Systems Approach to Peacebuilding

Instructor: Louise Diamond

Date: February 12-14, 2010

In this age of interdependence, understanding the basic dynamics of complex living systems is a must for peacebuilders to be catalysts for enduring change. Situations of deep-rooted conflict demand operating with knowledge of how systems adapt, self-organize, sustain harmful patterns, self-reflect, and, ultimately, transform. This course uses a set of simple rules of systems thinking to explore how this approach can bring insight and skill to working as peacebuilders. First, the class studies the nature of complex systems in general and of conflict-habituated systems in particular. Next, it considers how the peacebuilder's presence and interventions can change the system's dynamics, intentionally and not; as well as how the system expresses itself through the peacebuilder, often unconsciously. A deeply-engaging simulation about a prototypical ethnic conflict will form the basis for this learning, and the jumping-off point for discussions on how to apply systems thinking to real-world situations.  This course is highly experiential, and mixes academic understanding with personal reflection and exploration to produce new tools and insights for the theory and practice of peacebuilding.

Louise Diamond Louise Diamond’s life has been devoted to fostering healthy and peaceful human systems at every level, from the individual to the global.  

In 2008 Louise founded Global Systems Initiatives, where she brings a transformative whole systems perspective on complex global issues to the policy community.  Believing that we need new tools to address the unprecedented challenges of our inter-connected world, she is committed to helping generate creative approaches that build on the discoveries of systems sciences and spiritual wisdom for the times we are facing.   

In 1992 Louise co-founded (with Ambassador John McDonald) The Institute for Multi-Track Diplomacy (IMTD) in Washington, D.C.  There she worked as a peacebuilder in places of violent conflict around the world, helping adversaries bridge political, historical, cultural, and psychological divides to find common ground and creative solutions.  She also trained thousands of peacebuilders from dozens of countries.  

In 2004 Louise founded The Peace Company, seeking to show that peace is good business and to bridge the gap between the non-profit and for-profit worlds.  During this time, she continued to provided training and consulting nationally and globally, and wrote The Peace Book: 108 Simple Ways to Make a More Peaceful World, which has sold close to 100,000 copies.  She has written three other books and innumerable articles published in a wide variety of venues, and now writes a monthly e-newsletter, The Global Systems Review.  In 1989 she produced a film on the Israeli-Palestinian conflict, Many Voices, One Song. 

Louise received a Ph.D. in Peace Studies in 1990; a CAS degree in Human Resource and Organizational Development in 1974; and a B.A. from Oberlin College in 1966.  For more than 30 years she has been a student of Native American and Tibetan Buddhist spiritual wisdom.

Tools for Promoting Inclusivity and Transformation

Instructor: Sharif Abdullah  

February 19-21, 2010

What does a person need to understand in order to be a catalyst for an inclusive society?  Concepts of peace, conflict resolution, social healing and justice all stem from the notion of inclusivity. In this course, you will develop the skills to understand and effectively interact with transformative elements of society, on scale from personal to global. . This course will introduce practical steps to create societies that work for all beings by utilizing the core principles of inclusivity, consciousness, and “Demos-Dynamics,” which is the understanding of how human populations interact and change over time.  Dr. Abdullah will incorporate his own experiences from his early work with impoverished communities and in the American Civil Rights Movement to his current work at Commonway, which focuses on inclusivity, empowerment and spiritual transformation directly. This institute will be comprised of a combination of lectures, audio-visual presentations, in-class discussions and experiential student exercises.  The conflict situations in Nepal and Sri Lanka will be used as case studies of organizational and social change from both the global and local perspectives. 

Dr. Sharif Abdullah is an author and advocate for inclusivity and the social/ spiritual transformation of society. Sharif is a transformationist, working to align our global human societies with our common spiritual and moral values. His vision and work for a world that works for all beings stems from his spiritual awareness and his experiences in over 100 distinct cultures, spanning 36 countries. He is founder and director of Commonway Institute.

Sharif’s vision and mission is simple: we can create a world that works for all beings. We can end the toxicity of our current human societies through the application of our common human, moral and spiritual values and principles. Given our present planetary crises, we have no choice – we evolve or we die.  

His books include The Power of One: Authentic Leadership in Turbulent Times, the award-winning Creating a World That Works for All, and the recently completed Seven Seeds for a New Society.  

Sharif brings his experiences of growing up in generational poverty in a brutal urban environment, of breaking racial and poverty barriers to obtain a law degree, and 35 years of local, national and international work, assisting organizations and people in creating a world that works for all.  

Sharif has appeared in several international forums, including “Forum 2000” in Prague and “A Century of Auschwitz” in Poland. Sharif is a graduate-level adjunct professor of Conflict Resolution at Portland State University, a Senior Advisor to Sarvodaya in Sri Lanka and is the recipient of numerous awards and recognitions.

Compassionate Resistance: Feminist Approaches to Social Justice

Instructor: Simona Sharoni

March 19-21, 2010

In this institute, students will become familiar with the concept of "compassionate resistance," which provides a conceptual framework designed to teach us how to cultivate empathy and compassion with individuals who have been at the receiving end of violence while at the same time naming and challenging the structures that make violence possible.  Through interactive group work, simulations, short video clips, and creative writing students will examine several case studies where compassionate resistance was used. A special emphasis will be placed on the art of building sustaining coalitions and on projects designed to expose structures of domination like sexism, racism, homophobia, Apartheid and the Israeli occupation and to cultivate creative interventions to undo the damage these structures continue to inflict on individuals and communities.

Simona Sharoni is a feminist scholar, researcher, activist, therapist, and mother. She is Associate Professor of Women’s Studies and Chair of the Women’s Studies Department at the State University of New York in Plattsburgh. She holds a Ph.D. in Conflict Analysis and Resolution from George Mason University and an M.A. degree in Counseling from Haifa University, Israel. She is the author of Gender and the Israeli-Palestinian Conflict: The Politics of Women's Resistance, (Syracuse University Press, 1995) and numerous other publications. Her research and writing include a comparative analysis of gender dynamics in the Israeli-Palestinian conflict and the North of Ireland as well as a critical examination of militarization and especially the interplay between political violence and violence against women.

Her current work is on the ethics and politics of solidarity as a feminist practice, reflected in struggles for justice and peace around the world, especially as they apply to the struggle for Palestinian self-determination and a just and lasting peace in Palestine and Israel. In addition to gender justice, Dr. Sharoni’s experience involves primarily anti-racism work, political prisoners’ solidarity work, community organizing for justice and peace, and solidarity work with Palestinians and other oppressed groups.

Qualitative Research Skills in Peace and Conflict Resolution

Instructor: Amr Abdalla

March 26-28, 2010

This institute explores various research designs which can be utilized while completing research for a thesis in peace and conflict resolution, or other similar social science research. The course is designed to give students practical skills for researching their SRP (Substantial Research Paper requirement for completing Master's degree.) Participants will be trained in and practice the following skills: 

• Ways of drafting research questions and formulating them in researchable ways.  

• Selected data gathering methods, including interviews, focus groups, observations.

Dr. Amr Abdalla is Professor and Vice Rector at the University for Peace (UPEACE). In his capacity as Vice Rector, Dr. Abdalla ensures that all academic courses and activities are of highest quality, and contribute to UPEACE’s growth as a leader in the field of peace building and conflict resolution education and practice. As a professor, Dr. Abdalla teaches courses on conflict analysis and resolution, terrorism, and research methods in the area of peace building.

In addition to this role, Dr. Abdalla is also a Visiting Professor of Peace Research at American University in Washington, D.C., and of Conflict Analysis and Resolution at the Graduate School of Islamic and Social Sciences in Leesburg, Virginia. Prior to joining the University for Peace, Dr. Abdalla was a Senior Fellow with the Peace Operations Policy Program, School of Public Policy at George Mason University. 

Dr. Abdalla’s academic and professional careers are multi-disciplinary. He has been teaching graduate classes in conflict analysis and resolution, and has conducted training, research and evaluation of conflict resolution and peace building programs in several countries in Africa, Asia, Europe, the Middle East and North America. He has been an active figure in promoting effective cross-cultural messages within the Islamic and Arabic-speaking communities in America through workshops, television, and radio presentations. He has also been actively involved in inter-faith dialogues in the United States. Dr. Abdalla pioneered the development of the first conflict resolution training manual for the Muslim communities in the United States titled “…Say Peace.” He also founded Project LIGHT (Learning Islamic Guidance for Human Tolerance), a community peer-based anti-discrimination project funded by the National Conference for Community and Justice (NCCJ).  

Dr. Abdalla obtained a law degree in Egypt in 1977 where he practiced law as a prosecuting attorney from 1978 to 1987. He then emigrated to the U.S. where he obtained a Master's degree in Sociology and a Ph.D. in Conflict Analysis and Resolution from George Mason University.  

Source: http://www.upeace.org/academic/faculty/resident/aabdalla.cfm

Human Rights Monitoring

Instructor: Ariela Blätter

April 9-11, 2010

This institute will provide students with the necessary skills to monitor human rights violations in global armed conflicts. This highly participatory class will instruct students on all forms of human rights monitoring, from the traditional preparation of reports, advocacy and interventions to the newest innovations in the use of satellite technology, Google Earth, cellphones /videophones and conflict blogging. Participants will gain theoretical and practical knowledge on the principles and methods of human rights monitoring in conflicts, both rapid onset and protracted. Students will learn, through current case studies, how to recognize and address human rights concerns such as refugee displacement and increase of Internally Displaced Persons, presence of humanitarian catastrophe, increased incidents of violence against civilians, arms transfers and clampdowns on freedom of expression and civil liberties. Students will also gain a solid understanding of the laws of war, in order to apply these standards to monitoring and responding to the egregious crimes of Genocide, Crimes against Humanity, Aggression and War Crimes.

Ariela Blätter is an international human rights lawyer and the founding Director of the Crisis Prevention and Response Center (CPRC) at Amnesty International USA. In this role she has directed strategic operations on the crises in Darfur/Sudan, Iraq, Côte d’Ivoire, Liberia, Democratic Republic of Congo, Colombia, Haiti and Nepal. Since 2005 she has been involved in an innovative project to use satellite imagery as a global human rights monitoring system for mass violations and genocide that has been used to detect war crimes in Darfur, eastern Chad and Lebanon, illegal housing demolitions in Zimbabwe and secret detention facilities in Jordan . Most recently, she launched the widely acclaimed “Eyes on Darfur” project (www.eyesondarfur.org), which uses satellite technology to protect highly vulnerable villages in war-torn Darfur and eastern Chad.