Race ToTthe Bottom
|
From Colin Rule's blog.
|
Kristof in today's Times: '“We see war coming,” Mr. Nkunda said, and he pulled out his laptop to show a map indicating that various government-backed forces are being dispatched to attack him. He added: “The only reply to war and ammunition is war and ammunition.”
I told him — a bit nervously — that such tribalism and fighting has torn apart a country that should be one of Africa’s richest. But Mr. Nkunda, who quotes Gandhi, emphasized that what counts here is simply force. “You go by strength,” he said.'
Whatever aspirations one has for peace, the truism that Mr. Nkunda speaks above cannot be denied. If someone responds to your negotiation offer with a fist, it is almost impossible to resist responding in kind. Likewise if they respond with a knife, or a gun, or a bomb. It is truly a race to the bottom, where a single player who defects (resorts to violence) can compel all the other players to do the same.
Only Ghandi proposed a solution -- non-violence. I remain awed by the power of his faith and commitment, but I can't get mind to follow him to that place. I think Kristof's description of the Congo is a good example of the very clear limits of non-violence. Sad, but true.
Biography
Colin Rule is currently director of dispute resolution for ebay.com.
Previously, Colin co-founded Online Resolution, an online dispute resolution (ODR) provider, in 1999 and served as its CEO (2000) and President (2001). Before this, Colin was General Manager of Mediate.com, the largest online resource for the dispute resolution field. Colin also worked for several years with the National Institute for Dispute Resolution in Washington, D.C. and the Consensus Building Institute in Cambridge, MA.
Colin has presented and trained throughout Europe and North America for organizations including the Federal Mediation and Conciliation Service, the Department of State, the International Chamber of Commerce, and the Center for Public Resources. He has also lectured and taught at UMass-Amherst, Bentley College, MIT, Southern Methodist University, the University of Ottawa, Lasell College, and Brandeis University.
Colin is the author of Online Dispute Resolution for Business, due for publication by Jossey-Bass in the second half of 2002. He has contributed more than 30 articles to prestigious ADR publications such as Consensus, The Fourth R, ACR News, and Peace Review. He authors the online conflict resolution column in ACResolution Magazine and serves as editor of ODRNews.com, a daily news resource chronicling developments in the ODR field. He holds a Master's degree from Harvard University's Kennedy School of Government in conflict resolution and technology, a B.A. in Peace Studies from Haverford College, and has completed advanced coursework in dispute resolution at the University of Massachusetts- Boston.
The views expressed by authors are their own and do not necessarily reflect the views of Resourceful Internet Solutions, Inc., Mediate.com or of reviewing editors.
