This is an interdisciplinary project on modeling the fundamental dynamics of intractable conflict. For the past 3 years, Dr. Peter T. Coleman has been leading an international team of scholar-practitioners, with funding from the James S. McDonnell Foundation, to develop a theory of enduring conflicts from the perspective of complex systems. The project applies the principles and methods of dynamical systems theory to what is arguably the most complex and dynamic of all social phenomena: intractable social conflict. Such conflicts are rare, but when they do occur they undermine the security and well being of societies worldwide. The project is currently being conducted by an interdisciplinary research team consisting of
- a specialist in the study of intractable conflict (Peter T. Coleman)
- two social psychologists with expertise in the application of dynamical systems to cognitive, interpersonal, group, and societal phenomena (Dr. Andrzej Nowak and Dr. Robin Vallacher)
- a physicist with expertise in formal descriptions and the modeling of system dynamics (Dr. Larry Liebovitch)
- a social anthropologist (and practitioner) who specializes in international conflict and genocide prevention (Dr. Andrea Bartoli)
