Newsletter #220 — March 17, 2024
Reader Suggested Links
Highlighting links suggested by our readers. Please send us links to things that you find useful.
- Israel / Hamas War
Israelis must listen to the Palestinians! — The collection of video clips assembled by somebody who was honestly trying to understand what Palestinians think about the war. - Israel / Hamas War
The Ideology Of Hamas – In Its Own Words — With so many people around the world rising to defend Hamas, a disturbing summary of how the group describes its own beliefs. Is this something we really want to defend? - Israel / Hamas War
Hamas-linked website warns Palestinians not to work with Israel' — One reason why distributing aid to the citizens of Gaza so difficult. - Israel / Hamas War
The Road to Ceasefire Leads Through the Rafah Offensive — An explanation of why Israel believes that its campaign in Rafah is critical to ending the war and alleviating the suffering of the Palestinian people. - Israel / Hamas War
Israel Needs a New Strategy -- Total Victory Is Not Possible — but Demilitarizing Hamas and Stabilizing Gaza Still Are — From Foreign Affairs, thoughts about how the war in Gaza might be more effectively pursued.
Colleague Activities
Highlighting things that our conflict and peacebuilding colleagues are doing that contribute to efforts to address the hyper-polarization problem.
- Theories of Change
3 Ways to Make Conflict Less Destructive — From Bill Ury, one of the biggest names in the conflict resolution field, his thoughts on things we can do to escape spirals of destructive conflict. - Peacebuilding
Toda Peace Institute's Global Outlook: March 2024 — This issue has articles on the Korean Peninsula, New Zealand's landmark decision on climate, COP 28, and the most worrying international conflicts. - Saving Democracy
Federation for Innovation in Democracy: Europe — FIDE teaches people how to design and run citizen assemblies on various topics at the local level. While starting in Europe, there is now a FIDE in North America as well (fide.eu/north-america). - Civil Society
Citizen Assemblies: An Interview with Marjan Ehsassi — Civic Genius interviewed Marjan Ehsassi, the founder of FIDE North America about what citizen assemblies are and how they work, and how FIDE hopes to develop them in North America. - US Election
Essential Resources to Combat 2024 Election Polarization — Essential Partners' free election resources are designed to interrupt partisan polarization where people live, work, worship and learn, with lessons, tools, and conversation guides. - Psychological Complexity
- Changing Mindsets — From Lamar Roth and Tom Klaus, an essay on how one changes what they call "mindsets" and what we'd call "frames" — beliefs that filter how we make sense of the world and ourselves.
Beyond Intractability in Context
From around the web, more insight into the nature of our conflict problems, limits of business-as-usual thinking, and things people are doing to try to make things better.
- Saving Democracy
Will you join the supermajority for constitutional democracy? — A thoughtful essay exploring threats to democracy and steps that might be taken to address those threats. - Social Complexity
Optimism in a Time of Doomsaying — A small dose of optimism amid today's ever present worries about the future. - Psychological Complexity
End the Phone-based Childhood Now — From Jonathan Haidt, his recommendations for protecting children from the insidious effects of the "smart" phone culture. - Social Complexity
Think capitalism is terrible? This economist says it’s already dead. — The summary of an important new book outlining ways in which our capitalistic economic system is undergoing dramatic change. - The Hyper-Polarization Threat
You're Thinking About Polarization All Wrong — Another look at the problem of hyper-polarization — one that argues that partisan blocs are less rigid than it might appear. - Freedom of Speech
New Hate Speech Laws Threaten Freedom Across the West — An update on how efforts to control hate speech may be undermining the most foundational of all our freedoms -- the freedom to think and speak one's mind. - US Election
Trump’s freewheeling speeches offer a dark vision of a second term — For those who have not had the opportunity to attend one of President Trump's rallies, a detailed look and what takes place (plus an accompanying left-leaning analysis). - Israel / Hamas War
Port Of Hope In Gaza: The Beginning Of The End Of The War — From MEMRI, an organization focused on helping the West understand the Middle East, a hopeful essay about recent developments in Gaza. - Disinformation
The West Is Still Oblivious to Russia’s Information War — An important reminder that we are engaged in an increasingly intense information war with Russia -- a war that we need to take much more seriously. - US Election
The Biden-Trump Rerun: A Nation Craving Change Gets More of the Same — An essay exploring what happens when a nation that longs for hopeful change has to choose between candidates that offer only known quantities from the past. - Family / Gender / LBGTQ+
LGBTQ+ Identification in U.S. Now at 7.6% — Statistics about the rapidly changing nature of gender identity in the United States. - Race / Anti-Racism
The Democrats and the Rise of Racial Radicalism — A retrospective look at the evolution of the Democratic Party's views on race and reflections on the political implications of those changing views. - Climate Change
‘Follow the Science’ Leads to Ruin — Thoughts on how climate orthodoxies could be making things worse, rather than better -- comments that those concerned about climate ought to carefully consider. - Superpower Conflict
Drone Swarms Are About to Change the Balance of Military Power — One of the many new technologies that are rapidly changing the nature of war and, with it, the balance of power and effectiveness of deterrence. - Superpower Conflict
Biden’s Budget Neglects the Military — News that the United States has decided to cut real defense spending despite the fact that the US is involved in two major wars and much of its military equipment is rapidly becoming obsolete. - Superpower Conflict
Dilemmas of Deterrence: The United States’ Smart New Strategy Has Six Daunting Trade-Offs — Like it or not, our future may well be determined by the complex geopolitical maneuverings described in this article. - Rule of Law
The High Price of Democrats’ Anti-Trump Lawfare — Concern that the Democrat's complex array of not-yet successful efforts to hold President Trump legally responsible for his actions, may, over the longer-term, undermine support for the rule of law. - Authoritarianism
Seeking Authority Rather Than Authoritarians — From Francis Fukuyama, an exploration of the complex relationship between the ability to act decisively and with authority and the struggle against authoritarianism. - Saving Democracy
What Can Improve Democracy? — A report from Pew Research outlining what citizens in 24 countries told them about how democracy could be improved. - Psychological Complexity
The Language of Politics: Arise, Ye Prisoners of Jargon! — A classic article exploring the complex relationship between language, politics, and the way we think. In a great many respects, the problems we face are not new and we can benefit from past insights. - Large-Scale Violence
Will Political Hatred Spill Into the Streets? — Reflections on past instances in which political divisions boiled over into large-scale violence and the possibility that this could happen again as this year's political campaigns heat up.
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