New conflict management techniques have been developed over the past 40+ years. They have great potential to reduce the costs of conflict. But making daily practice live up to that potential is not easy. In particular, underlying systems and structures of conflict regularly defeat well-meaning efforts. 

We often find that the underlying structures have not been examined closely, let alone addressed in a sophisticated way. That’s partly because such system-level work often demands skills and knowledge that no one individual has. It takes a team. And such a team may need very different kinds of people. Not many professionals in this sprawling field have ever put together more than a few of the kinds of experience and talent available.

We have a track record of dealing with these conditions in a very practical way. Our “R&D” work has focused on ten major areas. The most recent four are:

• Examining how “hybrid” warfare affects conflict management, and developing at least some elements of solutions
• Developing a truly comprehensive conception of negotiation (Canon initiative)
• Helping organizations to think about conflict before it happens
• Redesigning how negotiation is taught (RNT project)

However, previous areas of intensive work share a pattern of never being quite “over.” Every so often there has been a need for a new foray into a fresh issue raised by:

• Building a true field of conflict management (Broad Field project)
• Creating a closer relationship between ideas and practice (Theory to Practice project)
• Developing better qualifications and quality control for mediation
• Developing better definitions and structures of ethics in mediation
• Developing a more sophisticated approach to infrastructure needs
• Examining how the law interrelates with ADR

Publications resulting from these projects are numerous. Many are available in PDF at the sub-pages linked above. For a comprehensive list please see the Publications page.