International Project on Conflict and Complexity
ICCCR’s International Project on Conflict and Complexity (IPCC) is an interdisciplinary consortium of peace and conflict scholars and practitioners from anthropology, psychology, international relations, physics, and complexity science, funded by the James S. McDonnell Foundation, working to generate new insights and methods for addressing difficult, unresolved issues in the areas of violence prevention, conflict resolution, and sustainable peace. It supports a variety of innovative, inter-disciplinary, scholar-practitioner activities. The project is currently being conducted by a multidisciplinary research team consisting of 1) a specialist in the study of intractable conflict (Peter T. Coleman); 2) two social psychologists with expertise in the application of dynamical systems to cognitive, interpersonal, group, and societal phenomena (Andrzej Nowak and Robin Vallacher); 3) a physicist with expertise in formal descriptions and the modeling of system dynamics (Larry Liebovitch); 4) a social anthropologist (and practitioner) who specializes in international conflict and genocide prevention (Andrea Bartoli), and an extraordinarily talented group of PhD students (Lan Bui-Wrzosinska, Naira Musallam, Katharina Kugler, Christine Chung).
“Simple answers which lie on this side of life’s complexities are cheap. However, simple truths which exist beyond this complexity, and are illuminated by it, are worthy of a lifetime’s commitment.”
- Vaclav Havel
“The discovery that complex properties may emerge from simple rules is one of the most important discoveries of modern science. The realization that complexity may be the flip side of simplicity, rather than its opposition, has profound consequences for theory construction in the social sciences. If simple rules can produce complex phenomena, then complex processes and structures can be explained by simple models…only if these rules interact with each other or with the environment. The minimalist model thus needs to be dynamic."
- Andrzej Nowak
DST Team Members
Dr. Peter T. Coleman, PhD Social-Organizational Psychology: Director of the International Center for Cooperation and Conflict Resolution (ICCCR) at Teachers College, Columbia University, is Associate Professor of Psychology and Education at Teachers College, Columbia University, a member of the faculty of Columbia University’s Earth Institute, Chair of the International Project on Conflict and Complexity (IPCC), Chair of the Advanced Consortium on Cooperation, Conflict, and Complexity (AC4) at Columbia and an affiliate of the International Center for Complexity and Conflict (ICCC) at The Warsaw School for Social Psychology in Warsaw, Poland. Dr. Coleman co-edits The Handbook of Conflict Resolution: Theory and Practice (2000; 2nd edition 2006), and has authored over 50 journal articles and chapters. He is also a New York State certified mediator and experienced consultant.
Dr. Robin Vallacher, PhD Social Psychology: Professor of Psychology, Florida Atlantic University, and Research Affiliate at Columbia University’s ICCCR and the Advanced Consortium on Cooperation, Conflict, and Complexity (AC4) and the Center for Complex Systems, Warsaw University. In recent years, his work has centered on identifying the invariant properties underlying diverse social phenomena. Using experimentation and computer simulations, he and his colleagues are investigating the dynamism and complexity associated with such phenomena as self-regulation, social judgment, close relations, inter-group conflict, and the emergence of personality from social interaction. Dr. Vallacher has published five books, including two with Andrzej Nowak that develop the implications of dynamical systems for social psychology and over 100 articles and chapters.
Dr. Andrzej Nowak, PhD Psychology: Professor of Psychology at the Warsaw School for Social Psychology, where he is the Director of the Institute of Social Psychology of Informatics and Communications. He is also Professor of Psychology at University of Warsaw, where he directs the Center for Complex Systems at Institute for Social Studies, Associate Professor of Psychology, Florida Atlantic University, and Research Affiliate at Columbia University’s ICCCR and the Advanced Consortium on Cooperation, Conflict, and Complexity (AC4). His primary focus is on the dynamical approach to social psychology. He has done research concerning social influence, social transitions, social dilemmas, emotions, and the self. His current research includes the use of coupled dynamical systems to simulate the emergence of personality through social coordination, attractor neural networks to model interpersonal and group dynamics, and cellular automata to simulate societal change. Dr. Nowak has published five books, including two with Robin Vallacher concerning dynamical social psychology and over 100 articles and chapters.
Dr. Andrea Bartoli, PhD Anthropology: Holds the Drucie French Cumbie Chair at the Institute of Conflict Analysis and Resolution at George Mason University. He works primarily on Peacemaking and Genocide Prevention. The Founding Director of Columbia University’s Center for International Conflict Resolution (CICR), a Senior Research Scholar at the School of International and Public Affairs (SIPA), a Teaching Fellow at Georgetown University, and at the University of Siena, and a Research Affiliate at Columbia University’s ICCCR and the Advanced Consortium on Cooperation, Conflict, and Complexity (AC4) Dr. Bartoli has taught in the US since 1994. He is a Board member of Search for Common Ground, has been involved in many conflict resolution activities as a member of the Community of St. Egidio (http://www.santegidio.org/en/ ), and has published books and articles on violence, migrations and, conflict resolution. He was co-editor of Somalia, Rwanda and Beyond: The Role of International Media in Wars and International Crisis. 
Dr. Lan Bui-Wrzosinska PhD, Psychology: A faculty member at the Warsaw School for Social Psychology and a Research Affiliate at Columbia University’s ICCCR and the Advanced Consortium on Cooperation, Conflict, and Complexity (AC4). Her interests are focused on the dynamical systems approach to intractable conflicts. She has co-taught courses in Poland, at Teachers College, Columbia University, and in Florida Atlantic University. She is currently developing a dynamical model of intractable conflicts and conducting experimental and qualitative studies on the dynamics of change in intractable conflicts. Lan Bui-Wrzosinska is also implementing conflict resolution programs in educational settings in Warsaw and in New York City. 
Dr. Larry S. Liebovitch PhD, Astrophysics: Professor and Association Dean for Graduate Programs and Studies in the Charles E. Schmidt College of Science at Florida Atlantic University, Dr. Liebovitch earned a bachelor’s degree in physics at City College of New York, and a doctorate in astronomy from Harvard. He was a Postdoctoral Fellow at Mt. Sinai School of Medicine in New York, and then served as assistant professor at the College of Physicians and Surgeons of Columbia University. He is formerly the director of the Center for Complex Systems and Brain Sciences at Florida Atlantic University, where he also has appointments in the Departments of Psychology and Biomedical Science and at the Center for Molecular Biology and Biotechnology. He is a Research Affiliate at Columbia University’s ICCCR and the Advanced Consortium on Cooperation, Conflict, and Complexity (AC4).
Katharina Kugler, Ph.D. student: Doctoral student in psychology at the University of Munich, Germany. Currently she holds a Fellowship in Complexity and Conflict from the ICCCR to study at Teachers College and to work as a Research Assistant for Professor Coleman at the ICCCR. Katharina Kugler received her “Diplom” (combined B.A. and M.A.) in Psychology at the University of Munich, Germany. During her graduate studies she studied for one year at Teachers College, holding a Fulbright Scholarship. Her main research interest is in the role of emotions in conflicts. She contributed previously to a series of studies, which elaborated on how the experience of humiliation fuels intractable conflicts. Currently her research concentrates on conflicts within organizations, employing the dynamical systems theory approach. Naira Musallam, Ph.D. student: A Ph.D. student who received her B.A. in Psychology and Journalism from Tel Aviv University in 2000. She has held various positions in Israel/Palestine including working with the Adler Research Center for Child Welfare and Protection, where she conducted research assessing the psychological impact of ethnopolitical conflict on various sects of the Palestinian and Israeli populations, has worked with the Mar Elias Educational Institutions dedicated to building peace through education, and has worked with Amnesty International. She was awarded by the State Department the Israeli-Arab Scholarship to earn her Master’s degree in the United States. Ms. Musallam has completed her M.A. in Psychology and Education with a concentration in Conflict Resolution at Teachers College, Columbia University. Ms. Musallam served as the Vice President of the Educational Society for Middle East and North Africa at Columbia University and has interned with the International Center for Transitional Justice and the Institute for Mediation and Conflict Resolution. conflicts within organizations, employing the dynamical systems theory approach.
Projects
Basic research
The Dynamics of Seemingly Unsolvable Conflicts
Power and Conflict: Extending Deutsch’s Theory of Cooperation and Conflict Resolution into Dynamics of Parties with Unequal Power
Taking Peace Seriously
Culture and Conflict
Applied Research Projects
Difficult Conversations Laboratory and Clinic
Conflict Feedback Loop Mapping Project
Complex Negotiations Simulation
Nowak, A., Bui-Wrzosinska, L., Coleman, P. T., Vallacher, R., Borkovsky, W., and Jochemczyk, L. (forthcoming). Seeking sustainable solutions: Using an attractor simulation platform for teaching multi-stakeholder negotiation. Negotiation Journal.
Vallacher, R., Coleman, P. Nowak, A., Bui-Wrzosinska, L. (forthcoming). Dynamical foundations of intractable conflict: Introduction to the special issue. Peace and Conflict: The Journal of Peace Psychology.
Praszkier, R., Nowak, A., and Coleman, P. T. (forthcoming). Social entrepreneurs and constructive change: The wisdom of circumventing conflict. Peace and Conflict: The Journal of Peace Psychology.
Musallam, N., Coleman, P.T., and Nowak, A. (forthcoming). Understanding the spread of malignant conflict: A dynamical-systems perspective. Peace and Conflict: The Journal of Peace Psychology.
Coleman, P. T., Hacking, A., Stover, M., Fisher-Yoshida, B, and Nowak, A. (2008). Reconstructing ripeness I: A study of constructive engagement in protracted social conflicts. Conflict Resolution Quarterly, 26(1).
Coleman, P. T., Fisher-Yoshida, B., Stover, M., Hacking, A., and Bartoli, A. (2008). Reconstructing ripeness II: Models and methods for fostering constructive stakeholder engagement across protracted divides. Conflict Resolution Quarterly, 26(1).
Liebovitch, L. S., Vallacher, R., Nowak, A., Bui-Wrzosinska, and Coleman, Peter, T. (2008). Dynamics of two-actor cooperation-competition conflict models. Physica A.
Coleman, P. T., Vallacher, R., Nowak, A., & Bui-Wrzosinska, L. (2007). Intractable conflict as an attractor: Presenting a dynamical model of conflict, escalation, and intractability. American Behavioral Scientist, 50(11), 1454-1475.
Coleman, P. T. (2006) Conflict, complexity, and change: A meta-framework for addressing protracted, intractable conflicts - III. Peace and Conflict: Journal of Peace Psychology, 12(4), 325-348.
Coleman, P. T., Bui-Wrzosinska, L., Nowak, A., Vallacher. R. A dynamical model of power and conflict. Under revise and resubmit with Personality and Social Psychological Review.
Coleman, P. T., Kugler, K., Musallam, N., Mitchenson, A., and Chung, C. The view from above and below: The effects of power asymmetries and interdependence on conflict dynamics and outcomes. Under revise and resubmit with Negotiation and Conflict Management Journal.
Vallacher, R., Coleman, P. T., Nowak, A., Bui-Wrzosinska, L. Rethinking intractable conflict: The perspective of dynamical systems. Under revise and resubmit with American Psychologist.
Coleman, P. T., Vallacher, R., Nowak, A., Bui-Wrzosinska, L., Bartoli, A. (forthcoming). Navigating the landscape of conflict: Applications of dynamical systems theory to protracted social conflict. In Ropers, N. (Ed.), Systemic Thinking and Conflict Transformation. Berlin, Germany: Berghof Foundation for Peace Support.
Coleman, P. T., Vallacher, R., Nowak, A., Bui-Wrzosinska, L., Bartoli, A. (2009). A Systemic Approach to Peace: Lessons from Mozambique (In Arabic). In M. Deutsch, P. T. Coleman, and E. Marcus (Eds.) A Guiding Handbook for Conflict Resolution in The Arab World. New York: International Center for Cooperation and Conflict Resolution Publications.
Nowak, A., Vallacher, R., Bui-Wrzosinska, L., & Coleman, P. T. (2006). Attracted to conflict: A dynamical perspective on malignant social relations. In A. Golec & K. Skarzynska (Eds.), Understanding social change: Political psychology in Poland. Haauppague NY: Nova Science Publishers Ltd.
Coleman, P. T., Bui-Wrzosinska, L., Vallacher, R., & Nowak, A. (2006). Approaching Protracted Conflicts as Dynamical Systems: Guidelines and Methods for Intervention. In A. Schneider & C. Honeyman (Eds.), The Negotiator’s Fieldbook (pp. 61-74). Chicago: American Bar Association Books.
Coleman, P. T., Mitchinson, A., and Kugkler, K. (2009). Adaptation, integration, and learning: The three legs of the steady stool of conflict resolution. Paper presented at the 22nd Annual Conference of the International Association of Conflict Management in Kyoto, Japan, June, 2009.
Kugler, K., and Coleman, P. T. (2009). Moral conflict and complexity: The dynamics of constructive versus destructive discussions over polarizing issues. Paper presented at the 22nd Annual Conference of the International Association of Conflict Management in Kyoto, Japan, June, 2009.
Coleman, P. T., Bartoli, A., Chung, C., Nets, R., and Gelfand, M. (2009). Surveying attractor landscapes for conflict: Investigating the relationship between conflict, culture, and complexity. Paper presented at the 22nd Annual Conference of the International Association of Conflict Management in Kyoto, Japan, June, 2009.
Mitchinson, A., Coleman, P. T., Bui-Wrzosinska, L. and Nowak, A,. (2009). The nature of adaptivity: A theoretical discussion. Paper presented at the 22nd Annual Conference of the International Association of Conflict Management in Kyoto, Japan, June, 2009.
Nowak, A., Deutsch, M. & Bartkowski, W. (2009). From Crude law to Civil relations: The Dynamics and Potential Resolution of Intractable Conflict. Paper presented at the 22nd Annual Conference of the International Association of Conflict Management in Kyoto, Japan, June, 2009.
Liebovitch, L. S., Naudot, V., Vallacher, R., Nowak, A., Bui-Wrzosinska, L., and Coleman, P. T. (2008). Dynamics of two-actor cooperation-competition conflict models. Physica A 387:6360-6378.
In 2005 Peter T. Coleman, Robin Vallacher, and Andrzej Nowak created a Fellowship for the Study of Protracted Conflicts as Complex Systems, funded by the Community Foundation of Boulder, Colorado. The fellowship was created to develop a unique educational opportunity for promising graduate students to study protracted social conflicts as complex systems. It allows students to study at three university-based Centers, sequentially, and then to integrate their learning in the form of conceptual papers, a research program, and a course on complexity, social conflict, and social justice. The three Centers have distinct areas of expertise, including conflict, peace, and justice (Peter T. Coleman, International Center for Cooperation and Conflict Resolution, Teachers College, Columbia University), dynamical social psychology (Robin Vallacher, Director, Dynamical Social Psychology program, Florida Atlantic University), and complex dynamical systems (Andrzej Nowak, Director, Institute for Social Psychology, Informatics, and Communication, Warsaw School for Social Psychology; and Chair, Center for Complex Systems, Institute for Social Studies, University of Warsaw, Poland). The funding supports one student for one year as he or she travels, studies, and receives supervision for one term at each of the above institutions.
Fellows and their Projects
Lan Bui-Wrzosinska:
Naira Musallam:
Wunter de Radd:
Lukasz Jo:
Katharina Kugler:
The Dynamics of Seemingly Unsolvable Conflicts
Dynamical-systems research on intractable conflicts. For the past 4 years, Peter Coleman has been leading an international team of scholar-practitioners, with funding from the James S. McDonnell Foundation, to develop a theory of enduring conflicts from the perspective of complex systems. The project applies the principles and methods of dynamical systems theory to what is arguably the most complex and dynamic of all social phenomena: intractable social conflict. Such conflicts are rare, but when they do occur they undermine the security and well being of societies worldwide. The project is currently being conducted by a multidisciplinary research team consisting of 1) a specialist in the study of intractable conflict (Peter T. Coleman); 2) two social psychologists with expertise in the application of dynamical systems to cognitive, interpersonal, group, and societal phenomena (Andrzej Nowak and Robin Vallacher); 3) a physicist with expertise in formal descriptions and the modeling of system dynamics (Larry Liebovitch); and 4) a social anthropologist (and practitioner) who specializes in international conflict and genocide prevention (Andrea Bartoli).
Power and Conflict: Extending Deutsch’s Theory of Cooperation and Conflict Resolution into Dynamics of Parties with Unequal Power
Deutsch’s theory of conflict resolution is one of the most important and influential theoretical advances for the study of conflict of the last century. It specifies the basic conditions and processes involved in constructive versus destructive conflict. However the original formulation of the theory assumed equal power and equal degrees of interdependence between the parties in conflict. This research project empirically validates and refines a new social-psychological model of the dynamics of power and conflict, thus extending Deutsch’s ground-breaking theory into situations of unequal power and interdependence.
Taking Peace Seriously
Modeling the necessary and sufficient conditions and processes for sustainable peace in communities. In contrast with research on conflict and violence, there are few scholars conducting basic research on the fundamental (necessary and sufficient) conditions and processes for sustainable peace today, including the role development plays in fostering such conditions. However, it is critical that the applied frameworks which inform peacebuilding be based on sound, empirically-tested theoretical models in order to increase our knowledge base and foster sustainable peace most effectively. We currently have a small grant from the Berghof Foundation to begin this work by convening a 3-day session with 4 groups involved in “success stories”; accounts of effective development and peace processes that resulted in sustainable peace. We will bring them together with a group of multi-disciplinary scholars to attempt to identify the basic underlying dynamics they share.
Culture and Conflict
Research on dynamic models of the effect of culture on collaboration and negotiation in the Middle East. There is a paucity of research in the social sciences on the effects of cultural differences on conflict in the Middle East. This project will develop basic theory to better understand constructive versus destructive negotiation and collaboration processes in Middle Eastern cultures. It will examine how characteristics of the rules of engagement in difficult conflict situations (number and type of rules) differ across cultures, and how these differences can help predict tendencies to employ constructive versus destructive processes in some conflict situations.
Applied Research Projects
Difficult Conversations Laboratory and Clinic
Conversations around topics such as the war in Iraq, the Israeli-Arab conflict, abortion rights and affirmative action tend to be divisive, emotionally difficult and have the potential to quickly move into a destructive path. Gaining systematic understanding of the basic dynamics differentiating constructive versus destructive approaches to difficult conversations is vital to both scholars and practitioners in the field of peace building. This project will be conducted in three phases. The first and second phases will serve to establish a laboratory to test and refine our understanding the nature of the underlying constructive and destructive dynamics in such conflicts. The third phase will allow us to begin to work more directly on practical applications, by establishing a clinic to work with leaders of schools, community-based organizations and non-governmental organizations struggling with difficult conflicts.
Conflict Feedback Loop Mapping Project
Based on our work applying complexity science to evolving conflicts, we are developing a tool for visualizing complex conflicts as they unfold overtime. It can be very useful to represent the dynamical-system of conflicts – in the form of a dynamic network – through a series of feedback loop analyses. Loop analysis is useful for mapping positive and negative feedback processes that escalate, de-escalate, and stabilize destructive conflicts. This method not only captures the multiple sources and complex temporal dynamics of such systems, but can help identify central nodes and patterns that are unrecognizable by other means. We are currently working with a team from Columbia University’s Center for New Teaching and Learning to develop a web-based method for creating animated maps for conflict visualization and analysis.
Complex Negotiations Simulation
We have co-designed a new pedagogy for teaching negotiation in a complex world. It was first conceptualized as a methodology for working with stakeholders attempting to comprehend and address chronic patterns of destructive conflict and violence in New York City public schools. It has since been developed as a platform for teaching multi-stakeholder negotiations in various situations of protracted social conflict. The centerpiece of this teaching platform is a computer simulation of conflict attractors, which allows participants to visualize and work interactively with the dynamics of conflict as they unfold overtime.
Nowak, A., Bui-Wrzosinska, L., Coleman, P. T., Vallacher, R., Borkovsky, W., and Jochemczyk, L. (forthcoming). Seeking sustainable solutions: Using an attractor simulation platform for teaching multi-stakeholder negotiation. Negotiation Journal.
Vallacher, R., Coleman, P. Nowak, A., Bui-Wrzosinska, L. (forthcoming). Dynamical foundations of intractable conflict: Introduction to the special issue. Peace and Conflict: The Journal of Peace Psychology.
Praszkier, R., Nowak, A., and Coleman, P. T. (forthcoming). Social entrepreneurs and constructive change: The wisdom of circumventing conflict. Peace and Conflict: The Journal of Peace Psychology.
Musallam, N., Coleman, P.T., and Nowak, A. (forthcoming). Understanding the spread of malignant conflict: A dynamical-systems perspective. Peace and Conflict: The Journal of Peace Psychology.
Coleman, P. T., Hacking, A., Stover, M., Fisher-Yoshida, B, and Nowak, A. (2008). Reconstructing ripeness I: A study of constructive engagement in protracted social conflicts. Conflict Resolution Quarterly, 26(1).
Coleman, P. T., Fisher-Yoshida, B., Stover, M., Hacking, A., and Bartoli, A. (2008). Reconstructing ripeness II: Models and methods for fostering constructive stakeholder engagement across protracted divides. Conflict Resolution Quarterly, 26(1).
Liebovitch, L. S., Vallacher, R., Nowak, A., Bui-Wrzosinska, and Coleman, Peter, T. (2008). Dynamics of two-actor cooperation-competition conflict models. Physica A.
Coleman, P. T., Vallacher, R., Nowak, A., & Bui-Wrzosinska, L. (2007). Intractable conflict as an attractor: Presenting a dynamical model of conflict, escalation, and intractability. American Behavioral Scientist, 50(11), 1454-1475.
Coleman, P. T. (2006) Conflict, complexity, and change: A meta-framework for addressing protracted, intractable conflicts - III. Peace and Conflict: Journal of Peace Psychology, 12(4), 325-348.
Coleman, P. T., Bui-Wrzosinska, L., Nowak, A., Vallacher. R. A dynamical model of power and conflict. Under revise and resubmit with Personality and Social Psychological Review.
Coleman, P. T., Kugler, K., Musallam, N., Mitchenson, A., and Chung, C. The view from above and below: The effects of power asymmetries and interdependence on conflict dynamics and outcomes. Under revise and resubmit with Negotiation and Conflict Management Journal.
Vallacher, R., Coleman, P. T., Nowak, A., Bui-Wrzosinska, L. Rethinking intractable conflict: The perspective of dynamical systems. Under revise and resubmit with American Psychologist.
Coleman, P. T., Vallacher, R., Nowak, A., Bui-Wrzosinska, L., Bartoli, A. (forthcoming). Navigating the landscape of conflict: Applications of dynamical systems theory to protracted social conflict. In Ropers, N. (Ed.), Systemic Thinking and Conflict Transformation. Berlin, Germany: Berghof Foundation for Peace Support.
Coleman, P. T., Vallacher, R., Nowak, A., Bui-Wrzosinska, L., Bartoli, A. (2009). A Systemic Approach to Peace: Lessons from Mozambique (In Arabic). In M. Deutsch, P. T. Coleman, and E. Marcus (Eds.) A Guiding Handbook for Conflict Resolution in The Arab World. New York: International Center for Cooperation and Conflict Resolution Publications.
Nowak, A., Vallacher, R., Bui-Wrzosinska, L., & Coleman, P. T. (2006). Attracted to conflict: A dynamical perspective on malignant social relations. In A. Golec & K. Skarzynska (Eds.), Understanding social change: Political psychology in Poland. Haauppague NY: Nova Science Publishers Ltd.
Coleman, P. T., Bui-Wrzosinska, L., Vallacher, R., & Nowak, A. (2006). Approaching Protracted Conflicts as Dynamical Systems: Guidelines and Methods for Intervention. In A. Schneider & C. Honeyman (Eds.), The Negotiator’s Fieldbook (pp. 61-74). Chicago: American Bar Association Books.
Coleman, P. T., Mitchinson, A., and Kugkler, K. (2009). Adaptation, integration, and learning: The three legs of the steady stool of conflict resolution. Paper presented at the 22nd Annual Conference of the International Association of Conflict Management in Kyoto, Japan, June, 2009.
Kugler, K., and Coleman, P. T. (2009). Moral conflict and complexity: The dynamics of constructive versus destructive discussions over polarizing issues. Paper presented at the 22nd Annual Conference of the International Association of Conflict Management in Kyoto, Japan, June, 2009.
Coleman, P. T., Bartoli, A., Chung, C., Nets, R., and Gelfand, M. (2009). Surveying attractor landscapes for conflict: Investigating the relationship between conflict, culture, and complexity. Paper presented at the 22nd Annual Conference of the International Association of Conflict Management in Kyoto, Japan, June, 2009.
Mitchinson, A., Coleman, P. T., Bui-Wrzosinska, L. and Nowak, A,. (2009). The nature of adaptivity: A theoretical discussion. Paper presented at the 22nd Annual Conference of the International Association of Conflict Management in Kyoto, Japan, June, 2009.
Nowak, A., Deutsch, M. & Bartkowski, W. (2009). From Crude law to Civil relations: The Dynamics and Potential Resolution of Intractable Conflict. Paper presented at the 22nd Annual Conference of the International Association of Conflict Management in Kyoto, Japan, June, 2009.
Liebovitch, L. S., Naudot, V., Vallacher, R., Nowak, A., Bui-Wrzosinska, L., and Coleman, P. T. (2008). Dynamics of two-actor cooperation-competition conflict models. Physica A 387:6360-6378.
In 2005 Peter T. Coleman, Robin Vallacher, and Andrzej Nowak created a Fellowship for the Study of Protracted Conflicts as Complex Systems, funded by the Community Foundation of Boulder, Colorado. The fellowship was created to develop a unique educational opportunity for promising graduate students to study protracted social conflicts as complex systems. It allows students to study at three university-based Centers, sequentially, and then to integrate their learning in the form of conceptual papers, a research program, and a course on complexity, social conflict, and social justice. The three Centers have distinct areas of expertise, including conflict, peace, and justice (Peter T. Coleman, International Center for Cooperation and Conflict Resolution, Teachers College, Columbia University), dynamical social psychology (Robin Vallacher, Director, Dynamical Social Psychology program, Florida Atlantic University), and complex dynamical systems (Andrzej Nowak, Director, Institute for Social Psychology, Informatics, and Communication, Warsaw School for Social Psychology; and Chair, Center for Complex Systems, Institute for Social Studies, University of Warsaw, Poland). The funding supports one student for one year as he or she travels, studies, and receives supervision for one term at each of the above institutions.
Fellows and their Projects
Lan Bui-Wrzosinska:
- Lan designed and co-taught a course on dynamical systems and protracted conflicts with Andrzej Nowak, Robin Vallacher and Peter Coleman.
- Lan helped to begin an experimental study at Columbia, a longitudinal survey study in the Middle East, and a case study on Mozambique.
- Lan assisted in the design of three interactive computer simulations. The first one was tested and implemented; It was applied in a workshop for community leaders for addressing violence in New York City schools. Based on that first workshop, she helped to build a long-term agenda for a simulation project on school and community violence.
- Lan worked on a case study on the emergence of peace in Mozambique, which constituted the subject of her dissertation. In collaboration with Professor Andrea Bartoli from SIPA, who was involved in the peace process in Mozambique, she worked on the application of the DST approach to that case.
Naira Musallam:
- Naira has written a theoretical paper concerned with how conflicts spread and become malignant (Conflict Pervasiveness). This paper is co-authored by Professor Peter T. Coleman and Andrezej Nowak, and will be published in a special issue of the Peace and Conflict Journal. In addition, and along with a student from the Warsaw School of Social Psychology, Naira is working on developing tools that will measure the extent to which specific conflicts become pervasive.
- Naira has been involved in a project that focuses on applying the principles of the Dynamical Systems Theory to real world intractable conflicts. This work was presented at a Panel during the International Association for Conflict Management Conference, in July 2008.
Wunter de Radd:
- Wunter has created a new model which is dynamic in nature and is very well suited to be used as the basis of simulations. It is closely tied to social psychological theory, but is novel in the sense that it provides a bridge between group level phenomena (identity, group influence/ pressure, intergroup attitudes) and individual level phenomena (interpersonal attitudes, interpersonal interaction). The expected potential of this model is that it will help to shed more light on the dynamics of group interaction by focussing on the dynamics of interpersonal interaction and in that way closing the gap between those to levels of analysis. By the time he left Teachers College the new model was clearly conceptually defined. The next planned steps are to give it a stronger connection to existing theory and to refine it so that it can serve as the basis for computer simulations.
Lukasz Jo:
- Lukasz submitted an article called The Dynamically Constructed Network of Shared Reality to Group Decision and Negotiation.
- Lukasz also submitted a chapter in Polish about Semantic Networks in Social Psychology.
Katharina Kugler:
- During the Fall semester 2007 Katharina worked on planning and conceptualizing several studies, which were conducted during the spring semester 2008:
- Designing and implementing a Difficult Conversations Lab
- Focus groups and survey(s) testing a “dynamical model of power and conflict”
- In January / February 2008 she collaborated with other students and researchers to submit:
- Coleman, P.T., Goldman, J., Kugler, K. (2008). Emotional intractability: The Effects of Emotional Roles on Aggression and Rumination in Conflict. Manuscript currently under review.
- Coleman, P. T., Kugler, K. Musallam, N. Mitchinson, A., Chung, C. View from Above and Below: The Effects of Power Asymmetries and Interdependence on Conflict Dynamics and Outcomes. Extended abstract currently under review.