The study of conflict is as old as antiquity; and, with the exception of love and God, arguably more has been written on conflict than on any other subject. Yet systematic inquiry into conflict is more recent, and is usually traced to the works of Karl Marx and Max Weber. Intervening in conflicts to try to resolve them is an even more recent development, emerging only over the last quarter century. The systematic study of conflict and the practice of conflict intervention have occurred on several levels, including (1) the/amity level, (2) the community level, (3) the labor‐management level, (4) the environmental level, and (5) the international level.
This work has led its theorists and practitioners to argue that they have created a new field: conflict intervention. But as is so often the case with emerging disciplines, confusion reigns. Little distinction is made between the techniques and processes of conflict intervention being used, and very different social movements appear together under the generic term “conflict resolution.”