Giving Birth to the Unexpected

For 20 years I have worked as a mediator in violent situations – from Northern Ireland to Somalia, from Colombia to Nicaragua, from the Basque country and Tajikistan to the Philippines – where cycles of revenge seem hell-bent on perpetuating themselves and those involved find ways of justifying their part in the cycle. Some lessons emerge from these settings for the challenges of terror.

First, recognize that cycles of violent anger are built on perceived threat to survival and direct experiences of exclusion over time. Stopping the cycle requires one guidepost: Avoid doing what they expect. They expect us to lash out. They need disenfranchised people to perpetrate the myth that they are fighting a mad system. We need to destroy the myth, not their people…