These conflicts are not based merely on interest but involve many social dimensions involving identity and security. Conflict resolution here means changing the conditions of this intractability. These conflicts are not single-issue disputes, but multiple conflicts being waged simultaneously. In the most general terms, I would suggest that we see conflicts as collisions between projects. Projects are sequences of actions directed towards a goal.
Conflicts occur when the projects of different actors start impinging on each other.
Take missions, for example. In reviewing conflict resolution stratagems I think I have made it clear that those which have emanated from the discourse of rationality are only partially applicable to protracted social conflicts. Research on past conflicts provides us with quite a few clues to address this issue. Conflicts have a beginning and an end. While some recent wars have lasted 30 years, inter-state wars are getting shorter and more random.