In Praise of Conflict and Its Resolution

The extent to which opposing actors think of themselves as being dependent on and/or collaborative with one another is a crucial concern for the study of conflict and its resolution. Analysis of systemic linkages among collaborating and non-collaborating actors in conflict, and the relation of these to group boundaries in a given situation, furnish a means of relating conflict to change. Variables such as behavioral linkage, or interaction, and desired linkage, or liking of the citizens of Mexico and the United States for one another, across a mutual boundary are studied in this context with an effort to find out how to increase liking and decrease hostility. Also, the linkages of villagers, along with other factors including boundary maintenance, in rural India are examined to find out how to speed up change and modernization. A model or strategy for rapid modernization is presented, relating the results of the use of force to the halo effect, or fund of good will, common among victims of disaster after rescue and salvage work is carried out in communities.