Conflict in Iraq: Confronting Policy Alternatives

Choices Program at Brown University?’s Watson Institute for International Studies.

The continuing debate about U.S. policy in Iraq is currently focused on the question of the U.S. presence in Iraq. What is our purpose? Who should be involved in solutions? Are U.S. troop levels right? How long should U.S. troops stay? What does this mean for the larger question of America's role in the world today? This resource presents three policy alternatives for U.S. policy in Iraq today. Resources to facilitate deliberation on this issue are included. Links to additional materials are also available. The materials are produced for use in high school classrooms, and are easily adapted to public discussion.

Resource Link: http://www.choices.edu/resources/twtn_iraq.php

Constructive Conversations for Challenging Times: A Guide for Home and Community Dialogue

Watertown, MA: Public Conversations Project, 2001.

A 38-page guide to convening and facilitating constructive conversations about the events of September 11 and all that has happened since. The guide draws on over a decade of experience conducting dialogues about divisive public issues such as abortion, homosexuality, and how to use natural resources. It contains instructions for a two-hour structured dialogue and suggestions for briefer or less formal conversations that have the spirit of dialogue. For step-by-step support in hosting your own dialogue in person or online, download a free copy of PCP's Guide for Home and Community Dialogue.

Resource Link: http://www.publicconversations.org

Dialogue, Conflict Resolution, and Change: Arab-Jewish Encounters in Israel

Mohammed Abu-Nimer. Albany, NY: SUNY Press, 1999.

Through a critical examination of Arab and Jewish encounter programs in Israel, the book reviews conflict resolution and intergroup theories and processes which are utilized in dealing with ethnic conflicts and offers a detailed presentation of intervention models applied by various encounter programs to promote dialogue, education for peace, and democracy between Arabs and Jews in Israel.

Imagine Coexistence: Restoring Humanity After Violent Ethnic Conflict

Antonia Chayes and Martha L. Minow, Editors. Jossey-Bass, 2003.

In the last decade, the world has witnessed a dramatic increase in the number of ethnic conflicts worldwide. But what do nations that have been in bloody conflicts do when the shooting stops? How can people who have been engaged in terrorist genocidal wars ever return to a situation of peaceful coexistence? Imagine Coexistence is a groundbreaking program that grew from the joint initiative and conference sponsored by the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees, Harvard University, and the Fletcher School of Law and Diplomacy at Tufts University. Imagine Coexistence seeks to enhance prospects for coexistence and break the destructive cycles of intergroup violence.

Resource Link: http://www.josseybass.com/WileyCDA/WileyTitle/productCd-0787965774.html

International Institute for Sustained Dialogue

Directed by Harold Saunders and formed in collaboration with the Kettering Foundation, IISD promotes the process of sustained dialogue for transforming racial and ethnic conflicts around the world. Sustained dialogue (SD) is a systematic, interactive, open-ended political process to transform conflictual relationships over time. SD focuses on the dynamics of the relationships that underlie conflict and block its resolution.

Resource Link: http://www.sustaineddialogue.org

Jewish-Palestinian Living Room Dialogue Group of San Mateo, CA

Len and Libby Traubman have been organizing Jewish-Palestinian dialogue in the San Francisco Bay area for over a decade. Their website features a 'how to' page on initiating Jewish-Palestinian dialogue groups, as well as many great articles and links. The Traubmans have spawned many similar, yet diverse groups in the Bay area, and their ideas have spread into new cities and campuses.

Resource Link: http://traubman.igc.org/dg-prog.htm

Potlucks for Peace

Potlucks for Peace is a new way to build support for peaceful conflict resolution at all levels. PFP began as a grassroots movement in Seattle during the run-up to the US-led war in Iraq in 2003. Thousands of people opposed to the war - and many who supported it - gathered in homes, churches and other venues to discuss the war and its implications for the US and the world.

Resource Link: http://www.potlucksforpeace.org

Reconciliation, Justice, and Coexistence: Theory and Practice

Mohammed Abu-Nimer. Lexington Books, 2001.

Abu-Nimer provides lessons and insights for post-settlement peacebuilders. Essays focus on the conflict dynamics in regions such as Northern Ireland, Israel-Palestine, South Africa and Rwanda.

Soliya's Connect Program

Utilizing new web-based videoconferencing technology, small groups of university students from the US and predominantly Muslim Countries in the Middle East meet weekly on-line with the help of skilled facilitators. Together they engage in intensive dialogue about the relationship between the U.S. and the Arab and Muslim World, with a particular emphasis on the role of the media in shaping perceptions of the "other."

Resource Link: http://www.soliya.net

VOICES OF DISSENT: Activism & American Democracy

Karil Daniels, Point of View Productions, 2004.

An award-winning documentary that focuses on some of the brave citizens who are defending our American heritage of First Amendment rights and civil liberties against government attempts to repress democracy and our freedom to dissent. It includes many of the surprising and creative ways Americans have found to express their views in dissent against the Bush administration's policy of war in Iraq. Features Martin Sheen, Woody Harrelson, Al Franken, Medea Benjamin, Arianna Huffington, Jim Hightower, Daniel Ellsberg, Michael Franti, Will Durst, Joan Blades, Paul Krugman and many more. This documentary has received nine film festival awards.

Resource Link: http://www.voicesofdissent.us