn nati onal soc i eti e s . Con f l i ct preven ti on , wh et h er in re s pect to past or

pro s pective con f l i ct , in many ways invo lves nati on bu i l d i n g. By def i n i ti on , con f l i ct preventi on may inclu de any stru ctu ral or interactive means to keep intra s t a te or inters t a te tens i ons and disputes from escalating into significant vi o l en ce , to stren g t h en the capabi l i ti e s

to re s o lve su ch disputes pe acef u lly, and to all evi a te the underlying probl ems that produ ce

t h em . The skills curren t ly being taught no lon ger cover the bu r geoning re s pon s i bi l i ti e s

that are being undert a ken .

Invo lvem ent in con f l i ct re s o luti on is co s t ly, h owever, and actors are incre a s i n gly bei n g

h eld acco u n t a ble for get ting tangi ble re sults in attaining the ulti m a te goal of e s t a blishing a

su s t a i n a ble pe ace . Th ere is a growing re a l i z a ti on that the probl em in con f l i ct preven ti on is

not merely taking some acti on , but implem en ting ef fe ctive acti on . Con s equ en t ly, these actors are starting to devel op analytical tools that wi ll en a ble them to iden tify more sys tema ti c a lly ef fective re s ponses to incipient con f l i cts in particular co u n tri e s . As a con s equ en ce

of this devel opm en t , the need for ad d i ti onal and ex p a n ded training is growi n g.

The ra n ge of profe s s i onal skills that are needed inclu des the abi l i ty (1) to analy ze and

m on i tor the con tex t ,n a tu re ,s o u rce s , and dynamics of po ten ti a l , actu a l , and waning conf l i ct situ a ti on s ; (2) to iden tify the ra n ge and mixes of a ppropri a te d i p l om a tic and other approaches and instru m ents that fit given situ a ti ons and that might be used to avoi d ,l i m i t ,

en d , or tra n s cend the con f l i ct ; (3) to formu l a te va rious stra tegies for dealing with the conPart I: Preparing for Tr a i n i n g

paper by

Michael Lund
f l i ct s ; (4) to gain po l i tical su pport and funding for these stra tegi e s ; and (5) to implem en t

and manage the re su l ting progra m s .

Con f l i ct managem ent training to date is woef u lly incom p l ete , focusing on skills that

com prise on ly a small fracti on of those that are in dem a n d .While the locus of the ex i s ti n g

con f l i ct re s o luti on skills being taught is micro (de s i gn ed for use by indivi duals or small

groups at va rying level s ) , the scope of the ch a ll en ge being undert a ken by the intern a ti on a l

com mu n i ty is mac ro. This is not to su ggest that current training is not important or

should not con ti nu e ; ra t h er, it should be linked to training at the mac ro level that foc u s e s

on con tex tual rel eva n ce .

Six essen tial steps need to be ad d re s s ed in order to link an initial aw a reness of a po s s ible con f l i ct in a particular place and time to con s equ ent acti ons that are ef fective in de a ling with it: (1) con f l i ct analys i s — d rawing on the wealth of ex i s ting early warning data

and synthesizing them into a format that is useful for practi ti on ers ; (2) iden ti f ying po s s ible acti on s , en try poi n t s ,a n gles of a t t ack — con s i dering a ra n ge of means and avoi d i n g

u n iversal (grand) obj ectives that disrega rd the phase of con f l i ct and the ex i s ting balance of

power; (3) pro s pective eva lu a ti on — determining wh et h er the sel ected instru m ents wi ll

work in this con text (this is the gre a test current need in the fiel d ) ; (4) implem en t a ti on and

coord i n a ti on among other actors ; (5) mon i toring and eva lu a ti n g ; and (6) stra tegy mod i f ic a ti on or term i n a ti on . The probl em at hand is how best to impart an understanding of

this proce s s .

A po l i c y - rel evant training seminar provi des an excell ent opportu n i ty to increase practi ti on ers’ u n derstanding of the rel a ti onships among the wi de va ri ety of i n tern a ti onal actors and their corre s ponding roles assoc i a ted with con f l i ct preven ti on ,m a n a gem en t ,a n d

re s o luti on . Su ch a seminar would fo s ter bet ter understanding of the dynamics of con f l i ct ,

s pecific causal pattern s , recogn i z a ble tri ggers and accel era tors , and the opera ti onal capabil i ties of va rious actors . The understanding ga i n ed needs to be a common unders t a n d i n g

a m ong all actors en ga ged in the probl em envi ron m en t .

The seminar should not seek to provi de answers ; ra t h er, it should attem pt to help participants understand bet ter the natu re of the com p l ex i ty, i den tify the different pieces of

the puzzle, and learn to ask the ri ght qu e s ti on s . It should introdu ce participants to new

w ays of thinking and acting by cre a ting an envi ron m ent in wh i ch ex peri en ces shared

a m ong a wi de ra n ge of actors con tri bute to the form a ti on of n ew and/or mod i f i ed ru l e s

a ppropri a te to the con f l i ct .

D i s c u s s i o n

In introducing his paper in plen a ry, Mi ch ael Lund rei tera ted that the con text in wh i ch we

train tod ay is ch a n gi n g. The intern a ti onal com mu n i ty is becoming more interven ti on i s t

and is, de s p i te den i a l s , dealing in nati on building and the va rious processes su b su m ed in

that term more of ten . The training we have been providing at the micro level needs to be

com p l em en ted by training at the mac ro level in terms of both co ll a bora tive analysis and

coopera tive interven ti on . We need to move from doing som ething to doing the ri gh t

t h i n gs and eva lu a ting their ef fectiven e s s .

Com m en t a tor Tom Beck from the U. S . Agency for In tern a ti onal Devel opm ent picked

up this them e ,s t a ting that the probl em in dealing with con f l i ct is not merely a lack of

Preparing for Training 1 1
e a rly warning or po l i tical wi ll , but the difficulty of gen era ting the po l i tical wi ll to do

s om ething ef fective . Th ere is a need in the field for a com m on met h odo l ogy for eva lu a ting con f l i ct s , with com m on ly unders tood term s , within a com m on frame of referen ce .

Oth er points em er ged from the gen eral discussion : No single pers on can provi de the

com preh en s ive analysis that is needed for any particular em er ging con f l i ct ; a co ll ective

a n a lysis is requ i red that invo lves different pers pectives and va rious disciplines. Th ere

should be hori zontal coord i n a ti on in this ef fort , using a sys temic fra m ework (yet to be devel oped) that sets pri ori ties and eva lu a ti on norm s .Actors within this fra m ework wo u l d

requi re training on how to ob s erve , record , com mu n i c a te , and be heard , and the fra m ework itsel f would have to be prep a red to listen and re s pond to their early warn i n gs . Yo u

cannot train the indivi dual wi t h o ut training the sys tem in wh i ch that indivi dual opera te s .

What we need is a gl obal net work of n et work s , com bining local ad a pt a ti on and ex perti s e

with intern a ti onal mon i toring and re acti on capabi l i ty.

Various actors in the field of con f l i ct preven ti on are beginning to devel op a “c u l tu re of

peace ,” a wi de s pre ad sys tem wh ereby people are tra i n ed to see and recogn i ze early warning sign s , within a sys tem that recogn i zes and re s ponds to those sign s . This type of tra i ning needs to spre ad , for nati on - building interven ti ons can invo lve many non trad i ti on a l

p l ayers (rel i gious leaders , bu s i n e s s pers on s , and so fort h ) , and they need to be able to recogn i ze and com mu n i c a te significant indicators and warn i n gs to the same ex tent (or cl o s e

to it) as season ed practi ti on ers .

C o m m e n t

Cl e a rly, t h ere is a need for a worl dwi de “e a rly warn i n g”f ra m ework , linking local ob s ervers

and or ga n i z a ti ons with intern a ti onal re s ponse mechanisms in a way that fo s ters a comm on (but not ri gid) approach to iden ti f ying em er ging con f l i cts and adequ a tely alerti n g

and en ga ging the intern a ti onal com mu n i ty. Com m on training would be cri ti c a l . Loc a l

obs ervers and or ga n i z a ti ons would be tra i n ed on how to see probl ems using intern a ti ona lly approved norm s . Th ey would also requ i re training in hori zontal coord i n a ti on and in

h ow to voi ce their con cerns in a way that would be “h e a rd .”The su pport stru ctu re in

wh i ch they opera te , on the other hand, would requ i re training on how to listen and re act

a ppropri a tely.

The re s ponse to an em er ging crisis should be more than just doing som et h i n g — i t

should be doing the ri ght thing. This requ i res a far gre a ter understanding of the measu re s

ava i l a ble and far more analysis of what the re su l t s , both ethical and practi c a l , of a pp lyi n g

those measu res might be . Ma ny well-meant interven ti ons in the past have pro l on ged or

wors en ed the situ a ti on on the gro u n d . Th ere is a great need for training and eva lu a ti on in

this are a , for both those requ e s ting aid and providing it.

An understanding of con cerns at the mac ro level is cri tical for those being tra i n ed to

opera te at the micro level . It would be good to know, for ex a m p l e , that installing a well in

vill a ge A (pe ace - prom o ting in its own ri ght and a boon to the vi ll a ge) is likely to gen era te

con f l i ct with ad jacent vi ll a ge B, wh i ch has no su ch access to a water su pp ly. In corpora ti n g

a class on situ a ti onal aw a reness into all interd i s c i p l i n a ry training programs would be a

means to this en d .

1 2 Preparing for Training
An a lyzing con f l i ct is both a scien ce and an art .O cc a s i on a lly, we see the ra re ex pert —

and artist—at work via the tel evi s i on or news p a per intervi ew, but what the world de s pera tely needs is the “s c i en ce”—a tra i n ed and integra ted net work that see s ,w a rn s , and re act s

a ppropri a tely in a ti m ely and co s t - ef fective way to em er ging cri s e s .

Preparing for Training 1 3
1 4

paper by

C h r i s t o p h e r

M o o re

Two

Training Negotiat o rs to Wo rk Effe c t i ve l y

A c ross Culture s

The paper dra f ted by Ch ri s toph er Moore ex p l ored the ways that cultu re influ en ce s

i n tercu l tu ral probl em solving and barga i n i n g, with a focus on the use of tra i n i n g

to help prep a re nego ti a tors ,m ed i a tors , and fac i l i t a tors to build rel a ti onships and

to re ach agreem ents with people from other cultu re s . To set the back gro u n d , the aut h or

defines cultu re as a “s ys tem of s h a red mental con s tru ct s ,k n owl ed ge , or pri n c i p l e s — bo t h

conscious and unconscious—that help define the re a l i ty of an indivi dual bel on ging to a

s pecific soc i ety or gro u p. . . . Cu l tu re defines com peten c i e s , procedu re s , and re s pon s e s

that are appropri a te for mem bers of a given co ll ectivi ty, in both gen eral and specific situa ti on s , and guides interpers onal interacti ons bet ween mem bers .”

Nego ti a ti on is a process for establishing and building rel a ti on s h i p s ,t h ro u gh wh i ch participants joi n t ly try to re ach agreem ent on issues of i n d ivi dual or mutual con cern . In the

n ego ti a ting proce s s ,p a rticipants com m on ly —

◗ e s t a blish con t act with each other direct ly, by wri t ten words or sym bo l s , or thro u gh

an interm ed i a ry;

◗ c re a te at least a minimally po s i tive profe s s i onal rel a ti on s h i p ;

◗ i den tify topics to be ad d re s s ed and determine how discussions wi ll be con du cted ;

◗ transmit both su b s t a n tive inform a ti on and messages abo ut the type and strength of

feel i n gs ;

◗ com mu n i c a te abo ut their de s i re s , po s i ti on s , or demands and po s s i ble needs and

i n tere s t s ;

◗ gen era te opti ons and assess their vi a bi l i ty;

◗ s eek to influ en ce each other to obtain adva n t a ge or sati s f acti on ;

◗ c re a te procedu res and ri tuals for gaining final approval for agreem en t s ;a n d

◗ devel op ways to implem en t ,m on i tor, and en su re com p l i a n ce with unders t a n d i n gs

that have been re ach ed .

While people from most cultu res en ga ge in bargaining beh avi or that tracks this proce s s ,

h ow people perform these steps (sequ en ce ,s tyl e , ti m i n g, and so forth) differs gre a t ly

ac ross cultu re s .

Interc u l tu ral nego ti a ti on training refers to formal ef forts to prep a re people for more effective interpers onal and group nego ti a ti on s . The training com mu n i ty is split on the imp act that cultu re has on nego ti a ti on s . One sch ool holds that nego ti a ti on is a univers a l

process with pred i ct a ble approach e s ,s t a ge s , and tacti c s , rega rdless of the cultu re in wh i ch
it is practi ced . Ad h erents of the other point of vi ew argue that people from diverse cultu res differ profo u n dly in how they see the world in wh i ch they live , and that these differing vi ews influ en ce the approach , proce s s e s , and outcomes of t h eir nego ti a ti on s .

Ano t h er va ri a ble en tered the training process in the 1990s, in the form of a dialog u e

over the “be s t”w ay to tra i n — by use of the pre s c ri ptive or el i c i tive approach . The pre s c ri ptive approach is the more trad i ti on a l . It assumes that there is a body of k n owl ed ge that

can be or ga n i zed and tra n s ferred to others thro u gh a stru ctu red edu c a ti onal proce s s . It

also assumes that the holders of this knowl ed ge — edu c a tors ,i n s tru ctors , and men tors —

a re ex perts who know best how to tra n s fer knowl ed ge to their stu den t s . Pre s c ri ptive tra i ning progra m s ,h owever, a re of ten devel oped within the con text of a particular cultu re and

m ay carry a bias tow a rd that cultu re . Pre s c ri ptive te aching fails to draw upon the stu den t s’

k n owl ed ge .

The el i c i tive approach em ph a s i zes helping indivi duals and groups uncover their conscious or unconscious knowl ed ge ga i n ed from practical ex peri en ce . The tra i n er acts as a

f ac i l i t a tor or catalyst to help group mem bers uncover knowl ed ge they alre ady have . Th ere

a re five sequ en tial el em ents in an el i c i tive training proce s s : (1) discovery; (2) naming and

c a tegori z i n g ; (3) eva lu a ti on ; (4) ad a pt a ti on and rec re a ti on ; and (5) practical app l i c a ti on .

Both approaches have their strengths and weaknesses and, in fact , most ef fective tra i n i n g

programs incorpora te el em ents of e ach .

In terc u l tu ral nego ti a ti on training programs (wh et h er pre s c ri ptive or el i c i tive) take eit h er a “c u l tu re - gen era l ” foc u s , wh i ch prep a res participants to understand and nego ti a te effectively in a wi de ra n ge of c u l tu re s , or a “c u l tu re - s pec i f i c” foc u s , wh i ch en a bles people to

work in a specific cultu re . Th ere are four com m on va ri a ti ons on these con tent are a s :

◗ Cul ture - gen era l / n ego ti a ti on - gen eral training programs seek to expand tra i n ee s’ general knowl ed ge abo ut cultu ral differen ce and different approaches to nego ti a ti on s .

◗ Cul tu re - s pec i f i c / n ego ti a ti on cultu re – s pecific training programs ad d ress ei t h er on e

s pecific cultu re or several cultu res and nego ti a ti ons among them .

◗ Training programs that focus on situ a ti on s ,i s su e s , or probl ems that are specific to

p a rticular cultu res help to prep a re people from two or more cultu res to en ter actu a l

bi c u l tu ral or mu l ti c u l tu ral nego ti a ti on s .

◗ In teracti on - s pecific joint training programs bring toget h er actual nego ti a tors from

t wo or more cultu re s .

Most interc u l tu ral nego ti a ti on training programs devo te significant time to cultu ra lly

b a s ed proce s s e s , su ch as making con t act ,a rti c u l a ting issues to be discussed , ex p l oring patterns of talk and dialog u e , devel oping set t l em ent opti on s , and making dec i s i on s . Frequen t ly, programs wi ll stru ctu re opportu n i ties for participants to practi ce skills learn ed ,

u su a lly in the form of ro l e - p l ays or simu l a ti on exerc i s e s . Because nego ti a ti ons are comm on ly influ en ced by broad intell ectu a l ,s oc i a l , po l i ti c a l , econ om i c , and envi ron m en t a l

s tru ctu re s , it is good practi ce to ex pose participants to these factors du ring their tra i n i n g.

The foll owing repre s ent some lessons learn ed with rega rd to interc u l tu ral nego ti a ti on

tra i n i n g :

Preparing for Training 1 5
◗ Tra i n ers should devel op a firm understanding of t h eir own cultu re and bi a s e s .

◗ Tra i n ers should de s i gn training programs that prom o te a safe , su pportive , and nonjud gm ental envi ron m ent for discussing cultu ral differen ces and their impacts on

n ego ti a ti on s .

◗ Tra i n ers and participants must be prep a red to be ch a ll en ged .

◗ When ever pos s i bl e , trai n ers should con sult with pro s pective tra i n ees on the de s i gn

of the propo s ed interc u l tu ral nego ti a ti on training sem i n a rs .

◗ Tra i n ers should devel op a balance bet ween pre s c ri ptive and el i c i tive approaches and

should com mu n i c a te with tra i n ees abo ut the approach being used .

◗ Tra i n ers should ex p l ore the tra i n ee s’ own cultu re of n ego ti a ti on and dispute re s o luti on early in the progra m , using el i c i tive approach e s , before ex p l oring other cultu re s .

◗ Tra i n ers should uti l i ze a ra n ge of i n teractive exercises that provi de opportu n i ties for

tra i n ees to ex peri en ce nego ti a ting with people from different cultu re s .

◗ Tra i n ers should remain open to diverse ways of con ceptualizing and practi c i n g

n ego ti a ti on s .

◗ Tra i n ers should avoid the ex tremes of “ we are all alike” and “ we are all com p l etely

d i f feren t” wh en discussing cultu ral differen ce s .

◗ Tra i n ers should help tra i n ees devel op gen eral “c u l tu ral maps” in the form of a n a lytical fra m eworks and guidelines that can be used to interpret and devel op cre a tive

re s ponses to unfore s een situ a ti ons and circ u m s t a n ce s .

◗ Tra i n ers should pre s ent open - en ded models or fra m eworks that all ow tra i n ees to

devel op a ra n ge of po s s i ble cultu ra lly influ en ced nego ti a ti on re s pon s e s .

◗ Tra i n ers should devel op cultu re - s pecific simu l a ti ons and ro l e - p l ays or elicit re a l

probl ems direct ly from tra i n ee s .

◗ Tra i n ers should all ow plen ty of time to practi ce interc u l tu ral nego ti a ti on skills and

practi ce s .

D i s c u s s i o n

Ch ri s toper Moore launch ed his pre s en t a ti on by reminding the forum that con f l i ct re s o lution has been practi ced ef fectively around the world in a va ri ety of w ays . In looking at differen ces in cultu re , he su gge s ted three areas of con s i dera ti on : Wh en does cultu re matter ?

How does it matter? What lessons can be learn ed along the way ?

Cul tu re matters wh en parties from different cultu res approach nego ti a ti on differen t ly.

For ex a m p l e ,p a rties may have a rel a ti on s h i p - building versus a task-ori en t a ti on approach .

Do they deal with things direct ly or indirect ly, t h ro u gh third parties or ob s c u red referen ces? How are em o ti ons handl ed? How do they look at the nego ti a ti on process itsel f ?

How is it con ceptu a l i zed ?

It is hard to imagine that there could be on ly one model for te aching ef fective nego ti ation . Wh en working in a cro s s - c u l tu ral envi ron m en t , it may be bet ter to pre s ent three or

four fra m eworks from different cultu res and ask the atten dees wh i ch fra m ework(s) they

1 6 Preparing for Training
think would be more cultu ra lly appropri a te and ef fective . This el i c i tive approach co u l d

break down re s i s t a n ce .

Com m en t a tor Sofia Cl a rk poi n ted out that it was ra re for an or ga n i z a ti on to run on ly a

con f l i ct managem ent progra m . It is usu a lly co u p l ed with som ething else rel a ted to the orga n i z a ti on or the indivi du a l ’s or ga n i z a ti onal growt h . O r ga n i z a ti ons going into a con f l i ct

a rea frequ en t ly have difficulty ra ti onalizing their programs to a pop u l a ti on that was not

i nvo lved in the progra m’s de s i gn . Training is cri ti c a l , given the gen era lly high tu rn over

ra te ;l ocal rec ruits want the models and prefer the pre s c ri ptive approach .

Ot h er points em er ged from the discussion : It is important to rem em ber that there is as

mu ch divers i ty within a cultu re as bet ween cultu re s .A state - of - t h e - a rt interc u l tu ral negoti a ti on training focuses on (1) building incre a s ed indivi dual and group aw a reness of c u ltural similari ties and differen ce s ; (2) expanding gen eral and specific cultu ral knowl ed ge ;

(3) deepening understanding of h ow rel a ti onships ac ross cultu res are establ i s h ed and

bui l t ; (4) learning va rious nego ti a ti on procedu res and appropri a te skill s ; and (5) apprec ia ting stru ctu ral impacts on the nego ti a ting proce s s . The In tern et was vi ewed as a re s o u rce

for prep a ra ti on .

C o m m e n t

Com mu n i c a ting ac ross cultu res is difficult; con du cting ef fective training ac ross cultu re s

pre s ents unique ch a ll en ges for both tra i n ers and parti c i p a n t s .Yet a com m on thre ad ac ro s s

pre s en t a ti ons is that in order to re ach your training obj ective you have to unders t a n d

where the participants are with re s pect to that obj ective and how they best process inform a ti on . For the tra i n er, the ch a ll en ge is to find a su i t a ble fra m ework for the tra i n i n g, on e

that is cultu ra lly accept a ble to the parti c i p a n t s , and then to avoid inserting his or her own

c u l tu ral bias into the proce s s . For the parti c i p a n t s , it is important that they be com fort a bl e

with the training fra m ework and be wi lling to su ggest ch a n ges if t h ey are not. It is mu ch

bet ter to devel op this com fort level before the training start s . Co ll a bora tive training ac ro s s

c u l tu res is being con du cted su cce s s f u lly every day; u n fortu n a tely, the same can be said for

i n ef fective and harmful cro s s - c u l tu ral tra i n i n g. The differen ce lies in sen s i tivi ty to the important issues invo lved and su f f i c i ent adva n ce prep a ra ti on to en su re that the needs of a ll

p a rties are being met .

Preparing for Training 1 7
Th re e

Best Practices in Training Negotiat o rs

Nego ti a ti on training is a means to an en d , not an end in itsel f . The process therefore must remain amorph o u s , taking its shape from the end that it su pport s —

what the spon s or wants it to be . It gen era lly involves a group of people wh o

de s i re to sharpen skills and learn con cepts that wi ll help them to get bet ter re su l t s

t h ro u gh a process of n ego ti a ti on . Frequ en t ly, t h ey are asked du ring the process to make

cha n ges in deep - s e a ted beh avi ors in order to re ach their obj ective s .

An ef fective training process invo lves four basic prem i s e s : (1) good training is done in

p u rsuit of clear and gen era lly unders tood purpo s e s ; (2) pre - work s h op prep a ra ti on is ess en tial to cl a rify the purposes of the session and to de s i gn the session and its fo ll ow-up so

as to su pport the app l i c a ti on of cl a s s room learn i n g ; (3) in the cl a s s room , a tra i n er ’s job is

to stru ctu re a process for helping participants meet their goa l ; and (4) po s t work s h op

fo ll ow-up is nece s s a ry to su pport participants in con ti nuing the learning process and app lying what they have learn ed .

The first stage in the process invo lves defining goa l s . In order to do this su cce s s f u lly, t h e

f i rst qu e s ti on that should be asked of s om eone seeking training in nego ti a ti on skills is

“Why do you want the tra i n i n g ? ” Kn owing the purpose of the training with some spec if i c i ty wi ll all ow the tra i n er to de s i gn the session with the end state in mind.

O n ce the purpose is arti c u l a ted , it needs to be fleshed out in three are a s : (1) what skill s

would be con s i s tent with ach i eving the spon s or ’s purpo s e ; (2) what assu m pti ons or cultu ral norms would be needed to produ ce the de s i red beh avi or, and what factors migh t

i m pede it; and (3) what stru ctu res would be needed to prom o te the new beh avi or and assum pti on s , and what ex i s ting stru ctu res might impede them . Any best practi ce in nego ti ati on training needs to ad d ress each of the skill s ,a s su m pti on s , and stru ctu res that are

i m portant to attaining the spon s or ’s purpo s e .

A key part of the up-front diagn o s tic process invo lves understanding what nego ti a ti on

means in the con text of the people or or ga n i z a ti on to be tra i n ed . An o t h er cri tical va ri a bl e

i nvo lves understanding the learning style of the gro u p. Some groups requ i re more ex posure to theory; o t h ers are ex peri en ti a lly foc u s ed . Some groups wel come free - f l owing disc u s s i on , while others prefer to deal indirect ly. It is equ a lly important in de s i gning the

training to understand what specific nego ti a ti on issues the group mem bers are fac i n g.

De s i gning the training almost alw ays invo lves use of an ex peri en tial model ; as a skill -

b a s ed discipline, n ego ti a ti on requ i res “doi n g,” and the predominant met h od for doing is

1 8 the case-based form a t , in wh i ch participants go thro u gh a cycle of practi ce and ref l ecti on .

Part II: Training Practices in

Current Popular Disciplines

paper by

R o b e rt

R i c i g l i a n o
It should be noted that, wh en using the case met h od , it is hel pful to move from more

gen eric cases that are out s i de the parti c i p a n t s’ c u rrent work con text to more work - s pec i f i c

c a s e s . Training de s i gn must also take into account the logi s tical needs of the parti c i p a n t s

and su ggest a met h od for fo ll owing up on the training provi ded .

In con du cting the work s h op, the role of the tra i n er working with an adult audien ce is

less to te ach than to stru ctu re a learning process for the parti c i p a n t s . The ch oi ce of t h e

pre s c ri ptive (or te aching) model or the el i c i tive (or learning) model should be based on a

d i a gnosis of the needs and learning goals of the gro u p. People tend to define their goals in

terms of ach i eving bet ter re su l t s , and their su ccess is a functi on of t h eir skills and beh avi or. How people beh ave is not ra n dom ly determ i n ed , it is a functi on of h ow they think.

Nego ti a ti on training attem pts to help people to ch a n ge their beh avi or in ways that improve their re su l t s . Helping them to think in ways that wi ll produ ce the de s i red beh avi or

a n d , in tu rn , the de s i red re su l t s , does this. To be su cce s s f u l , it may be nece s s a ry to hel p

people recogn i ze the assu m pti ons that cause them to think and act in a certain way, and to

i n trodu ce them to a new set of a s su m pti ons and a new way of t h i n k i n g.

Le a rning is a process con s i s ting of t h ree basic stage s : (1) aw a reness of ex i s ting and altern a tive assu m pti on s ,t h i n k i n g, and beh avi ors ; (2) unders t a n d i n g, def i n ed as the abi l i ty

to apprec i a te and arti c u l a te con cepts and a sense of h ow it feels to use them ; and (3) competen ce in app lying the con cepts wi t h o ut conscious ef fort and going beyond them to genera te new ide a s . Building a con s tru ctive training process invo lves being aw a re of h ow

people learn and how they move from one stage of l e a rning to the nex t . In gen era l ,t h ere

a re five ways of h elping people to learn :

◗ Hea ri n g — explaining a con cept (for ex a m p l e , active listen i n g ) ;

◗ Seei n g — providing a dem on s tra ti on of the con cept in acti on (for ex a m p l e ,m odeling the tech n i ques of good active learn i n g ) ;

◗ Doi n g — providing an opportu n i ty for participants to try out the con cept on thei r

own (for ex a m p l e , an active listening exercise or nego ti a ti on role play ) ;

◗ Feel i n g — providing an opportu n i ty to ex peri en ce the impact of certain beh avi ors

( for ex a m p l e , what it feels like not to be listen ed to ) ;

◗ Ref l ecti n g — providing an opportu n i ty for participants to step back and analy ze thei r

beh avi or, the re sults it ach i eved , and the thinking and assu m pti ons that led them to

act as they did (for ex a m p l e , a revi ew session after the ro l e - p l ay ) .

Building in a fo ll ow-up mechanism is essen tial to the su ccess of a ny nego ti a ti on tra i n i n g.

Successful fo ll ow-up begins in the prep a ra ti on phase and is built around the spon s or ’s

goals and the capabi l i ties of the parti c i p a n t s .As the instru ctor ’s abi l i ty to fo ll ow up is limi ted , the pri m a ry re s pon s i bi l i ty falls upon the or ga n i z a ti on that requ e s ted the tra i n i n g.

Nego ti a ti on training su ccess depen d s , in large measu re , on what takes place before and

a f ter the actual even t . Nego ti a ti on training is a ch a n ge proce s s . The jobs of n ego ti a ti on

tra i n ers are easier if t h ey see them s elves as invo lved in the same ch a n ge process as the people they are tra i n i n g. Th ere is no bet ter way to help others learn and ch a n ge than to be invo lved in learning yo u rs el f .

Training Practices 1 9
D i s c u s s i o n

Robert Ri c i gliano began the plen a ry discussion by su gge s ting that all training is interventi on in some form . If our en ga gem ent rel a tes to an on going process (for ex a m p l e , an intern a ti onal cri s i s , a labor nego ti a ti on ) , wh ere we en ter that process has a cri tical impact on

the de s i gn of the tra i n i n g. What is more , the fact that we do en ter the process makes us a

p a rt of it and a part of the ch a n ge process that re sults from our doing the tra i n i n g. Th e

sus t a i n a bi l i ty of the training is largely determ i n ed by how su pportive a stru ctu re the participants wi ll have on ce they retu rn to their soc i ety. We need to understand this and find

w ays to help the participants ef fect ch a n ge in their soc i eti e s . Nego ti a ti on training is not

just adding tacti c s ; it is abo ut improving re su l t s .

Com m en t a tor Jaco Ci ll i ers from Catholic Rel i ef Servi ces ra i s ed ei ght important qu e stions in his com m en t a ry:

◗ How do we en su re that nego ti a ti on training takes into con s i dera ti on the lon g - term

n a tu re of most con f l i ct s ?

◗ How do we devel op a holistic approach to nego ti a ti on tra i n i n g ?

◗ How do we en su re that con f l i ct re s o luti on met h ods are sen s i tive to and apprec i a te

i n d i genous cultu re s ?

◗ How do we build a “c u l tu re” of n ego ti a ti on ?

◗ How do we en su re that the ben efits of n ego ti a ti on training re ach those who are

actu a lly making the important dec i s i ons (for ex a m p l e , it can be hardest to provi de

training to nati onal leaders ) ?

◗ How do we meet , with short - term tra i n i n g, the need for lon g - term invo lvem en t ?

◗ How do we as tra i n ers integra te ours elves into the lon g - term pe acebuilding proce s s ?

◗ How do we cre a te opportu n i ties for tra n s form a ti on ?

Any one of these qu e s ti ons could serve as the basis for an ad d i ti onal sym po s iu m . The general discussion that fo ll owed was wi de - ra n gi n g. Nego ti a ti on training was perceived to be

both a training event and an interven ti on in wh a tever out s i de con text or process from

wh i ch the participants were drawn . Training de s i gn must be custom i zed to the needs of

the spon s or and the parti c i p a n t s , and it may evo lve du ring the training and bet ween

tra i n i n gs , as the su rrounding situ a ti on ch a n ge s . The obj ective is not to produ ce a “perfect”n ego ti a tor but , ra t h er, to fac i l i t a te the devel opm ent of a more perceptive nego ti a tor

with a bet ter too l box .

By training in nego ti a ti on skill s ,a re we trying to ch a n ge the way people think? Or is

that evo luti on a ry ch a n ge in the thinking process the re sult of ex po su re to new ideas and

m et h odo l ogies? To su ggest the form er may be cultu ra lly insen s i tive and manipulative . In

actu a l i ty, h owever, we are all ch a n ged by our ex peri en ces to some ex ten t .

C o m m e n t

The paper and the discussion raise several intere s ting poi n t s . If training in nego ti a ti on

s k i lls is an interven ti on in the su rrounding process—as it su rely is, at least to some 

2 0 Training Practices
exten t — profe s s i onal and ethical re s pon s i bi l i ties must be con s i dered . These con s i dera ti on s

a re ex p l ored in the planning stage of training by devel oping a full understanding of why

training is being requ e s ted , what the obj ectives are , and who wi ll be tra i n ed . Arm ed wi t h

this inform a ti on , it is po s s i ble to bet ter forecast the outcome of the training and anti c i p a te

the sustaining stru ctu re that might be put in place to all ow the ben efits of the training to

en du re .

Nego ti a ti on and nego ti a ti on training are abo ut proce s s , en a bling the participants to

bet ter understand the process and how to ef fect po s i tive ch a n ge thro u gh it. Th ere are certain core capabi l i ties that are ben eficial for everyone to understand (for ex a m p l e , active

l i s ten i n g, c u l tu ral sen s i tivi ty, get ting to the issues behind the po s i ti on s ) . However, the be s t

tra i n i n gs are those that take into account the cultu ral back grounds of the parti c i p a n t s ,

t h eir preferred met h od of l e a rn i n g, and the difficulties they may face in trying to bri n g

t h eir newly acqu i red skills into their soc i etal stru ctu re .

When we loo ked at training for con f l i ct analys i s , one of the things that became app a rent was that, in order to have an ef fective con f l i ct re s ponse sys tem , you had to train bo t h

the analysts in what to see and how to report , and the or ga n i z a ti on in wh i ch they opera ted

to hear what the analysts were saying and to devise appropri a te and ef fective re s pon s e s .

The discussion of n ego ti a ti on training su ggests that there may be a para ll el requ i rem ent in

terms of the need to edu c a te the stru ctu re in wh i ch the newly tra i n ed nego ti a tors are going to opera te .

Training Practices 2 1
Fo u r

Best Practices When Training Mediat o rs

Medi a tors must em p l oy certain skill sets in order to be ef fective . Su ch skill s ,

a l t h o u gh they build on attri butes found in gre a ter abu n d a n ce in some peop l e

than in others ,a re not wh o lly intu i tive. The ch a ll en ge in con du cting med i ation training is to determine what skills can be taught and how to devel op most ef fectively the approaches to skill building nece s s a ry to cre a te a larger pool of ef fective

profe s s i onal med i a tors .

Med i a tors must understand con ceptu a lly what the barri ers are to re s o lving con f l i ct

t h ro u gh unassisted nego ti a ti ons if t h ey are to work tow a rd overcoming them .O n ce they

h ave that unders t a n d i n g, t h ey must also acqu i re the skills needed for overcoming those

b a rri ers and for assisting the parties to a con f l i ct in re aching an agreem ent that meets thei r

i n terests and, i de a lly, c re a tes joint ga i n s . In this rega rd , the best training com bines the

te aching of “acti on stra tegi e s” with theories of k n owl ed ge and acti on in order to incre a s e

s tu den t s’ f l ex i bi l i ty in re s ponding to va rious situ a ti on s .

While the public has limited access to po s i tive med i a ti on role model s , certain core skill s

and attri butes of su ccessful med i a tors have been iden ti f i ed :

◗ Con f l i ct analysis and situ a ti onal aw a ren e s s ;

◗ Persu a s i on ;

◗ L i s tening actively;

◗ G a t h ering inform a ti on thro u gh open - en ded qu e s ti on s ;

◗ E m phasizing wi t h o ut patron i z i n g ;

◗ Providing ef fective feed b ack ;

◗ Dealing with em o ti onal issues and difficult peop l e ;a n d

◗ Ana lyzing altern a tive s ,c re a ting mu l tiple opti on s , and maintaining mom en tu m .

The fact that there is a com m on core of s k i lls does not obvi a te the need to pay atten ti on to

con tex t . The best med i a tors are sen s i tive to differen ces in types of d i s p ute s , in the cultu re

and soph i s ti c a ti on of the parti e s , and in the or ga n i z a ti onal and historical set ting in wh i ch

the dispute aro s e . The best tra i n ers wi ll com bine te aching with regular practi ce to keep

t h eir skills fre s h .

Med i a tors agree that skills can be taugh t , and attri butes en h a n ced , on ly thro u gh interactive ex peri en ce s .As p i ring med i a tors must be given the opportu n i ty to ex peri m ent wi t h

and practi ce tech n i ques repe a tedly in a con tro ll ed set ti n g. It is also important to have the

experien ce of acting as a party to a simu l a ted med i a ti on in order to ex peri en ce the ef fect

of va rious med i a tive tech n i qu e s . For this to occ u r, class size should be kept small and mu l2 2 tiple instru ctors should con du ct the training so that the participants may ob s erve differpaper by

Linda Singer
ent styles and ben efit from the interacti on . If po s s i bl e ,s tu dents should have the ex perience of m ed i a ting a single dispute from start to finish.

G ood med i a ti on training is not ch e a p. De s p i te growing tech n o l ogical adva n ce s , it sti ll

requ i res face - to - f ace parti c i p a ti on to be most ef fective . As with good nego ti a ti on tra i n i n g,

it is important for those de s i gning med i a ti on training to ascertain the needs of the or ga n iz a ti on spon s oring the training and to tailor the instru cti on , as mu ch as po s s i bl e , to meet

those need s . This can gen era lly be done by adva n ce intervi ews , du ring wh i ch the parti e s

also may attem pt to establish some met h od for eva lu a ting the ef fect of the tra i n i n g.

G ood tra i n ers are fac i l i t a tors as well as te ach ers . Training sem i n a rs should bl en d

k n owl ed ge- b a s ed and skill - b a s ed edu c a ti on , providing a balance bet ween analytical and

beh avi oral skills devel opm en t .Training sem i n a rs provi de a safe envi ron m ent in wh i ch to

test assu m pti on s ,t h eori e s ,a pproach e s , and tech n i qu e s .

D i s c u s s i o n

Linda Si n ger initi a ted discussion in the plen a ry forum by poi n ting out that it is far easier

to talk abo ut the ch a ll en ges con n ected with med i a ti on training than to talk abo ut the be s t

practi ce s . Th ere is, a f ter all , no ex port a ble TV show call ed L . A . Med i a to rs to model good

m ed i a ti on practi ce to the worl d . Most good med i a ti on occ u rs as a series of priva te

processes that are gen era lly invi s i ble to those who might want to learn the skills invo lved .

It is important to understand that med i a ti on becomes nece s s a ry because nego ti a ti on

has failed . Our vi ew should never be that of a med i a tor seeking a dispute to re s o lve but ,

ra t h er, that the parties in dispute are seeking a way beyond their road bl ocks in nego ti ati on . The group defines the role of the med i a tor. Con s equ en t ly, a su ccessful med i a tor

must understand the parties in con tex t — who they are , wh ere they are in their history and

rel a ti on s h i p s , and what they are trying to ach i eve . Beyond that, a t tem pts have been made

to map med i a ti on “s tyl e s” i n to four squ a re s :n a rrowly foc u s ed on the dispute at hand versus broadly foc u s ed on the dispute in a historical con tex t ;f ac i l i t a tive in terms of trying to

find what wi ll work versus eva lu a tive in poi n ting out what wi ll not work . Med i a ti on styl e

and practi ce flow, a m orph o u s ly, a m ong these squ a re s .

More people tod ay are seeking med i a ti on training than ever before . Some are see k i n g

to become profe s s i onals and are intere s ted in a creden ti a l ;o t h ers seek to en h a n ce thei r

s k i lls in working in another discipline (for ex a m p l e ,l aw, p s ych o l ogy ) . While each med i ati on is uniqu e , con forming to the circ u m s t a n ces and the cultu re of the parties in dispute ,

s ome core skills tra n s cend most situ a ti ons and can be taugh t . Those core skills are highl i gh ted in the paper. The med i a tor ’s focus should be on overcoming barri ers , not ju s t

i den ti f ying them . Most people who seek med i a ti on training do not re a l i ze how difficult

the process can be .

Com m en t a tor Ro s em a ry Fen n ell from the U. S . Dep a rtm ent of E du c a ti on ad d re s s ed

the difficulties inherent in med i a ting com mu n i ty probl em s . She poi n ted out that the benefits of ef fective med i a ti on can be lon g - l a s ti n g ; but to be ef fective , time has to be spen t

i den ti f ying the true com mu n i ty leaders and building trust with them . Building that tru s t

is a process that invo lves re s pecting the cultu res invo lved . Ma ny com mu n i ty activists have

the wi ll but not the s k i ll to be ef fective . Providing skill training within the com mu n i ty can

h ave a lon g - ra n ge , po s i tive ef fect .

Training Practices 2 3
Furt h er discussion rei n forced some points and devel oped others . The va lue of s m a ll ,

c u l tu ra lly divers i f i ed training programs was rei tera ted , as was the va lue of m odeling good

m ed i a ti on beh avi or to the parti c i p a n t s . Med i a ti on training must help the participants to

get bet ter at stepping back from a con f l i ct in order to analy ze their purpo s e , goa l s ,a n d ,

t h ro u gh that, t h eir role in the med i a ti on .A good med i a tor must be able to ch oose from

m ore than one stra tegy and set of tech n i qu e s . Training de s i gn should try to help parti c ipants build their to l era n ce for ambi g u i ty.

Intere s ti n gly, the discussion ra i s ed the issue of m ed i a ti on training for the military in

l i ght of the incre a s ed pre s en ce of the military in pe ace su pport opera ti on s . The inheren t

probl ems here inclu de iden ti f ying the ri ght people to train (those who wi ll actu a lly use

the skill s ) , overcoming the re s i s t a n ce that wi ll no do u bt ari s e , and convincing the leadership that this skill has va lu e . Recent military en ga gem ents in Bosnia and Ko s ovo have

gone a long way tow a rd building recogn i ti on in the defense com mu n i ty that ad d i ti on a l

training in nego ti a ti on ,m ed i a ti on , and com mu n i c a ti on may be ben ef i c i a l .

C o m m e n t

The probl ems faced in training med i a tors differ from those faced in training nego ti a tors ,

but they are cl o s ely linked . Med i a ti on becomes nece s s a ry because nego ti a ti on has failed .

The cha ll en ge in training po ten tial med i a tors is to devel op in them the skills nece s s a ry to

tru ly understand the process that has bro ken down , the parties invo lved and their cultu ra l

con tex t , and the probl ems (road bl ocks) that the parties o rthe process have interpo s ed bet ween them s elves (internal) or bet ween them s elves and a soluti on (ex tern a l ) . These skill s

can be taugh t ;a pp lying the skills su cce s s f u lly is a functi on of h aving the wi ll and the

a rti s t’s abi l i ty to deal with ambi g u i ty while envi s i oning a po s i tive en d - s t a te .

To be unders tood in its en ti rety, the discussion of m ed i a ti on training must be interl aced with the other discussions that took place in the sym po s iu m . Med i a ti on tra i n ers and

practi ti on ers must be et h i c a lly and cultu ra lly attu n ed in order to understand their ro l e .

This inclu des being aw a re that as tra i n ers and practi ti on ers they are undertaking an interven ti on that has ch a ll en ging ethical and po l i tical ra m i f i c a ti on s . To learn and practi ce the

n eeded skill s , and to understand those ra m i f i c a ti on s ,t h ey must ex peri en ce the proce s s

f rom all pers pective s , making maximum use of m odel i n g, s i mu l a ti on s , and ro l e - p l ay exercises du ring their tra i n i n g. Med i a ti on is both scien ce and art , and the most ef fective med ia tors , as scien tists and arti s t s , deal in a world of constant ch a ll en ge .

2 4 Training Practices
F i ve

Training in Nonviolent Interve n t i o n

Th i rd - p a rty nonvi o l ent interven ti on (TPNI) is the interven ti on of a third party

i n to the arena of con f l i ct with the inten ti on of reducing the level of vi o l en ce

t h ro u gh the use of n onvi o l ent met h od s . Four types of TPNI have been iden ti f i ed

t hus far: (1) pro tective accom p a n i m en t ; (2) interpo s i ti on bet ween two forces prep a ri n g

for com b a t ; (3) ob s erva ti on / m on i toring of the situ a ti on by wri t ten ,a u d i o, and vi su a l

recording means; and (4) model i n g, wh ereby indivi duals en ter a con f l i ct situ a ti on and,

t h ro u gh body language , acts of s ervi ce , and word s , assist people to ch oose nonvi o l en t

beh avi or.

As an or ga n i zed and planned beh avi or in con f l i ct situ a ti on s , TPNI is of recent ori gi n ,

and the con cept itsel f is new. It should be disti n g u i s h ed from other forms of t h i rd - p a rty

i n terven ti on , su ch as arbi tra ti on and med i a ti on .T P N I —

◗ assists unilatera lly—the combatants may not ask for it and one or both sides may

obj ect to it;

◗ assists the stru ggle to con ti nue—the interven or ’s su ccess is not in an agreem en t

being re ach ed , but in the con f l i ct con ti nuing on a less vi o l ent basis; a n d

◗ uses the tech n i ques of n onvi o l ent acti on to affect direct ly the field of physical conf l i ct .

The two other major app l i c a ti ons of n onvi o l ent interven ti on — s ocial ch a n ge and soc i a l

defen s e — i nvo lve specific goals that the parties are trying to ach i eve thro u gh parti s a n

n onvi o l ent stru ggl e . TPNI is different in its non p a rtisan ch a racter.

The training for TPNI needs to take into account the fo ll owing assu m pti ons for te a m s

in the fiel d :

◗ The more cl e a rly non p a rtisan the interven ors , the safer they are and the more

opti ons they have for expanding the ra n ge of s a fety for others .

◗ S tra tegic moves in the fiel d , t h erefore , must be guided not on ly by the te a m’s intention s , but also by the perceptions of the co m ba t a n t s .

◗ Team participants must accept the non p a rtisan public stance , h owever mu ch they

m ay priva tely be more sym p a t h etic to one side .

◗ Interven ti on teams can do good work in the field so long as the proj ects en h a n ce

t h eir cred i bi l i ty as out s i de ,n on p a rtisan interven ors .

Teams in the field need su s t a i n ed su pport from a cen ter that con ti nu a lly builds its nonp a rtisan cred i bi l i ty. TPNI is a new and rel a tively high - risk form of i n terven ti on . The tren d

in TPNI training has been to take this risk into account by increasing the length of t h e 2 5

paper by

G e o rge Lakey
training time and its ri gor, a t tem pting to insti ll discipline and gre a ter understanding in

those being tra i n ed .

As to who gets tra i n ed , the leading or ga n i z a ti ons that field pe ace teams have com p i l ed

what they bel i eve to be the pri m a ry traits to be sought in new vo lu n teers ,i n cluding concern abo ut human ri gh t s ; being com m i t ted to working in a te a m ; being affiliated with an

or ga n i z a ti on ; being litera te ;d i s p l aying openness to growth and ch a n ge ;h aving an abi l i ty

to go beyond preju d i ce s ; pers onal matu ri ty (age twen ty - t h ree or older ) ;h aving language

s k i lls appropri a te to the co u n try and the te a m ; h aving some intern a ti onal ex peri en ce ;a n d

d i s p l aying a wi ll i n gness to take re s pon s i bi l i ty for con ti nuing sel f - edu c a ti on .

Training goals that are held in com m on by groups fielding pe ace teams inclu de the fo ll owi n g :

◗ Le a rning the mission of the te a m ,i n cluding the po l i ti c a l / econ om i c / c u l tu ral situ ation in the area and the history of the interven ti on ;

◗ Building te a m / group dynamic skill s ,i n cluding con s en sus dec i s i on making, gen der

i s sue s , trus t , feed b ack , and processing con f l i ct ;

◗ Devel oping atti tu des that su pport cultu ral divers i ty, i n cluding storytell i n g, s el f -

d i s cl o su re , and affinity gro u p s ;

◗ Building em o ti onal (espec i a lly fear and gri ef) skill s ,i n cluding guided vi su a l i z a ti on ,

s treet spe a k i n g, and intense role playi n g ; a n d

◗ S tren g t h ening nonvi o l ent re s ponses and discipline thro u gh role plays ,l i fe s tyle ad a pt a ti on ,s torie s , and case stu d i e s .

Add i ti onal goals not held in com m on by groups fielding pe ace teams inclu de training to

s el ect mem bers for the te a m s , training to become more forceful and determ i n ed in taking

a stand, and training to stren g t h en spiri tual discipline.

Training is gen era lly done in two segm en t s , the first being devo ted to core inform a ti on

and skills that all vo lu n teers should po s s e s s . The second segm ent provi des inform a ti on

s pecific to the assign m en t , the co u n try, and the con f l i ct . The adva n t a ges to two - s egm en t

training inclu de financial and pers onal re s o u rce apporti on m en t , an opportu n i ty to screen

o ut inappropri a te candidate s , and the abi l i ty to maintain the pool of vo lu n teers .

As might be ex pected in a rel a tively new fiel d , eva lu a ti on is unsys tem a ti c .O utcomes are

not stated in measu ra ble term s ,c ro s s - training is not practi ced , and indepen dent ob s ervers

a re ra rely invi ted in for assessmen t s . This situ a ti on wi ll have to ch a n ge if the impact of

training is to be maximized .

D i s c u s s i o n

G eor ge Lakey began the discussion in plen a ry by invi ting the participants to iden tify the

ch a racteri s tics of n onvi o l ent acti on . The fo ll owing are several su gge s ti on s ,s ome of wh i ch

con trad i ct others :

◗ No con s ent requ i red ;

◗ Has to make a poi n t ;

2 6 Training Practices
◗ Limits vi o l en ce but prom o tes stru ggl e ;

◗ Widely distri buted thro u gh o ut soc i ety;

◗ Means determine the en d ;

◗ “Ta kes gut s” ;

◗ No thre a t s ;

◗ Appeals to con s c i en ce ;

◗ Does not nece s s a ri ly ad d ress issu e s ;

◗ Cre a tive ;

◗ Ta kes time to unders t a n d ;a n d

◗ Re s pects others’ bel i efs .

TPNI is t h i rd pa rty because people see them s elves that way. It is i n terven ti o n because that

is the way others see them .And it is n o nvi ol en t, al t h o u gh it takes place in the midst of vi ol en ce . Ma ny con f l i ct re s o luti on profe s s i onals are uncom fort a ble with vi o l en ce and want to

cool things down qu i ck ly. We train people to be all ri ght with con f l i ct , ch a o s , and mys tery,

and that is a difficult ad ju s tm en t .

Com m en t a tor Nadine Bl och , a lon g - time pe ace activi s t , poi n ted out in her com m ent a ry that people need a fra m ework for nonvi o l ent interven ti on . Wh en you en ter another

c u l tu re , you are no lon ger in con tro l , and you have to be com fort a ble with that.

Furt h er discussion ra i s ed the issue of wh et h er an interven ti on could ever re a lly be nonp a rti s a n , because lowering the level of vi o l en ce could be perceived as favoring one side

over another. Training should help to make interven ors aw a re that their acti ons and inten ti ons may be perceived differen t ly by another cultu re .S torytelling on the part of i n terven ors who have been in the co u n try is a va lu a ble training too l . An o t h er useful tra i n i n g

tech n i que is ex ten ded - a n a lysis training de s i gn ed to make participants aw a re of the co u ntry they wi ll be vi s i ti n g, what the va rious interests are , and how to get things done wi t h i n

that co u n try ’s cultu re . In terven ors should draw up a wi ll du ring the training as a rem i n der that nonvi o l ent interven ti on can have serious con s equ en ce s .F i n a lly, t h ey should

be taught to net work with other non govern m ental or ga n i z a ti on s ,u n derstand their obj ective s , and work with them .

C o m m e n t

Those who espouse nonvi o l ent interven ti on do not su f fer the same ethical con f u s i on as

o t h er tra i n ers within the con f l i ct re s o luti on com mu n i ty with rega rd to taking re s pon s i bi li ty for ch a n ge . Th ey want ch a n ge and they em brace the process that bri n gs it abo ut . In the

case of T P N I , the ch a n ge that is sought is a gen eral lowering of h o s ti l i ties that wi ll cre a te a

breathing space for furt h er ch a n ge to occur safely. For TPNI to be undert a ken safely, h owever, it is absolutely cri tical that the con f l i ct be thoro u gh ly analy zed and that the interven ors be well tra i n ed and disciplined . The best re sults wi ll be ach i eved in situ a ti on s

wh ere the dec i s i on makers wh om the interven ors are trying to influ en ce are su s cepti ble to

the type of pre s su re , both public and priva te , that the nonvi o l ent acti on can bring to be a r.

If t h ey are not, p u rsuing the interven ti on is both ri s ky and of l i m i ted uti l i ty. Properly reTraining Practices 2 7
s e a rch ed and exec uted ,h owever, n onvi o l ent interven ti on can have a profound po s i tive effect on the process of re s o lving a con f l i ct .

Those who ch oose to intervene nonvi o l en t ly face the same ethical re s pon s i bi l i ty as others to understand their obj ective and how it tra n s l a tes to the wi der soc i ety, and to know

that the acti ons they undert a ke have some ch a n ce of ach i eving their goa l s .

2 8 Training Practices
S i x

Ethical Dilemmas in Conflict Resolution

Tra i n i n g

Because training seeks to have a discern i ble ef fect on practi ce , it is recogn i zed that

tra i n ers , wh et h er they intervene in con f l i cts or rel ega te them s elves to equ i pp i n g

o t h ers with the requ i s i te skills to interven e ,s h a re ethical re s pon s i bi l i ty for be s t

practi ce and, to some degree , for the outcomes that may be trace a ble to practi ce . Et h i c s

can be def i n ed simply as profe s s i onal con du ct , the ri gh tness or wron gness of a practition er ’s acti on s . In con f l i ct re s o luti on tra i n i n g, ethical con s i dera ti ons are po s ed by dec is i ons the tra i n er must make in determining how to approach the training and by the

actual con du ct of the training even t . If a s ked to provi de training for a specific con f l i ct situ a ti on , tra i n ers may, u n der some circ u m s t a n ce s , be unclear as to wh et h er they wi ll be

en ga ging purely in an act of training or wh et h er the training is being used as a su b s ti tute

for another form of i n terven ti on .

Should tra i n ers con du ct training if t h ey are unsu re abo ut its app l i c a ti on? Are you res pon s i ble solely for the proce s s , or does re s pon s i bi l i ty ex tend to inclu de all po s s i ble outcomes? (Having def l ected the bu ll et , am I re s pon s i ble for wh ere it lands? What is my

re s pon s i bi l i ty, on the other hand, i f I don’t def l ect it?) An ethical dilemma is a situ a ti on in

wh i ch the practi ti on er is faced with some do u bt abo ut how to act in rel a ti on to pers on a l

and profe s s i onal va lu e s ,n orm s , and obl i ga ti on s , and in wh i ch the ch oi ce of acti on has

con s equ en ces for rel a ti onships bet ween the tra i n er and the parti c i p a n t s , and bet ween participants and the obj ectives to wh i ch the training is being app l i ed .

The main probl em that we face is sep a ra ting the ethics of training from the interventi on it is de s i gn ed to influ en ce . An ethical dilemma can be tri ggered by a proactive dec is i on on the part of the tra i n er who wants to use the training as a veh i cle for get ting into

the perceived con f l i ct situ a ti on , or by those being tra i n ed who want to use the event to

m a n i p u l a te the con f l i ct from the inside . If the dilemma em er ges du ring the tra i n i n g, t h e

que s ti on of wh et h er to con ti nue ari s e s . The ethical dilemma em bed ded in the en d s / m e a n s

p a radox ex tends to the issue of who is sel ected for training and how that ch oi ce might advan ce the agenda of the sel ecting spon s or.

Ini ti a lly, deferen ce was paid to the con cept of n eutra l i ty in med i a ti on and training genera lly—a very proce s s - ori en ted approach to tra i n i n g. Wh en we began to qu e s ti on

wh et h er true neutra l i ty was po s s i bl e , a body of l i tera tu re em er ged that qu e s ti on ed the fe a2 9

Part III: Issues Critical to Effective

Tr a i n i n g

paper by

Wa l l a c e

Wa rf i e l d
s i bi l i ty and, i m p l i c i t ly, the ethics of con cen tra ting on the process (means) to the exclu s i on

of h aving some re s pon s i bi l i ty for the outcome (en d s ) .

A gre a ter need exists to understand the po l i tical cultu re of groups and indivi duals being tra i n ed and the implicati ons it holds for the training obj ectives we sel ect or accept .

Dec i s i ons abo ut the con tent and stru ctu re of training of ten fail to take into account the

c u l tu ral disti n cti ons nu a n ced in speech and beh avi or of the tra i n ee s . Tra i n ers need to resist sel ecting out participants on ly on the basis of the tra i n er ’s approach to com mu n i c ati on .

As tra i n ers , it is important that we reconcile our bel i efs and our practi ce s .E s t a bl i s h i n g

best practi ces begins with understanding that a dich o tomy bet ween bel i efs and practi ce s

f requen t ly ex i s t s . From this poi n t , the tra i n er or training team should ref l ect on the obj ectives of the proj ect and how these obj ectives wi ll be met by the tra i n i n g’s com pon en t s .We

must also take into con s i dera ti on wh en planning our training how the iden ti ty of the participants should affect the de s i gn , proce s s , and outcome of the tra i n i n g. This con s i deration , for ex a m p l e ,m ay determine the tech n i ques used to convey inform a ti on (lectu re , ro l e

p l ays ,j oint probl em solvi n g ) , the language used by the tra i n ers , and the devel opm ent of

training mod a l i ti e s . The el i c i tive approach to training seems appropri a te for most tra i n i n g

even t s , and it redu ces the risk that an instru ctor ’s pred i s po s i ti on and bias wi ll be overl a i d

on the parti c i p a n t s . Si te sel ecti on has inescapable ra m i f i c a ti ons that go beyond the phys ical fra m ework of the training envi ron m en t . In some cases, it can help bring the parties toget h er; in others , it can drive them apart .

Ref l ective practi ce is the process of ex p l oring a pattern of acti on , making ad ju s tm en t s

du ring the acti on , or thinking abo ut past acti on . It bri n gs knowl ed ge to acti on in a way

that assists indivi duals in making more inform ed dec i s i ons and is of ten portrayed as a

l oop invo lving theory, re s e a rch , practi ce , and ref l ecti on . In con f l i ct re s o luti on , the ref l ecti on gen era lly begins at the points of ei t h er practi ce or theory and is opera ti on a l i zed in

t h ree stage s :

◗ Ref l ecting on who you are as an indivi dual and what you bring to the interven ti on :

the atti tu de s , va lu e s , and fe a rs that affect your work ;

◗ Thinking abo ut situ a ti ons you are likely to en co u n ter and what theori e s ,m odel s ,

and con cepts might app ly; a n d

◗ E n co u n tering su rprises and being able to ref l ect in the mom ent (from a theoreti c a l

pers pective) on what the tra i n er thinks is happening and devel oping a con ti n gen t

re s ponse to deal with it.

Ref l ective practi ce , wh et h er con ceptu a l i zed as above or in some other way, is the gen eri c

s k i ll that en a bles a tra i n er to anti c i p a te and re s pond to ethical dilem m a s .

D i s c u s s i o n

Wall ace Wa rf i eld began the discussion in plen a ry by reminding everyon e , on ce aga i n ,t h a t

training is not an end in and of i t s el f . Thus in dealing with the ends/means dich o tomy, we

must intern a l i ze the issue of et h i c s . In this proce s s , we must con s i der both internal et h i c s ,

i nvo lving a tra i n er ’s rel a ti onship with the participants (What is the purpose of tra i n i n g ?

3 0 Effective Training
Why is it sought? Is the training in line with the tra i n er ’s own pers onal and profe s s i on a l

eth i c s ? ) ,and ex ternal et h i c s ,i nvo lving the parti c i p a n t s’ rel a ti onships with each other (taking re s pon s i bi l i ty for the re sults of the tra i n i n g ) . The disti n cti ons bet ween Track One and

Track Two diplom acy are dissolvi n g, and mu ch of our training these days is at the cri s i s

l evel , blu rring the sep a ra ti on bet ween ends and means.

Com m en t a tor Ka ren Abu Zayd poi n ted out in her com m en t a ry the ch a n ging hu m a n it a rian envi ron m en t , in wh i ch civilians are frequ en t ly the targets of m i l i t a ry acti on . Working in a po l i tical envi ron m en t , can we ch oose to be apo l i tical? If training is interven ti on ,

can the tra i n er at least be imparti a l ,i f not neutra l , rem em bering that tra i n ee s , or their oppon en t s ,m ay not share our percepti on of our own inten ti on s ?

Furt h er discussion su gge s ted that best practi ces in training from an ethics pers pective

s t a rt with an aw a reness of the intern a l / ex tern a l , proce s s / o utcom e , and con ten t / del ivery aspects of ethics in gen era l , and a sen s i tivi ty tow a rd the fo ll owing poi n t s :

◗ We should seek tra n s p a rency with rega rd to va lu e s ,i n ten ti on s , and goa l s , for bo t h

tra i n ers and training parti c i p a n t s .

◗ Ref l ecti on is requ i red in a tra i n er ’s percepti ons of both con tent and del ivery: Is it

ethical to intervene at all and, i f s o, what form should the interven ti on take and

what level of re s pon s i bi l i ty for the outcome can I accept ?

◗ We need to be aw a re of and en ga ged in the process of s el ecting the participants and

determining the site and timing of the training to best accomplish the spon s or ’s

obj ective s . In h erent in this process is dealing with the ethical dilemmas of provi d i n g

training to those who may use it for the wrong purpo s e s .

◗ We need to track knowl ed ge ,s k i ll s , and abi l i ties imparted in training to unders t a n d

wh i ch are the most ef fective in prom o ting the con f l i ct re s o luti on process and wh i ch

a re less than useful or are being used for improper purpo s e s .

Th ere is not mu ch of a market for ethics training in a field that is dom i n a ted by requ e s t s

for nego ti a ti on and med i a ti on su pport . But ethical con s i dera ti ons perm e a te the ch oi ce s

we make and are of ten a determining factor in the lon g - ra n ge su ccess or failu re of our effort s .

C o m m e n t

Ethical con s i dera ti ons are at the heart of s ome of the thorniest probl ems in the field of

con f l i ct managem en t . Th ey force us to open our eyes and see the world as it is, and to

m a ke our ch oi ces in the con text of an ex i s ting re a l i ty and in light of the ra n ge of po s s i bl e

re su l t s . Den i ed the abi l i ty to to t a lly sep a ra te the training process from the po l i tical and

h i s torical envi ron m ent in wh i ch it takes place , we must become more sen s i tive to the issues and con s c i o u s ly ch oose to become more or less en ga ged in determining the wh o,

wh ere , and wh en of a particular tra i n i n g, a l ong with the how. This duty pervades the fiel d ,

a f fecting how we approach con f l i ct analys i s ,n ego ti a ti on tra i n i n g, m ed i a ti on tra i n i n g, a n d

training for nonvi o l ent interven ti on . The qu e s ti ons ra i s ed cro s s - ethnic and gen der

bo u n d a ri e s , as well as cultu ral divi de s .

Effective Training 3 1
S eve n

Designing Training Materials: A Few Best

P ra c t i c e s

The divers i ty, ri ch n e s s , and sheer vo lume of rel evant training de s i gns and

a pproaches preclu de any com preh en s ive discussion of best practi ce s . However,

s ome com m on a l i ties and core premises do ex i s t . Th ere is ample evi den ce that

doi n g, in ad d i ti on to re ading and discussing, is the best way to en h a n ce learn i n g.

Al tern a tive ped a gogical ph i l o s ophies and practi ces should be em braced , and tra i n i n g

m a terials and simu l a ti ons should be parti c i p a n t / s tu dent cen tered , ra t h er than te ach er

cen tered . Si n ce training participants gen era lly bring with them trem en dous strengths and

i n s i gh t s , the best tra i n ers / i n s tru ctors draw out and build on their parti c i p a n t s’ ex peri en ce

in an el i c i tive manner.

We all have more intell i gen ce than we are tra i n ed to use. Di f ferent people learn differen t ly,

and training programs should incorpora te the divers i ty inherent in the fo ll owing mu l ti p l e

i n tell i gen ces (ways of l e a rn i n g ) :

◗ L i n g u i s tic intell i gen ce (“word smart” ) — l a n g u a ge abi l i ty and auditory skill ;

◗ Logi c a l - m a t h em a tical intell i gen ce (“l ogic smart”)—the abi l i ty to think logi c a lly,

s equ en ti a lly, and nu m eri c a lly;

◗ S p a tial intell i gen ce (“p i ctu re smart”)—the abi l i ty to vi su a l i ze and manipulate

i m a ges men t a lly;

◗ Musical intell i gen ce (“music smart”)—the abi l i ty to hear, a pprec i a te , and play

mu s i c , and sen s i tivi ty to nonverbal sounds;

◗ Bod i ly kinesthetic intell i gen ce (“body smart” ) — physical abi l i ty, a t h l etic or fine

m o tor coord i n a ti on , the abi l i ty to process inform a ti on thro u gh body movem en t

and “g ut feel i n gs” ;

◗ Interpers onal intell i gen ce (“people smart”)—the abi l i ty to get along with peop l e ;

and 

◗ Intra pers onal intell i gen ce (“s el f s m a rt”)—the abi l i ty to be sel f - m o tiva ted and inner

d i rected .

The best training programs recogn i ze that participant strengths lie in diverse areas and incorpora te training de s i gns and materials that inclu de all styles of l e a rn i n g.

Tra i n ers should ask three key qu e s ti on s :Who is in the audien ce? What is the inten ded

o utcome? How mu ch time wi ll be devo ted to instru cti on? The answer to the first qu e s ti on

provi des insight into how to stru ctu re the material in light of wh ere the indivi duals are

n ow in rel a ti on to the obj ective . One size does not fit all wh en it comes to training de s i gn . 3 2

paper by

Barbara Wi e n

a n d

Pete Swanson
Knowing the de s i red outcome or obj ective is equ a lly import a n t . All training is done for a

p u rpo s e , and it is safe to assume that the end state is ex pected to be different from the beginning state . Kn owing the ex pected end state and the rel a tive beginning state of the participants en a bles us to de s i gn a training pack a ge that wi ll move all or at least a majori ty of

the participants from beginning to end state , prefera bly incorpora ting a little fun alon g

the way.

The training agenda should balance minimal-inform a ti on pre s en t a ti ons wi t h

m a x i m a l - ex peri en tial and learning opportu n i ti e s . The intent is to re ach each stu dent on

an indivi dual level . The practi ce of con f l i ct re s o luti on is a high ly pers onal art form ,a n d

e ach stu dent wi ll bring a unique style and approach to dealing with con f l i ct . Training ad d s

too l s ,c re a tive app l i c a ti on s , and default opti ons to a parti c i p a n t’s ex i s ting skill set and provides a safe and interactive envi ron m ent in wh i ch to practi ce altern a tive approach e s .

Su ccessful training de s i gn wi ll incorpora te nece s s a ry skill s , su ch as con f l i ct analys i s ,

probl em solvi n g, c ro s s - c u l tu ral com mu n i c a ti on ,n ego ti a ti on ,m ed i a ti on , and fac i l i t a ti on .

It wi ll also attem pt , within the confines of time and re s o u rces ava i l a bl e , to incorpora te crea tive app l i c a ti ons and exerc i s e s . Some leading examples of these might be the “Ah Ha h ! ”

m et h od of l e a rn i n g, role plays and simu l a ti on s , vi deo t a p i n g, s torytell i n g, and case stu d i e s ,

as well as “f i s h bowl ”dem on s tra ti ons of tech n i qu e s .

Wri ting simu l a ti on exercises is both an art and a scien ce . To be rel eva n t , a simu l a ti on

must su pport the obj ectives of the tra i n i n g, and the landscape ch o s en must all ow the participants to ex tract the maximum va lue from the time inve s ted . Debri efing a simu l a ti on is

done in three ph a s e s : (1) the de s c ri pti on ph a s e , in wh i ch the participants de s c ri be wh a t

h a ppen ed to them in the game worl d ; (2) the analogy / a n a lysis ph a s e , in wh i ch the parti c ipants sys tem a ti c a lly examine the obj ectives of the ga m e ; and (3) the re a l i ty ph a s e ,i n

wh i ch the participants focus on the unders t a n d i n gs they have ga i n ed and how those unders t a n d i n gs can be absorbed into their futu re activi ti e s .

D i s c u s s i o n

Wien and Sw a n s on joi n t ly began the discussion in plen a ry by asking the audien ce to des c ri be some of the best and worst training practi ces they had ex peri en ced . Am ong the el em ents that were con s i dered vital to good training were

◗ The ad a pt a bi l i ty of the tra i n ers to the needs of the tra i n ee s ;

◗ An envi ron m ent in wh i ch people felt com fort a ble making mistakes and being vu ln era bl e ;

◗ The integra ti on of d i f ferent mechanisms for learn i n g ; and 

◗ All owing su f f i c i ent time to accomplish what was needed .

Am ong the el em ents that were con s i dered bad training practi ces were

◗ L acking goals or having unclear goa l s ;

◗ Tra i n ers who were unable to deal with deep em o ti ons as they aro s e ;a n d

◗ Unsu ccessful role plays and simu l a ti on s .

Effective Training 3 3
F l ex i bi l i ty and com fort with ambi g u i ty are essen tial qu a l i ties for good tra i n ers . Ad d i ti on a l

con s i dera ti ons em er ged in gen eral discussion . The issue of i n cluding participants in the

training de s i gn process was gen era lly accepted as a good ide a , as long as they are able to

add rel eva n ce to the proce s s . The group also agreed that eva lu a ti on met h ods needed to be

built into the training de s i gn .F i n a lly, the group felt that the timing and rhythm of tra i ning sessions was an important con s i dera ti on . If time is limited , providing less in the way of

con tent is bet ter than trying to do too mu ch .

C o m m e n t

The con s i dera ti ons that em er ge from a discussion of training de s i gn track with those that

were enu n c i a ted by the spe a kers on nego ti a ti on and med i a ti on tra i n i n g. The best tra i n i n g

des i gn is not determ i n ed by the skill of the de s i gn er. Ra t h er, it takes its shape natu ra lly

f rom the obj ectives to be ach i eved and from a thoro u gh analysis of the tra i n ee s — wh o

t h ey are ,h ow they learn , and how they wi ll tra n s l a te the training into futu re practi ce . Th e

same ethical con s i dera ti ons that app ly to tra i n ers also app ly to those who de s i gn tra i n i n g.

If a ll training is, in fact ,i n terven ti on ,t h en de s i gn ers have an obl i ga ti on to con s i der the

ripple ef fects of t h eir work .

3 4 Effective Training
E i g h t

E va l u ation in Conflict Resolution Training and

P ra c t i c e

Popular ex pect a ti ons and diminishing re s o u rces in the con text of con f l i ct re s o lution en de avors are incre a s i n gly being seen as qu e s ti ons in search of a com m on

a n s wer — h ow ef fective is our interven ti on and are we , in fact ,h elping to re s o lve

a nything? More and more , don ors and the public are looking for some form of eva lu ati on . But eva lu a ti on is not just abo ut ach i eving goa l s ; it is also abo ut understanding the

u n derlying premises on wh i ch those goals are based . For ex a m p l e , the popular goal of

holding free and fair el ecti ons may be ach i eva bl e , but wh en eva lu a ted against the obj ective of re s o lving a deep ly roo ted con f l i ct , it may be seen as having a more divi s ive than

i n clu s ive ef fect .

The role of eva lu a ti on is to determine what works and what does not in terms of t h e

goals of those undertaking a specific acti on . However, most con f l i ct re s o luti on tra i n i n g

and practi ce invo lves mu l tiple goa l s ,d iverse parti c i p a n t s , and shifting time fra m e s ,a n d

s eeks to ch a n ge beh avi ors , percepti on s , and insti tuti onal practi ce s . Defining su ccess in this

con text must of ten go beyond the indivi dual training event and should be unders tood in

terms of mu l tiple (of ten con ti nuous) dimen s i on s — what has been term ed “p i eces of

pe ace .”

Ulti m a te su ccess in con f l i ct managem ent training (and practi ce) produ ces an improvem ent in the rel a ti onship bet ween opposing com mu n i ties and builds a capac i ty for disputing parties to manage futu re probl ems wh en they ari s e . Th ere is no single best way to

produ ce this re sult or best approach (or instru m ent) for eva lu a ting the ex tent to wh i ch

con f l i ct re s o luti on training or practi ce has been su cce s s f u l , but there are some guidel i n e s

that can be of fered :

◗ G ood eva lu a ti on requ i res a conscious ef fort to arti c u l a te the most significant goa l s

of d i f ferent groups of p a rticipants and to track goal evo luti on in the co u rse of a

proj ect .

◗ G ood eva lu a ti on spells out opera ti onal cri teria of su ccess linked to specific proj ect

activi ti e s .

◗ G ood eva lu a ti on ad d resses the qu e s ti on of tra n s fer—the ways in wh i ch direct work

with on ly a small nu m ber of proj ect participants is ex pected to have more ex ten s ive ,

i n d i rect ef fects on the co u rse of the wi der con f l i ct .

◗ G ood eva lu a ti on leads to the devel opm ent of mu l tiple cri teria of su ccess and hel p s

practi ti on ers re a l i ze degrees of su ccess and failu re or partial su ccesses and failu re s .

◗ G ood eva lu a ti on helps practi ti on ers define futu re activi ties that build on what has

been successful or modifies activi ties in light of what has not. 3 5

paper by

M a rc

H o w a rd

R o s s
◗ G ood eva lu a ti on helps interven ors and funders of i n terven ti on in imaging “good

en o u gh” con f l i ct managem en t , asking not wh et h er they have fully re s o lved a comp l i c a ted con f l i ct but wh et h er they have improved con d i ti ons su f f i c i en t ly that the

p a rties in the con f l i ct are more likely to devel op the capac i ty to manage a con f l i ct

con s tru ctively in the futu re .

Having de s c ri bed some guidelines for good eva lu a ti on s , it is important to stress that goa l

i den ti f i c a ti on is cri tical to goal eva lu a ti on . If the immed i a te goal is to hold free and fair

el ecti on s , rega rdless of the outcom e , su ccess or failu re of that ef fort should not be ben chm a rked against wh et h er the re sults of the el ecti on produ ced a more dem oc ra tic and res pon s i ble soc i ety—that would con s ti tute , in essen ce , eva lu a ting an ora n ge in terms of i t s

being an app l e . We need to eva lu a te con f l i ct re s o luti on proj ects in terms of what they accomplish them s elves and in terms of what they accomplish in terms of working wi t h

o t h er proj ects tow a rd a com m on ,l a r ger goa l .

Trad i ti onal eva lu a ti on measu res are difficult to app ly in con f l i ct re s o luti on work wh ere

t h ere are more indepen dent va ri a bles than cases, no ra n dom assign m ent of su bj ects to

tre a tm ent gro u p s ,d i f f i c u l ties in gaining pre- and po s t - test measu re s , ch a n ging con texts in

wh i ch interven ti ons are implem en ted ,s h i f ting goa l s ,u n cert a i n ty abo ut what con s ti tute s

su cce s s , probl ems of i n s tru m en t a ti on ,s el ecti on bi a s , re activi ty, l i m i ted re s o u rce s ,a n d

poor de s i gn . But ,t h o u gh perfect eva lu a ti on may not be po s s i bl e ,“good en o u gh”eva lu ati on requ i res that we make the best ju d gm ents po s s i ble under difficult circ u m s t a n ce s .

Proj ects may establish both internal and ex ternal cri teria for su cce s s . In ternal cri teri a

i n d i c a te the ex tent to wh i ch a proj ect ach i eved its immed i a te goa l s . Mu l tiple indicators are

n ece s s a ry because exclu s ive rel i a n ce on one indicator wi ll fail to measu re the mu l ti d i m ens i onal natu re of most interven ti on s . Because most interven ti ons are foc u s ed on beh avi ora l

ch a n ge , beh avi oral ch a n ge measu res can be parti c u l a rly good indicators of an intervention’s ef fectiven e s s .Wh en eva lu a ting internal su cce s s ,h owever, we must be careful to

avoid using eva lu a ti on cri teria that are sel f - s ervi n g, su ch as qu e s ti on n a i res worded to el i c i t

a favora ble re s pon s e .

It is difficult to devel op good ex ternal cri teria of su cce s s , and yet it is parti c u l a rly important that we do so in order to link the specific ef fects of an interven ti on to the wi der

con f l i ct in wh i ch it occ u rs . While proj ects gen era lly have a good sense of i n ternal cri teri a

of su cce s s ,t h ere is a great need for explicit arti c u l a ti on of the link bet ween these goals and

the impact that their ach i evem ent is ex pected to have on the wi der soc i etal con f l i ct .

Th ree different tests might be hel pful in eva lu a ting a proj ect’s ef fect s :

◗ Face va l i d i ty: Is it plausible that the activi ties of the proj ect are likely to con tri bute to

an outcome (or a non - o utcom e ) ?

◗ Con s i s tency with theory: Is an outcome con s i s tent (or incon s i s tent) with one or

m ore accepted social theori e s ?

◗ Con s en sus among disput a n t s : While face va l i d i ty gen era lly refers to re acti ons from

i m p l em en ters and out s i de ob s ervers ,a n o t h er useful pers pective on a proj ect’s

i m p act could come from the mem bers of the disputing com mu n i ties them s elve s . In

this rega rd , it would be useful to co ll ect com mu n i ty percepti ons abo ut why parti c u3 6 Effective Training
lar outcomes had or had not come abo ut , and to get re acti ons from a more foc u s ed

sample of com mu n i ty leaders to determine their vi ews on wh et h er particular interven ti ons were ef fective in advancing their goa l s .

G ood eva lu a ti on improves con f l i ct managem ent training and practi ce at three level s .At

the level of the specific proj ect , it provi des rapid and ef fective feed b ack so that inef fective

activi ties are dropped and ef fective ones are en h a n ced . For com mu n i ties in wh i ch the

eva lu a ti ons are taking place , an eva lu a ti on can provi de tangi ble evi den ce of de s i red

ch a n ge that may be crucial in a po l i tical cl i m a te wh ere interven ti ons (by insiders or outs i ders) are vi ewed skepti c a lly. F i n a lly, sound and ef fective eva lu a ti ons can help funders

( both priva te and govern m ental) feel more con f i dent abo ut what they are get ting for thei r

m on ey.

D i s c u s s i o n

Marc Ross introdu ced the discussion in plen a ry by recognizing that most tra i n ers and

practi ti on ers are uncom fort a ble with the idea of being eva lu a ted , equ a ting it with bei n g

ju d ged on their perform a n ce . But a well - de s i gn ed eva lu a ti on can provi de trem en dous ins i ght s ,m a ke thinking abo ut disputes more produ ctive , and make practicing in the fiel d

mu ch bet ter. To eva lu a te a progra m , you have to be aw a re of its goa l s . The more important the probl em (su ch as making pe ace ) , the less people feel com pell ed to spell out thei r

goa l s . But dealing in grand de s i gns makes day - to - d ay planning and eva lu a ti on almost impo s s i bl e . The cen tral fe a tu re of good eva lu a ti on is making explicit the underlyi n g

premises on wh i ch the stated goals are based and making su re the premises are warra n ted .

Com m en t a tor Mi ch ael Beer picked up on the import a n ce of goal set ti n g, m er ging the

goals of the don ors , practi ti on ers , and participants in a con f l i ct situ a ti on , and track i n g

goal evo luti on over ti m e . He cauti on ed the audien ce against imposing a re su l t s - ori en ted ,

i n s t a n t - gra ti f i c a ti on cultu re on con f l i ct re s o luti on probl em s . A furt h er qu e s ti on to be

a s ked , he su gge s ted , is who within most small or ga n i z a ti ons with limited bu d gets is qu a l if i ed and ava i l a ble to do the nece s s a ry eva lu a ti on s .

In gen eral discussion , the group agreed that it is both easier and less probl em a tic to attem pt to measu re beh avi oral ra t h er than atti tudinal ch a n ge . In planning a training or interven ti on , eva lu a ti on is made easier if the planners “think small ”in terms of t h ei r

obj ective s .A small , foc u s ed , and po s i tive re sult is bet ter than a gra n d i o s e ,i ll - def i n ed failu re . Proj ect eva lu a tors need to edu c a te don ors on the ben efits of rel a ti onships of s m a ll

proj ects and how to recogn i ze ex a ggera ted prom i s e s .

C o m m e n t

Wit h o ut eva lu a ti on ,a ll training and practi ce is rel evant and su ccess is alw ays just a few

m ore do ll a rs aw ay. In trut h , real su ccess in con f l i ct re s o luti on is hard to qu a n tify and hard

to come by in the short term . As it is com m on ly agreed that some form of eva lu a ti on is

n ece s s a ry, it seems logical that eva lu a ti on—as measu rem en t — must have an obj ect (a

tra i n i n g, an interven ti on , an el ecti on , a soc i ety ) , a beginning and an end poi n t , and a directi on . The directi on and end point em er ge out of clear and obt a i n a ble obj ective s , wi t ho ut wh i ch all hope for acc u ra te and insigh tful eva lu a ti on ra p i dly fade s . Equ a lly as

Effective Training 3 7
i m portant as knowing wh ere we are going is knowing wh ere we are now.As difficult as it

m ay be to establish the nece s s a ry baselines (thro u gh qu e s ti on n a i re s , su rveys , focus gro u p s ,

and so fort h ) , wi t h o ut them it is difficult to track progress or to plan the ri ght kind of

training or app l i c a ti on of i n f lu en ce that wi ll move our obj ect tow a rd our goa l .

The issues of tra n s fer and eva lu a ti on over time are import a n t . The more we learn

a bo ut con f l i ct re s o luti on , the more we understand that it is a process of i n c rem en t a l

ch a n ge over ti m e . Th ere are likely to be mu l tiple interven ti on s — p i eces of pe ace—that can

be eva lu a ted intern a lly but must also be eva lu a ted ex tern a lly in terms of h ow they adva n ce

the gre a ter obj ect tow a rd the high er goa l . Those interven ti ons that are co u n terprodu ctive

at the high er level , even if l oc a lly su cce s s f u l , should be revi ewed and, perh a p s ,m i ti ga ted

for the gre a ter good .

The need for cred i ble and insigh tful eva lu a ti on applies to all areas of con f l i ct re s o luti on

practi ce and tra i n i n g. The com mu n i ty as a whole must re a l i ze this and build a cultu re that

is less re s en tful of o ut s i de eva lu a ti on . Building ef fective eva lu a ti on measu res into a tra i ning or a planned interven ti on forces the planners to cl a rify their goals and to determ i n e

the start point and directi on of t h eir ef fort . It also helps them to fore s ee po ten tial and co ll a teral ef fect s , and to make ad ju s tm ents soon er ra t h er than later.

3 8 Effective Training
About the Pa r t i c i p a n t s

Karen AbuZayd is with the office of the UN High Commissioner for Refugees and served as the

commentator on the subject of “Ethical Dilemmas in Conflict Resolution Training.”

Thomas Beck is with the U.S. Agency for International Development and served as the commentator on the subject of “Training for Conflict Analysis and Strategy Development.”

Michael Beeris with Nonviolence International and served as the commentator on the subject of

“Evaluation in Conflict Resolution Training and Practice.”

Nadine Bloch is with Greenpeace and served as the commentator on the subject of “Training in

Nonviolent Intervention.”

Jaco Cilliers is with Catholic Relief Services and served as the commentator on the subject of “Best

Practices in Training Negotiators.”

Sofia Clark is with the Organization of American States and served as the commentator on the

subject of “Training Negotiators to Work Effectively Across Cultures.”

Rosemary Fennell is with the U.S. Department of Education and served as the commentator on

the subject of “Best Practices When Training Mediators.”

L. Erik Kjonnerod is with the National Defense University and served as the commentator on the

subject of “Designing Training Materials: A Few Best Practices.”

George Lakey iswith Training for Peace in Philadelphia, and he wrote and presented the paper on

“Training in Nonviolent Intervention.”

Michael Lund is with Management Systems International in Washington, D.C., and wrote and

presented the paper on “Training for Conflict Analysis and Strategy Development.”

Christopher Moore is with CDR Associates in Boulder, Colorado, and wrote and presented the

paper on “Training Negotiators to Work Effectively Across Cultures.”

Robert Ricigliano is with the Conflict Management Group, Cambridge, Massachusetts, and wrote

and presented the paper on “Best Practices in Training Negotiators.”

Marc Howard Rossis a professor of political science at Bryn Mawr College in Pennsylvania, and

wrote and presented the paper on “Evaluation in Conflict Resolution Training and Practice.”

Robert M. Schoenhausis a former program officer in the Training Program at the United States

Institute of Peace and is currently editor-in-chief of international publications for Tax Analysts in

Arlington, Virginia.

Linda Singer is with the Center for Dispute Settlement, Washington, D.C. and wrote and presented the paper on “Best Practices When Training Mediators.”

Pete Swanson is a commissioner with the Federal Mediation and Conciliation Service in Washington, D.C., and co-authored and presented the paper on “Designing Training Materials: A Few Best

P r a c t i c e s . ”

Wallace Warfield is with the Institute for Conflict Analysis and Resolution in Fairfax, Virginia,

and he wrote and presented the paper on “Ethical Dilemmas in Conflict Resolution Training.”

Barbara Wien is a program officer in the Training Program at the United States Institute of Peace

and co-authored and presented the paper on “Designing Training Materials: A Few Best Pract i c e s . ”

3 9

About the Institute

The United States Institute of Peace is an independent, nonpartisan federal institution created by Congress to promote research, education, and training on the peaceful management and resolution of international conflicts. Established in 1984, the Institute meets its

congressional mandate through an array of programs, including research grants, fellowships, professional training, education programs from high school through graduate school, conferences

and workshops, library services, and publications. The Institute’s Board of Directors is appointed

by the President of the United States and confirmed by the Senate.

Chairman of the Board: Chester A. Crocker

Vice Chairman: Max M. Kampelman

President: Richard H. Solomon

Executive Vice President: Harriet Hentges

Board of Directors

January 15, 2001

Chester A. Crocker (Chairman), James R. Schlesinger Professor of Strategic Studies, School of Foreign

Service, Georgetown University

Max M. Kampelman, Esq. (Vice Chairman), Fried, Frank, Harris, Shriver and Jacobson, Washington,

D.C.

Dennis L. Bark, Senior Fellow, Hoover Institution on War, Revolution and Peace, Stanford University 

Stephen J. Hadley, Esq., Shea and Gardner, Washington, D.C.

Theodore M. Hesburgh, President Emeritus, University of Notre Dame

Zalmay Khalilzad, RAND Corporation, Washington, D.C.

Seymour Martin Lipset, Hazel Professor of Public Policy, George Mason University

W. Scott Thompson, Professor of International Politics, Fletcher School of Law and Diplomacy, Tufts

University

Allen Weinstein, President, Center for Democracy, Washington, D.C.

Harriet Zimmerman, Vice President, American Israel Public Affairs Committee, Washington, D.C.

Members ex officio

Madeleine Korbel Albright, Secretary of State

Paul G. Gaffney II, Vice Admiral, U.S. Navy; President, National Defense University

Walter B. Slocombe, Under Secretary of Defense for Policy

Richard H. Solomon, President, United States Institute of Peace (nonvoting)

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