Director’s Column

Dear ICAR Community:

2003 has been a year of change and upheaval, at ICAR, and in the world. The geopolitical map has been redrawn with the invasion and occupation of Iraq. With the shadow of September 11 hanging over US foreign and domestic policies, fear, rather than relational connection and community provides the platform for politics. And, in my view, it is hard to imagine a world where peace and cooperation could flourish, in a context where the seeds of vengeance and hatred, distrust and discontent are unintentionally nourished.

We know from lived experience, and from research, that unintended consequences are inevitable, for who could predict the course of events that are, by nature, non-linear and multi-dimensional. Complexity, in terms of multiple and overlapping variables, and complexity in terms of non-linear and chaotic dynamics are the conditions for conflict analysis and resolution, and the necessary correspondence we might hope would connect actions to outcomes, so we could better divine next steps with care and collective consideration, are difficult to trace. In fact, perhaps the present complexity which, dooms at some level, our ability to predict outcomes, only highlights and accents the necessity for collective consideration. “Being right” used to be possible, but in a post-enlightment, multi-cultural world, we instead need to wrap ourselves in the cloak of participatory processes to protect ourselves from making bad decisions.

Even though process does not preclude bad decisions, for certainly groups can be as crazy or crazier than individuals, it does help inoculate groups against the “blame/counter blame” cycle by fostering collective responsibility. And in fact, the interruption of the cycles of blame/violence could well be the benchmark (as opposed to negotiated settlements) for an ethical conflict resolution process.

This attention to the quality of process, to ethics, to the meanings that people make from within conflict processes, and to their sense of self /other, is central to the research and practice at ICAR. Ever attentive to culture, history and meaning, ICAR faculty and students are working on multiple projects, as reflected in the pages to come, that illuminate questions at the heart of our research agenda: the role of religion in conflict and conflict resolution, the relationship between globalization and conflict, the dynamics of change processes, and the development of reflective practice. ICAR’s Research and Scholarship Committee is planning a conference on these themes for the spring, working to delineate the edges of knowledge and the boundaries of our collective ignorance. We have postdocs and research assistants working on these topics, so underneath the diversity of faculty interests, there is a heartbeat of shared work and collaborative projects as these projects described on these pages reveal.

In keeping with ICAR’s focus on religion and conflict, we are proud to announce the creation of the James H. Laue Chair in World Religions, Diplomacy and Conflict Resolution. Professor Marc Gopin is the first person to hold that Chair; he comes to us from the Fletcher School of Law and Diplomacy and we are delighted to have him join the ICAR faculty. We have also created the Center for World Religions, Diplomacy and Conflict Resolution within ICAR. This Center, as well as the Laue Chair, will focus on developing research, theory, and practice that enhances our understanding of the role of religion in conflict, with specific attention to the positive role religious traditions can play in peacebuilding. Research projects, as well as a mini-conference, are under development. We expect that the Center, under the direction of Professor Gopin, will bring attention to the important symbolic dimensions of conflict, and enable policy makers to design interventions that harness those dimensions for conflict resolution.

Programmatically, ICAR has grown. We are poised Fall ’04, to launch an undergraduate program, a BS/BA in Conflict Analysis and Resolution, in collaboration with the College of Arts and Sciences at George Mason University. As this program, it will enhance the focus on conflict analysis and resolution at George Mason; the added depth to ICAR will provide teaching opportunities for graduate students, as well as a “feeder” for ICAR’s graduate program. Graduates from the undergraduate program will be able to apply their skills and knowledge in the federal and international agencies that abound in the metropolitan DC area. And the influence of ICAR, in the policy community will grow.

Facilitating our engagement with policymakers, ICAR is moving toward the development of Point of View (POV); POV is the name for the estate, donated by the Lynch family to ICAR that includes 120 acres on the Potomac. It was the dream of the donors, as well as the ICAR community, to develop this site as a research and retreat conference center where parties in conflict can work through their differences, as well as restore themselves and their relationships. ICAR has a blend of state and local funds available for the development of this property; there is a marketing study underway that will provide the foundation for the business plan, as well as the fundraising efforts to come.

To support the development of Point of View, the Rice family endowed the Henry Hart Rice Chair to anchor the research and practice agenda at Point of View. This year, ICAR is pleased to announce that Professor Nadim Rouhana has been named to that Chair; he will join the faculty in Fall ‘04, and we, here at ICAR, are delighted that he will be part of our community. With his expertise in problem-solving workshops, coupled with his critique of asymmetric negotiations, he will bring important perspectives and skills to our faculty.

We have two other faculty that have joined ICAR this fall (’03); Assistant Professor Mark Goodale joined ICAR this fall; with both a J.D. and a Ph.D. in Anthropology. Professor Goodale brings a focus on the adoption of transnational/global discourses within local cultural communities. Using “human rights” as an exemplar, he studies the way these discourses are harnessed for local action. Dr. Goodale has a Fulbright to Romania this spring (’04); ICAR faculty and students are delighted with his presence and look forward to his contributions. Additionally, Professor Linda Johnston continued her appointment as a “Visiting Assistant Professor” this fall; Dr. Johnston, herself a graduate of ICAR, teaches the applied courses and students flock to her classes, not only because of the importance of these course, but because of her excellence in teaching.

And ICAR continues to grow; we are opening a search for an Assistant/Associate Professor in Conflict Analysis and Resolution within the next two weeks. The person hired for this position will support both the undergraduate program, as well as the graduate program, teaching courses, supervising research and mentoring students. We encourage women and minority candidates to apply. (See ICAR website by approximately mid November).

Programmatically, ICAR is on the move. Two new endowed professors have been appointed, two new junior faculty, and we are opening yet another search. We have a new Center to help us understand the connection between religion, conflict and diplomacy and we have a new undergraduate program, created in collaboration with other departments at George Mason. We have 25% more students than we did two years ago, and three times the external funding. This growth reflects the productivity of ICAR faculty and students, and it poses challenges for ICAR---how to maintain coherence, how to maintain traditions, how to grow strategically in ways that honors ICAR’s past, as it builds its future. As we work to anchor ICAR in the policy community and in applied realms, we do not forget that we work to position conflict analysis and resolution itself, and in this way, we seek to add to the integrity of our collective field, as ICAR grows.

Sara Cobb
Director of ICAR