Recent Beyond Intractability Posts
Including Hyper-Polarization Posts
Posts by BI Section
Lists of recent posts are also available separately for each BI Section:
Hyper-Polarization Discussion Posts | Earlier Constructive Conflict Initiative Blog
Things You Can Do To Help | Conflict Frontiers | Conflict Fundamentals
Beyond Intractability in Context | Colleague Activities
- “Don’t Destroy What you Want to Inherit”: Peacebuilding Holds the Key to Building a Strong United States of America -- A guest post from a MSc student at Ulster University in Northern Ireland, charting a way forward in the United States after the election -- suggesting three critical steps the U.S. might take to avoid "destroying the country we want our children to inherit." -- Nov 04
- Massively Parallel Peace and Democracy Building Links for the Week of November 3, 2024 -- Reader-suggested links, along with Guy Burgess's suggested links to colleague activities and news and opinion stories from the last few weeks. -- Nov 02
- Massively Parallel Problem Solving and Democracy Building: An Ongoing Response to the Threats to Democracy in the U.S. - Part 5 -- This final installment of the Burgess's Toda Policy Brief on Massively Parallel Democracy Building describes 53 different roles which all need to be filled simultaneously for democracy strengthening efforts to succeed. And everyone fits somewhere! -- Oct 31
- Massively Parallel Problem Solving and Democracy Building: An Ongoing Response to the Threats to Democracy in the U.S. - Part 4 -- This 4th (of 5) installments of the Burgess's Toda Policy Brief on Massively Parallel Democracy Building lays out seven essential goals, all of which contribute to developing a "power-with democracy" to replace "power-over" approaches. -- Oct 28
- Massively Parallel Peace and Democracy Building Links for the Week of October 27, 2024 -- Recommended readings and videos from our readers, plus Guy Burgess's suggestions of useful readings for this week. -- Oct 26
- Comments on Our Post Comparing Responses to October 7 to Those of September 11 -- Comments from two readers about the Burgess's comparison of responses to October 7 and 9-11, one from an American, the other from an Israeli peacebuilder who also serves as an active reservist in the IDF. -- Oct 23
- Massively Parallel Problem Solving and Democracy Building: An Ongoing Response to the Threats to Democracy in the U.S. - Part 3 -- The resilience of American democracy is based on three factors: an abundant array of tools for resisting those who threaten democratic institutions, a willingness to use those tools, and the creativity needed to develop new responses to new challenges. -- Oct 20
- Massively Parallel Peace and Democracy Building Links for the Week of October 13, 2024 -- More recommended readings and videos for this week. -- Oct 17
- Americans Are More Reliant Than Ever on Government Aid -- Truly startling statistics about how, in recent decades, US citizens have become so dependent upon governmental financial assistance. -- Oct 12
- Massively Parallel Problem Solving and Democracy Building: An Ongoing Response to the Threats to Democracy in the U.S. - Part 2 -- In this 2nd (of 5) installments of the Burgess's Toda Policy Brief on Massively Parallel Democracy Building, we look at some of the threats facing democracy in the United States, and where they could lead if they aren't addressed soon. -- Oct 11
- Terror in a Safe Space, a Year On -- An exploration of the coming collision between a dangerous and violent world and a citizenry that has become accustomed to safety and security. -- Oct 08
- September 11, October 7, and Our Changing Responses to Terrorism -- A comparison of the differing reactions to the terrorism of September 11 and October 7 plus an exchange of views on the role that dehumanization is playing in the ongoing Middle East wars. -- Oct 06
- Horizon's VISTA -- An amazingly rich compilation of resources every month, but the September 2024 issue was particularly full of excellent resources on threats to democracy and responses to those threats. -- Oct 05
- The State of Civil Society Peacebuilding between Israelis and Palestinians -- An astonishing report with detailed data showing that civil society peacebuilding is thriving in Israel, even during the war. -- Oct 05
- Towards a Post-Hamas Future -- A hopeful essay about a postwar future in which Palestinians may be able to escape the iron grasp of Hamas and its ruinous policies. -- Oct 05
- Meritocracy and Its Critics -- An articulate defense of meritocratic institutions and ideas -- a defense that provides an important counterpoint to the more critical views that now dominate. -- Oct 04
- Massively Parallel Problem Solving and Democracy Building: An Ongoing Response to the Threats to Democracy in the U.S. - Part 1 -- The first of a five part series on massively parallel democracy building. This installment briefly introduces the core argument about what the threats to democracy are, and what is needed to meet them. -- Oct 02
- How Lying Became Disinformation -- A must read article exploring both the problem of disinformation and the ways in which elites (on both the left and right) are hijacking efforts to limit the problem. -- Sep 30
- Caleb Christen and Vinay Orekondy Talk about the Better Together America Project -- Caleb Christen and Vinay Orekondy talk about the democracy and civic hubs they are helping form around the country to bring "democracy back to the people" where it can actually work. -- Sep 30
- Massively Parallel Peace and Democracy Building Links for the Week of September 29, 2024 -- Our weekly set of recommended readings from colleagues and news and opinion writers. -- Sep 29
- From Contempt to Connection: How Curiosity Transforms Us -- In the latest episode of “Debate Without Hate: Elections 2024,” Scott Shigeoka, author of "Seek: How Curiosity Can Transform Your Life and Change the World," talks about the power of genuine curiosity. -- Sep 28
- From Essential Partners: It's Not You! Questions are Hard to Write. -- An essay exploring the critically important role that questions play in framing conversations. -- Sep 25
- The Threat of Political Violence in the United States -- The number of people supporting political violence is not nearly the 30% that has been often reported, but it is still much higher than it should be. We all need to try to calm down our rhetoric so things don't get out of hand. -- Sep 25
- The Distance between September and October is Far More than a Month -- Important reflections on the differing ways in which the world has responded to the terrorist attacks of September 11 and October 7 -- Sep 22
- U.S. Shrugs as World War III Approaches -- A quick summary of the report of the Commission on the National Defense Strategy -- a politically neglected, but critically important, warning about the West's declining ability to deter war and defend itself. -- Sep 21