THEHEARINGSTUDY

As the world gets smaller through communication and transportation advances, the need for conflict resolution training will be more important than ever. Diverse groups with incompatible cultural backgrounds will increasingly come into contact with each other. These groups are lead by individuals that have had less contact with others in the past because the flow of information is reaching further down the socio-economic recesses of the diverse populations.

In the past, the leaders of most governments and organizations that had a global influence were usually educated in similar circumstances. These individuals flowed between societies easily, sharing their ideas and exchanging world views, and then taking the ideas back to their homelands and using the knowledge to lead their people. If these leaders were not physically educated in the same schools, they were influenced by those that were.

Now, with so many mediums carrying information between diverse populations there is both an upside and a downside to sharing ideas. Ideas can pose a threat to the status quo of a society on both the governmental and institutional level. Hard sciences benefit greatly from this diversity of thought. Looking at old problems in new ways from different perspectives creates new solutions. No one has a monopoly on problem solving; the more individuals working together or independently on a problem, the greater the chance to come up with a solution.

The challenge is how to get all those individuals to get along and share the information they develop in order to arrive at a solution that will benefit the largest amount of people. Thinking that everyone has the altruistic vision of benefiting both friend and foe may be misguided, but ultimately that is the goal. How conflict resolution training provides the avenue for making that happen will be increasingly important as the numbers of individuals involved increases. It’s not just a numbers game, but just the sheer volume of those who make decisions, or merely aware of them, presents a unique problem.

Leaders used to be able to make decisions without involving their constituents. Now, the transparency created by the free flow of information makes it a messier proposition. The freest societies have the most challenges because of that freedom. Dictatorships ruled with an iron fist do not need to negotiate with their opponents; they either are jailed are executed. Dictatorships also rely on keeping the populace educated within strict limits, making it difficult to rebel against the system. Rewarding supporters and punishing detractors is the only way for them to maintain control. This is becoming increasingly difficult because information cannot be controlled as it once was. The threat is no longer from physical strength but from knowledge.

In today’s headlines, warlords in some of the remote recesses of the world are affecting global relationships, language barriers can be overcome without much difficulty, and cultural differences are much more difficult to overcome. This is the direct result of the perceived threat that the outside world has become to an accustomed way of life. Even though these warlords are still insulated from neighbors that could threaten life sustaining resources, the threat becomes ideological, which then pulls at the very fabric of their culture. Believing one way of life is the best, and being confronted by realities that challenge that perspective, can cause significant problems. It will take a concerted effort to face these realities in the future. Developing good communication skills and having open and honest dialog will go a long way in avoiding acrimony. Having more people partake in conflict resolution training will be more critical than ever to accomplish this goal.