Essay on "Psychological Aspects of Conflict and Resolutions"

Quoted Instructions for "Psychological Aspects of Conflict and Resolutions" Assignment:

This is a take home exam - please note that refernces should all come from the powerpoint slides provided and when content is taken from there , this must be referenced as a footnote and in the bibliography

General: the main goal of the current take-home exam is to evaluate the level of understanding of the course's materials, as well as to test the students' capabilities of integration and application of the materials to real life situations.

Length of the Test: The overall length of your test should not exceed the limit of 4 pages (according to the accurate apportionment of questions *****“ no "flow" between questions), double spacing, and font 12. In addition, it is recommended to add a cover page and a list of references. Any deviation from this format will lead to disqualification of the test.

Format of Writing:

o The writing will follow the acceptable academic format *****“ i.e., definitions of concepts, references to general theories and references to previous empirical findings. You are not required to refer to bibliographical items that are not included in the original reading list of the course. You are required to provide a detailed theoretical and conceptual discussion only within the big question and not in the other two.

o The focus of this test is on the implementation of the general theories and not on the theoretical material itself. Hence, it is recommended not to use too many direct or indirect quotes from course materials.

o In each answer you are expected to provide a summary that ties the important ideas, and should also include some personal opinion or reaction to the relevant issues.

1. Small Question *****“ 25% - maximum 1 page

In each of the four parts of the course we discussed the essence and the implications of one group of psychological barriers to conflict resolution. Yet, it is crystal clear that in most cases all types of barriers work together in order to affect processes of decision making about potential resolution for the conflict. The goal of the current question is to describe an interactive action of two groups of barriers in the face of a new opportunity to resolve the conflict. Please select two groups of psychological barriers and describe their interactive contribution to the formation of your own positions about an event or a proposal that was brought up to the public discourse in the Middle-East in recent years. There is no need to present your own political views, only the process that led you to adopt a certain position in a certain point in time.

2. Small Question *****“ 25%- maximum 1 page

Intractable conflicts are protracted, violent, total, and central conflicts for the involved societies, with much investment into their continuation and perceived as irreconcilable and zero sum (Bar-Tal, 2007). As such, intractable conflicts tend to perpetuate themselves. It can be assumed that there are many similarities between the processes that prevent or delay the resolution of intractable and tractable conflicts. Having said that, we learned during the course that there are some unique mechanisms that are more common in intractable conflicts than in other kinds of conflicts. Try to shortly describe two conflicts with different intensity (i.e., tractable versus intractable) and describe two examples for processes that are common in both conflicts and two examples for processes that are unique (or more common) in intractable conflict.

3. Big Question *****“ 50%- 2 pages

Two important speeches were delivered recently within the context of the Israeli-Palestinian conflict. First, the president of the United States, Barack Obama, gave his speech in Cairo and then Israeli Prime Minister, Benjamin Netanyahu, introduced his world views at Bar-Ilan University. Unrelated to their specific political views, it can be assumed that in their speeches, both leaders meant to promote peace in the Middle-East. Therefore, a close look into both speeches will enable us to identify various attempts to overcome some of the psychological barriers that delay progress towards peace in the Middle-East. At the very same time, it can also be assumed that some of the positive messages that appeared in each of the speeches were not absorbed by all parties to the conflict due to the same psychological barriers. For the purposes of that question only, try to take the perspective of a Palestinian citizen in the West Bank, who carefully listened to both speeches. First, try to explain how each of the speeches tries to overcome the unique barriers to the resolution of the conflict, experienced by the Palestinian citizen. Second, try to explain what was the real message absorbed by the Palestinians and what processes led to the internalization of such a message.

In the first two questions (small questions) you are not required to add definitions or conceptions nor mention them. However in the 3rd question these need to be applied. Every concept will have to be talked about *****“ there is no reason to use too many direct or indirect quotes. In every question you should have a short summary of the basic ideas.

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