Director's Column

Transitions
"Not here and not there but truly beyond. Beyond what? Beyond that question."
From Spells for Coming Out by Ian Wedde, New Zealand

This verse from Ian Wedde's "Old Man of the Mountain " reminds us that behind presenting problems lie underlying problems; that underneath deep-rooted conflicts lie unmet human needs; that not here, and not there, but truly beyond all these things, are unasked and unanswered questions that conflict resolutionaries must pose in order to understand the origins and dynamic of conflict.

The theme of this ICAR Newsletter is transitions. The Oxford English Dictionary cites the following definitions of transition: "passing or passage from one condition, action, or place to another; passage in thought, speech, and writing from one subject to another; passage from an earlier to a later stage of development or formation --change."

Transitions lie at the heart of conflict resolution. Those who wish to understand conflict and design creative responses to it need to understand its genealogy, contemporary significance, and probable outcomes. Doing this involves the delineation of some meaningful historical stages and the location of conflicting parties in time. Managing, resolving, or transforming conflicts requires a clear sense of transition from one state to another (e.g., from violence to nonviolence and from destructive to constructive conflict, or vice versa). Indeed, the question of timing and ripeness for useful intervention is one of the key problems confronting conflict revolvers.

Constructive transitions, however are not the sole preserve of the conflict resolution community. For individual self-actualization, one must have a strong sense of one's personal passages or the key transition points from childhood to adulthood. Similarly, political empowerment requires an understanding of what is possible in the context of particular kinds of political development. Political pundits, for example, explaining President Clinton's re-election to a second term in office, might frame their remarks in terms of his biography and the general socio-political and historical context in which his re-election occurred. Superficial commentators may concentrate on Clinton's electoral style with little attention to his past; the more sophisticated will dig deeper into his past (and that of his opponent), looking for those events and processes that help explain the outcome of their differing world views and behavior. Locating both candidates in history provides us with more than background contextualization of their behavior, it makes it meaningful. The concept of transition, therefore, has both analytic and evaluative significance. To make sense of it, we must decide whether or not to employ a linear or nonlinear concept of history and what values and world views we wish to apply to make ethical or normative sense of the changes taking place.

All this is a segue into some of the transitions that we are dealing with this year at the Institute. We have been going through some significant changes since the last newsletter was published Over the summer we moved from 4130 Chainbridge Road to 4260 Chainbridge Road. Like most people, we have discovered that moving from an old place to a new one involves preparatory removal time, psychic and material dislocation, and a lengthy resettlement process. We are now more or less settled into our new accommodations, which our old friends will recognize as the former site of the ICAR Conflict Clinic. It is important that we remind ourselves that this transition (and our discombobulation at moving a couple of miles up the road) is nothing compared to that experienced by those who lose their homes and livelihood through famine, war, or social disruption. In the process many of the world's 25 million refugees never recover either their homes or their sense of belonging, both of which are crucial components of individual and collective identity.

Along with ICAR's move, George Mason University is now experiencing a leadership and organizational transition with the arrival of Allen Merten who succeeds George Johnson as president. George Mason's transition is resulting in some consolidation and rationalization of university activities. Fortunately, the Institute for Conflict Analysis and Resolution is strong and well positioned to play an important role in the next phase of George Mason's development. I am now working to ensure that all of ICAR's constituents--students, faculty, alumni, affiliates, and Advisory Board--work closely together to ensure that the Institute fulfills its role in Northern Virginia, the nation, and the world. ICAR's Welcoming Dinner, held at Gunston Hall Plantation, former home of George Mason, author of Virginia's of Declaration of Human Rights, reminded us of the contradictions that we as conflict resolutionaries confront in our daily lives. It also reminded us all at ICAR of the need to work cooperatively, combining our individual strengths and talents, in order to successfully manage the transitions underway both within our university and the larger society.

ICAR's incoming students, as they adjust to a new learning enviwnnient, are in transition as well. At ICAR we are challenged by our students' concern that ICAR play a major role in promoting diversity, fostering civil discourse, and applying conflict resolution techniques within the Institute and the university as a whole. Over the past several months, ICAR has convened four working groups to prepare background briefings and recommendations on a wide range of topics essential to the good functioning of the Institute to:

• recruit and retain a top-notch faculty and student body,

• ensure that ICAR's curriculum remains at the cutting edge in the field of Conflict Studies,

• address diversity issues,

• streamline internal decision-making processes.

The recommendations of each of the working groups were discussed at an ICAR community meeting of all our constituents held an campus in October. They are now in the process of being implemented. In addition, ICAR's December faculty retreat will focus on the development of a five-year strategic plan to equip ICAR for its move into the 21st century.

Balancing our nation's quest for community and inclusiveness while encouraging and celebrating cultural diversity is of paramount importance these days as anxiety increases about the recent upsurge in hate crimes and the large number of arson attacks on Black churches. The growing importance of identity politics, both within the United States and abroad, offers us important theoretical and practical challenges in preparing for the next century and expanding ICAR's role as a major player in the field of Conflict Studies. I am confident that the Institute is well positioned to make a critical contribution to the understanding and transforming of negative conflict and dysfunctional relationships both internally and externally over the next five years. To do so effectively, however, requires a keen awareness of history and its habit of repeating itself. Furthermore, overcoming ethnic and cultural enmity requires clear goals and a willingness to break old patterns. It takes movement toward the development of a communicative politics, aimed at transcending sterile opposition and emphasizing the positive value of differences.

Kevin P. Clements, Ph.D.
Director