I was in South Africa recently, and I observed remarkable transform- ation. For so many years, we were sure what was happening in that country was going to end civil war. Instead, it ended in a positive agreement. Not in Ury's mind. It's not going to end in the Middle East, it's not going to end in Northern Ireland, and it's not going to end in our families or in our schools.
Conflict is inevitable.
It's part of life. Violence is one option, talking is another, and people are gradually learning that they can probably realize their objectives more easily by talking than through violence. That's my reason for optimism. Richard A. Johnson serves as the curator of the Sports Museum of New England in Boston and is the author of A Century of Boston Sports, Photographs and Memories and co-author with Glenn Stout of Red Sox Century . Both books are slated for publication in fall 2000.