Journal 10 - Personal Conflict Style

One thing that I have learned about my personal conflict style is that it can change. I don't think I handle conflict the same way today that I did six months ago or six years ago. I think that it will continue to change as I get older and have more experiences with different types of conflict. Today I am more willing to confront people and stand up for myself. This sometimes means engaging in conflicts that I would have avoided before.

Journal 9 - International Conflict

There are many different factors that influence conflict dynamics amongst individuals, groups, and nations. For individuals, one of the main factors is how often and how they communicate with each other. For groups, the unknown plays a huge role. Even if each of the group members were identified as a role, there is still the unknown as to how they will react around the others in the group setting which makes group conflicts extremely complex. There are many many factors that play a role in international conflicts. These include: needs of the people, identity as a nation, and many more.

I think that there are many reasons that humans are so willing to commit horrible acts against another human. I think a huge part of it is dehumanization. For example, if I am a member of nation "Y" and I am very disconnected from the citizens of nation "Q", I can rationalize in my mind that "Q" citizens are not people, that they are an evil enemy. As a result, if I feel they threaten my way of life, I am more willing to commit heinous crimes against them.

In the international arena, I think crimes often take place because nations tend to look out only for themselves as a nation in terms of needs and demands. This leads to a lessened sense of community and a higher tolerance for crime and atrocity.