U. of M. Expert Studies Conflict Resolution

reprinted from Baltimore Jewish Times, January 30, 1987

Doctoral candidate Jay Rothman is researching ways in which the non-violent problem solving process can be applied to the Mideast.
As part of his ongoing interest in the study of non-violent resolution of conflicts, Jay Rothman, a doctoral candidate in international relations at the University of Maryland, is undertaking research this academic year at the Harry S. Truman Research Institute for the Advancement of Peace at the Hebrew University of Jerusalem.
He is also a research fellow at the Leonard Davis Institute for International Relations at the University.
Rothman's project is designed to examine how such a long-standing and difficult conflict as the one between the Arab and Jewish citizens of Israel might be managed more creatively, using a non-violent process of interactional problem solving.
The Harry S. Truman Research Institute for the Advancement of Peace, founded in 1966, conducts and sponsors social science and historical research by Israeli and visiting scholars on Third World and non-Western countries, with special emphasis on the Middle East.
"Peacemaking is not only a vision in our past but it is something we are doing now," said Rothman in reference to the Jewish tradition in which he places himself.
During lectures that he has given periodically about Jewish peacemaking and peacemaking in Israel, Rothman noticed that one point always came out. People in the audience would tell him it was well and good for him to be in the U.S. talking bout non-violent conflict resolution in Israel, but the Israelis had to live there.
This criticism convinced Rothman of the need to allow the "Israeli voices of peace and sparks of hope" to speak for themselves. So, in 1983, he undertook a research project, resulting in a publication co-authored with Sharon Bray, describing 35 organizations in Israel devoted to improving Arab-Jewish relations in Israel. The publication is called "A Guide to Arab-Jewish Peacemaking in Israel," and was published by the New Israel Fund. The third edition of the book will be coming out in March.
As he was doing his various studies, Rothman became somewhat disillusioned with the ability of "grassroots" movements to bring about constructive social change and promote peace. He still believes that grassroots movements are important for these ends, but he also has come to realize that unless "establishment" organizations and institutions are also involved, grassroots movements alone cannot be effective.
This approach consists of bringing together what are called "second-track decision makers"-people who are not in the eye of the public but who have access to key decision makers-to engage in analytical discussions of the conflict, its causes, and possible new ways of handling it.
The Problem Solving Workshop approach has been used in a number of inter-national conflicts, such as those involving the Falkland Islands, Northern Ireland and Sri Lanka. Regular workshops have also been held with Israelis and Palestinians.
"The idea is to bring the two sides together for an extensive and deep analysis of the conflict. The fact that it is off the record, participants are promised absolute confidentiality, and there is no publicity gives participants new freedom to explore the situation. They can see common needs and goals, where before everything seemed completely incompatible," Rothman explained.
"These 'second-track' participants learn a new way of analyzing and of handling their problems. They bring these new insights in turn to the leaders they have contact with, which may help to inject into the policy discussion process some new and creative ideas," said Rothman, "although a lot of this is hit and miss, trial and error."
Rothman believes that his previous work has provided good preparatory background for the complex and demanding research he has set out to do during his stay at the Hebrew University's Truman Institute. He is currently planning a series of conflict management leadership training workshops between Israeli Jews and Arabs.
"The object of these workshops is to create a learning environment in which parti-cipants break out of normal conflict modes of acrimonious debate, point-scoring and blaming. Participants instead are encouraged to explore each other's perspectives, concerns and constraints. They learn new skills for defining and analyzing their problems in a cooperative way with a goal of generating creative solutions that will meet both side's basic and non-negotiable needs. Such needs, which are not necessarily in limited supply, involve needs for security, participation and identity." said Rothman.
"Moreover, and this is central to conflict management theory, we find that in our shrinking and increasingly interdependent globe, the only way to fulfill such needs is through cooperation with that side in conflict before blamed for threatening or frustrating those very needs."
His research team includes an Arab student co-facilitator, and a communication specialist from the U.S. who help carry out a record of the process of the workshop as it proceeds.
Rothman's first experience with non-violent conflict resolution came when, as an undergraduate at Antioch College in Ohio, he did an internship at the Martin Luther King, Jr., Center for Non-Violent Social Change in Georgia. Rothman was impressed with how grounded King's work was in his religion and community, and wondered whether such a group existed in the Jewish community.
He discovered such an organization in the Jewish Peach Fellowship, based in New York, where the ideas of peaceful change were based on Jewish history, culture and tradition. He later worked as program director of the group for a year, during which time he also lectured on non-violent conflict resolution and edited an anthology of Jewish peacemaking. He was also the founding coordinator of the New Jewish Agenda, which was his first professional job.