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International Online Training Program On Intractable
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Conflict Research Consortium, University
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General Information on Escalation
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Escalation is the increase in intensity of a conflict. Perhaps the most destructive
conflict dynamic, the cycle of provocation and counter-provocation eventually results in
the replacement of substantive debate with increasingly hateful and sometimes violent
confrontations directed more at hurting opponents than at advancing interests. This
process plays a crucial role in the long slide toward war and the crossing of taboo lines
which normally restrain our most inhuman impulses. It can also lead people to take ever
more extreme and unjustifiable positions. Escalation alone is sufficiently powerful to
transform what should be a tractable dispute into one that is virtually impossible to
resolve.
Conflict theorists Dean Pruitt and Jeffrey Rubin list five changes that occur as a
conflict escalates. First, parties move from light tactics to heavy tactics. Light tactics
include such things as persuasive arguments, promises, efforts to please the other side,
while heavy tactics include threats, power plays, even violence. Second, the number
of issues in contention grows as parties bring up more and more things that are making
them annoyed or angry. Third, issues move from specific to general, and the relationship
between the parties deteriorates. "What starts out as a small, concrete concern
tends, over the painful history of an escalating exchange, to be supplanted by grandiose
and all-encompassing positions and by a general intolerance of the other party."
(Pruitt and Rubin, 1986, p. 64.) Fourth, the number of parties grows from one to many, as
more and more people and groups are drawn into the conflict. Fifth, the goal of the
parties changes from "doing well" to winning, and finally, to hurting the other.
The result of escalation is that a conflict can grow out of control very quickly.
Escalated conflicts cease to be focused on the parties' original problems or goals, nor do
they provide a way for those goals to be realized. Rather, they provide only costs and
continued conflict, with little benefit for anybody.
Yet, escalated conflicts are very hard to reverse. Once relationships have been broken,
once distrust, fear, and hatred grow, and especially, once violence has occurred, it is
very difficult to back away from an escalated conflict and resolve it constructively.
Rather, people tend to continue the fight, if possible, even escalating it further, as
this usually seems less risky than "showing that you are weak" by trying to
initiate de-escalation.
Despite the dangers of escalation, advocates frequently escalate a conflict
intentionally--thinking that they can harness to power of escalation to mobilize support
for their side. While this strategy may appear to work well, it is also likely to build
support for the opposition. Thus the common result is the intensification of the conflict,
not victory.
Links to More Information about Escalation:
- Paul Wehr--Uncontrolled Escalation and Runaway
Responses
- In this article, Wehr reviews the dynamics of escalation as described
by sociologist James Coleman.
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- Dean Pruitt and Jeffery Rubin - Escalation in
the Cold War
- This is a short analysis of the moves made between the U.S. and the U.S.S.R. as their
conflict escalated into what became known as the "Cold War." Although all of the
steps are well known, this short story highlights a classic case of escalation, as tactics
moved from light to heavy, the relationship between the parties continuously deteriorated,
issues went from specific to general, and more and more parties (i.e., allies) entered the
conflict.
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- Ruth Heimburg -- Extremists versus police -- A
Tragedy for All
- This is a analysis of the United States' Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) siege of
the Branch Davidian commune in Waco, Texas. This conflict escalated very quickly to the
point where negotiation was not considered, and the end result was the death of over 90
people.
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- Peter Ackerman and Christopher Kruegler -The
Principles of Strategic Nonviolent Conflict, Introduction
- In their introduction, Ackerman and Kruegler observe that ethnic conflicts have the
potential to escalate dramatically and violently. They promote the use of nonviolent
action instead, to avoid such uncontrolled escalation. More information is given in the
summary of the whole book, Strategic Nonviolent
Conflict by Peter Ackerman and Christopher Kruegler
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- Alexander George- United States-Japan
Relations Leading to Pearl Harbor
- This is a short analysis of intentional escalation on the part of the U.S. that was
intended to force Japan to withdraw from China in July, 1941. As often occurs with
intentional escalation, however, the Japanese chose to escalate the conflict further, by
bombing the U.S. at Pearl Harbor, rather than complying with U.S. demands.
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- Louis Kriesberg--Constructive Conflicts: From
Escalation to Resolution
- Kriesberg examines escalation processes, with special attention to processes that lead
to intractable conflicts and others that can be de-escalated and resolved.
- Louis Kriesberg--Epilogue: The War in the Gulf
- The Gulf War was a classic example of escalation into an intractable conflict--one that
even the war did not really resolve.
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- Paul Wehr--Power Mixes in the US Civil Rights
Conflict
- Tactical escalation was part of the power strategy of U.S. civil rights leaders, though
force was modified and escalation controlled by other types of power.
- William Ury and Richard Smoke -- Anatomy of a
Crisis
- The authors describe the basic elements of a crisis, including escalation processes, and
also examine ways to defuse crises.
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- William Ury -- Beyond the Hotline
- This is a summary of Ury's book on crisis control. It too examines escalation
processes and approaches for crisis management.
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- Christopher Young--The Role of Media in
International Conflict
- This essay discusses how the media can contribute to the escalation of a conflict.
Links to Possible Treatments for this Problem:
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Copyright ©1998 Conflict Research Consortium -- Contact: crc@colorado.edu