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Stanford Center on International Conflict and Negotiation (SCICN)

Overview

The Stanford Center on International Conflict and Negotiation is an interdisciplinary center for the study of international and intergroup conflict and negotiation. Our primary foci are:

  • The identification and analysis of the barriers—strategic, psychological, legal, and structural—to management or resolution of conflict.
  • The development of strategies to overcome these barriers.

A joint project of the Stanford Law School and the Freeman Spogli Institute for International Studies, SCICN explores the intersection of international law, international relations, and social psychology in the context of international and intranational conflict. In addition to our traditional concern for research and theory-building, we have a strong and growing interest in real world conflict, particularly with regard to bridging the gap between theory and practice.

Drawing together graduate students and scholars from schools and departments across the university, SCICN offers a rich environment for interdisciplinary dialogue and exploration. Our seminars and colloquia are open to the wider Stanford community and the general public.

SCICN is not a degree-conferring center and, as a result, cannot admit applicants as students to Stanford University.

News & Announcements

Faculty

Allen S. Weiner
SCICN Co-Director (Stanford Law School)
Senior Lecturer in Law
650 724.5892

Lecturers

Byron Bland
SCICN, Senior Consultant

Affiliated Faculty

David Holloway
SCICN Co-Director (Freeman Spogli Institute for International Studies)
Raymond A. Spruance Professor of International History
FSI Senior Fellow
CISAC Affiliated Faculty Member
Forum on Contemporary Europe Research Affiliate
650 723.1737
Samuel Peleg
Professor of Political Communication at the School of Communication at Netanya College
Lee D. Ross
Stanford Federal Credit Union Professor, Psychology Department, Stanford University
650 725.2449

Program Contacts

Byron Bland
Senior Consultant
Allen S. Weiner
Co-Director
650 724.5892

Press Releases

  • O’Melveny & Myers Funds Faculty Chair at Stanford Law School Honoring Former U.S. Secretary of State Warren Christopher
    February 14, 2008
    Related: Allen S. Weiner, Larry Kramer, Stanford Center on International Conflict and Negotiation (SCICN), Stanford Program in International and Comparative Law
  • William Taft IV to Join Stanford Law School as the Warren Christopher Professor of the Practice of International Law and Diplomacy
    April 04, 2007
    Related: Allen S. Weiner, Larry Kramer, Stanford Center on International Conflict and Negotiation (SCICN), Stanford Program in International and Comparative Law

    • Research Themes

    Interdisciplinary Scholarship and Teaching: Our principal mission at Stanford University is to provide a forum for scholars to exchange ideas, and to educate our students, about methods and findings in the fields of conflict studies and conflict resolution.

    Current Research Themes

    • The central role that intergroup and even interpersonal relationships play in the dynamics of conflict and conflict resolution — hence the importance of developing techniques for fruitful dialogue and the building of political partnerships.
    • Shifting the focus from the give and take of immediately ongoing negotiations to the problem of developing scenarios for a mutually satisfactory (or at least a mutually bearable) "shared future."
    • The need to focus concretely not only on the negotiation process between political leaderships and elites, but also on the way proposed agreements and their implementation, or lack of agreement and/or implementation, impacts the lives of the affected individuals, their families, and their communities.
    • The interplay between intra-group conflict and inter-group conflict, and the special problem of "spoilers" with a range of motivations that lead them to create impediments to conflict resolution.
    • Barriers to agreement that arise from loss aversion, and the role of framing both the status quo and prospective changes in the status quo in facilitating agreement.
    • The importance of perceptions of procedural and distributive justice (and injustice) and the problem of creating agreements that necessarily deny justice to at least some of the principle parties.
    • The extent to which legal norms can contribute to, or impede, conflict resolution.

    Future Research Themes

    In many important ways, the core research themes of SCICN arise from our engagement with a network of scholar and practitioners who are deeply involved in real world conflict and reflect many extended conversations with key figures from different parts of the world about the difficulties and problems they face. From a more theoretical point of view, the central research question that arises time and time again is why interest-based negotiation fails to produce a settlement or, if not a settlement, then a mutually satisfactory outcome—in a catchy phrase, why "getting to yes" doesn't get to "yes".

    We can identify several important themes that appear frequently in our discussions and reflections and to which we plan to give increased attention in the future.

    • The role and influence of ideology in negotiation and conflict resolution:
    • The advantages of making "unthinkable" concessions (or when the costs of winning become too great):
      • To whom will we make the concessions that we swore we would never make?
    • How can we protect core interests when a peace process of negotiation stalls or fails?
    • The critical stages of transitional politics:
      • The dynamics and social consequences of transitional justice
      • The implementation of political strategies at the grassroots
      • The special role of ex-prisoners
    • Humiliation as a barrier to reaching a settlement

    Researcher / Practitioner Collaboration

    SCICN's engagement with individuals engaged in conflict resolution processes on the ground contributes not only to our teaching, but is more generally central to the activities of the Center and our research. Through our involvement with Community Dialogue of Northern Ireland and with several individuals and groups in Israel/Palestine, for example, SCICN has developed an innovative form of researcher/practitioner collaboration that differs significantly from the more standard models of training and expert consultation that are prevalent in the field of conflict resolution. Conceived as an extended conversation — a conversation lasting months and even years — that goes far beyond a workshop format, this intervention is structured around a discussion of the day-to-day problems and issues that confronted our partners and reflects two deeper questions:

    1. What would researchers find interesting if they knew everything that practitioners knew? and
    2. What would practitioners find interesting if they knew everything that researchers knew?

    The conversations that emerge highlight for the practitioner those aspects of their experience that are theoretically significant for better practice and highlight for the researcher those aspect of their research that have real world relevance.

    There is another aspect of these conversations that always surprises us. For the most part, we assume that the people and groups we work with are already engaged in dialogue and, therefore, that our efforts serve to help them deepen this dialogue. What we often find is that we are actually enabling them to have their first deep and extended discussion. In this way, our work serves an important "Track Two" diplomacy function that can make a positive practical contribution to efforts to resolute conflicts.

    SCICN's Northern Ireland Partner Organizations
    Community Dialogue www.communitydialogue.org

    Seven lessons from real world experience

    1. The importance of intragroup conflict. Without it, resolution is apt either to be easy or to be impossible.
    2. The importance of relationships and trust - especially in dealing with spoilers and the demands to internal politics.
    3. The importance of a shared view of (and shared commitment to) a mutually bearable future. Without it, negotiation between leaders and their agents, and even second track diplomacy, is doomed to produce failure and to heighten rather than ease distrust.
    4. The futility of trying to convince parties to conflict of something they can't afford to understand. Parties seeking to end conflict must reduce threats regarding the future to unfreeze attitudes.
    5. The importance of transparency of loss. Each side must be able to see that the other side's losses are real and heartfelt.
    6. Sometimes unilateral concessions are more productive, and/or easier to achieve than bilateral ones. They can, however, be counterproductive to the extent that they humiliate by reflecting power imbalance.
    7. Dealing with the tension between desire for peace and demands for justice. Trading some justice for (a lot of) peace; not demanding more from one's adversaries more than one expects and received from non-enemies and even friends.

    Fellowships and Awards

    SCICN Graduate Fellowship Program

    Each year, SCICN selects approximately twelve fellows from a broad spectrum of professional schools and graduate programs within the university. Each fellow submits a proposed paper topic that may reflect a specific professional interest or an area of research related to their PhD, JSD, or SPILS thesis. The fellows meet regularly with faculty, researchers, and respected practitioners from around the world. One of the main attractions of the fellows program is the opportunity to engage real world practitioners in extended conversation and to participate in the theory/practice workshops described below. During the winter quarter, the fellows attend the SCICN International Conflict Resolution Colloquium and meet with invited speakers over an informal dinner.

    Richard S. Goldsmith Fellows Research Grant

    SCICN Fellows are eligible for research grants up to $4000 for projects related to SCICN themes. For the 2009-2010 academic year, applications will be due at a date to be determined in the spring quarter.

    Richard S. Goldsmith Prize

    The Goldsmith Award for Student Writing in Dispute Resolution is named for Judge Richard S. Goldsmith, former chief magistrate of the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of California. Judge Goldsmith was an early and important advocate for alternative methods of solving disputes. The competition is open to graduate students university-wide. SCICN faculty review the submissions and select the winning paper, which is awarded a $1000 prize. The announcement for the 2009-2010 prize will be posted during the spring quarter.

    Colloquium

    SCICN Winter International Conflict Resolution Colloquium

    This interdisciplinary Colloquium is the centerpiece of SCICN teaching and explores problems of conflict, dispute resolution, and negotiation from an interdisciplinary perspective drawing upon the fields of law, psychology, economics, anthropology, game theory, political science, and international relations. The colloquium is offered every winter quarter and is open to interested graduate students from around the University, including the Schools of Law and Business as well as advanced undergraduates.

    SCICN Papers

    1. Barriers to Conflict Resolution: Introduction
    2. Relational Barrier: Reflections on Peacemaking
    3. Naïve Realism
    4. Reactive Devaluation in Negotiation and Conflict Resolution
    5. Northern Ireland

    6. Israel/Palestine

    7. The Use Of Force and Contemporary Security Threats: Old Medicine for New Ills?
    8. Law, Just War, and the International Fight Against Terrorism: Is It War?
    9. Arms Control without Treaties
    10. Evil Enemies: The Convergence of Religion and Politics

    Affiliated Scholars and Practitioners

    Aine de Baroid serves in the Joint Secretariat of the North/South Ministerial Council in the Department of Foreign Affairs in the Republic of Ireland.

    Jonathan Greenberg is Counsel to the Canadian law firm Heenan Blaikie and director of the firm's practice in international dispute resolution. He is a Lecturer in Law at Stanford Law School and Stanford University's Program in Public Policy.

    Melanie Greenberg is the president of the Cypress Fund for Peace and Security. She was formerly the associate director of the Center for International Security and Cooperation at Stanford and also the deputy director of the Stanford Center on Conflict and Negotiation.

    Bruce Jones is the deputy director of Center on International Cooperation at New York University and the former deputy research director of the United Nations High-Level Panel on Threats, Challenges, and Change.

    Brian Lennon is the director of Community Dialogue in Northern Ireland and a former columnist for the Irish News. He is a Jesuit priest who serves as executive chair of the Faith and Justice Center in Dublin.

    Vincent Maphai is the chairman of BHP Billiton in South Africa. He is the former chair of the South Africa Broadcasting Corporation and the corporate affairs director of South African Breweries. He was the vice president of the South African Academy of Sciences and vice president of the African Association of Political Science.

    Avishai Margalit is George F. Kennan Schulman in the School of Historical Studies at the Institute for Advanced Study and Professor of Philosophy at Hebrew University.

    Bob Mnookin is the Samuel Williston Professor of Law at Harvard University. He is also the director of the Harvard Negotiation Research Project and chair of the Harvard Negotiation Project Steering Committee.

    Mahdev Mohan is Assistant Professor of Law and Director of the Asian Peace-Building & Human Rights Programme at the Singapore Management University. He is also an international lawyer representing victims of mass crime before the UN-backed Khmer Rouge Tribunal.

    Duncan Morrow is the chief executive officer of the Community Relations Council in Northern Ireland, the primary body responsible for funding and development of inter-community relations practice and policy in Northern Ireland. He was previously a lecturer in politics at the University of Ulster and is an author of numerous reports, books, and articles on politics, peace-building, and inter-community relationships. He is co-director of Future Ways. He serves as a Commissioner on the Northern Ireland Sentence Review Commission, the body responsible for the early release of paramilitary prisoners as part of the Belfast Agreement, and as a Life Sentence Review Commissioner.

    Rami Nasrallah is general director of the International Peace and Cooperation Center. He was formerly the political advisor on Jerusalem for the Palestinian Authority and also the Israel desk officer at Orient House. He directed the Orient House Special Unit on Jerusalem where he coordinated research on final status issues concerning Jerusalem.

    Muli Peleg is a senior lecturer of international relations at Tel Aviv University and director of the Israeli Leadership Project at One Voice.

    Walid Salem is the director of the Palestinian Center for the Dissemination for Democracy and Community Development in Jerusalem and a former journalist. He serves on the board of directors for many community boards and is an ex-prisoner who was formerly a member of the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine.

    Alex Thier is senior advisor for the Rule of Law Project at the U.S. Institute of Peace. He was formerly the legal advisor to the Constitutional and Judicial Reform Commission in Afghanistan and the Officer-in-Charge of the United Nations Office for the Coordination Humanitarian Assistance in Afghanistan. He also served as the Coordination Officer for the UN Iraq Program.

    David Ervine, a close friend of SCICN, died suddenly in January 2007. David was a member of the Northern Ireland Legislative Assembly and the Belfast City Council in Northern Ireland. He also served as chair of the Progressive Unionist Party. He was a member of the All-Party Talks (1998). As a member of the Ulster Volunteer Force (UVF) and an ex-prisoner, he led the exploratory group that charted the UVF's transition to from paramilitary activities to political engagement. We will miss David greatly.

    Contact Information

    Stanford Center on International Conflict and Negotiation (SCICN)
    Stanford Law School
    Crown Quadrangle
    559 Nathan Abbott Way
    Stanford, CA 94305-8610

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