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International Online Training Program On Intractable Conflict |
Conflict Research Consortium, University of Colorado, USA |
The results of fact-finding efforts can either strengthen or weaken the position of particular parties. There is, therefore, a great deal of incentive for the parties to manipulate the fact-finding process in ways which strengthen their position. Not surprisingly, people are skeptical and disbelieving of fact-finding efforts that say things that they do not want to hear. This is especially true in cases where it is likely that opponents have manipulated the fact-finding process.
This skepticism can easily reach the point where fact-finding efforts have almost no credibility and the parties simply believe what they want to believe. The result can be an almost complete inability to utilize expert technical analyses in a decision making process. This increases the chances that the parties will, in their ignorance, pursue options which will not really advance their interests. Thus, the first problem which fact-finding efforts must surmount is credibility problems. Here, treatment strategies require mechanisms for assuring that fact-finding efforts are worthy of each party's trust, and that this trustworthiness is effectively demonstrated to the parties, the decision makers, and to the public as a whole.
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