Underlying Causes of Intractable Conflict

Identifying Underlying Causes

According to Chester Crocker, an important part of conflict assessment is analyzing the underlying sources of conflict.

Sarah Cobb suggests that neither unmet needs nor scare resources fully account for the underlying causes of conflict.

Kevin Avruch suggests that cultural differences sometimes obfuscate the true motives that are driving conflict.

Frank Dukes, an environmental mediator, observes that the presenting problem is seldom the real problem.

Peter Coleman describes five different metaphors or ways of defining what intractable conflicts are all about.

Particular Underlying Causes

Roy Lewicki describes how incompatible frames can lead to intractable conflicts.

Brazilian economist Olympio Barbanti discusses how development efforts have caused conflict in the Brazilian Amazon.

Jayne Docherty suggests that resolving conflicts among parties with fundamentally different world views is extremely difficult.

Suzanne Ghais, Program manager at CDR Associates in Boulder, Colorado, focusing only on resolution will be inadequate in situations where ongoing relationships are a component of conflict. She stresses the importance of relationship management.