• Commonly Used Distinctions
• SFCG Recommended Reading List
• Commonly Used Terms
• Tips for Transforming Conflict

Basic Facts About Conflict

How to live together in a world of differences is one of the most critical challenges facing us today. So much depends on our ability to handle our conflicts peacefully - our happiness at home, our performance at work, the livability of our communities, even our very survival. How we deal with conflict affects every other major issue we're dealing with, either directly with specific consequences, or indirectly, through our inability to reach consensus and work together productively.

• With regard to hunger and poverty, 16 out of 20 of the most destitute countries in the world have recently suffered civil wars.
  
  
• With regard to education and literacy - not only are they the lowest in conflict zones, but global military spending is 170 times greater than what we spend on basic education.
  
  
• With regard to the environment, some of our worst disasters are the result of violent conflict:
  
  
  
  • 17 million gallons of Agent Orange was used in Vietnam
    
    
  • 40 tons of depleted uranium were left behind in Kuwait and Iraq after the Gulf War
    
    
  • 90 countries are still heavily affected by landmines that endanger human lives and render large areas of land unusable
    
    

In our increasingly high-tech, globalized world the nature of violent conflict has changed drastically. In today's armed conflicts, less than 10% of the casualties are soldiers - more than 90% are civilians and half of those are children. This ratio is virtually the opposite of 100 years ago. In absolute terms, the 20th century was the most violent century in history, with more casualties than all the preceding centuries combined.

When you look out at the current strife-ridden state of the world, an understandable response is to feel frustrated, if not hopeless. Although violent behaviour much too prevalent, our fundamental view is that the world is evolving in positive directions. One hopeful sign is that the whole field of conflict resolution has grown rapidly over the past 20 to 30 years. We've made tremendous progress in our understanding of how to deal with conflict constructively, and that momentum is growing.

• There are over 100 degree programs in conflict resolution at universities and colleges across the U.S.
  
  
• It is increasingly common for peer mediation courses to be taught in elementary and high schools in America.
  
  
• Mediation is becoming more and more an accepted option to litigation.
  
  
• There is a greater awareness of the cost of conflict in the workplace, and many trainings and programs are now being offered to businesses that weren't available very long ago.
  
  
• Awareness of domestic violence has increased, as well as the creation of programs to support those at risk.
  
  

More and more people are becoming determined to be part of the solution. Just as it seems that our world is becoming increasingly polarized, there is a groundswell of enthusiasm and commitment for working toward peace around the world. Many signs are pointing to a major shift in consciousness with regard to dealing with conflict more constructively and learning to live with one another more harmoniously.

Sources of Statistics

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