Conflict and Resolution Class - Essay Example

After taking the introduction to conflict and resolution class, I learned that there are many theories that one can use to understand the reason for conflict such as the nested theory, which reasonably analyses the reason for conflict. Indeed, I learned the importance of culture and religion in the field of conflict and resolution as well as how they relate with the idea of peacebuilding. This paper will be about the ideas, theories, and readings that I believe are important to conflict and resolution.

Indeed, one can notice that the field of conflict and resolution contains various theories and ideas that are sometimes different yet they all try to answer the same questions such as why countries conflict. They also seek to explain human behavior.

Furthermore, to me, culture is very important in conflict and resolution. This is because culture is deeply rooted in one’s past experiences, and as such, we can view it as a derivative of one’s own experiences (Avruch 20). Indeed, any person's worldview is determined to a big extent by his/her culture, and therefore, culture is quite important in conflict resolution. In fact, from personal experiences, a person can build his/her new opinions and believes or become more attached to his/her previous opinion. As a result, when two people have different opinions over an idea and none of them has enough information about the other side's background, this will lead to conflict. Ideally, the two will conflict because each will try to convince the other side with his/her opinion and not be aware of the reasons that made the other side reject his/her opinion.

One of the theories I learned this semester in the conflict resolution class is the Nested theory that I believe helps to explain the reason why conflict exists. The Nested model of conflict is based on the structural nature of the conflicts. In the nested model, Dugan identified three levels of conflict. These levels include the issue-specific level, relational level, structural subsystem level, and structural system level. The levels are interrelated and adopt a pattern where the narrow types or levels of conflict nest within the broader level (Dugan 14). We can view these levels as the spider web where it starts with small circles surrounded by larger circles (Kotev paragraph 1).

In the middle of the web, we have the individual surrounded by the community and then the larger circles represent the society (Kotev paragraph 1). In order to understand the reason for conflict, one should first look at the individual and what is around him/her to determine what kind of intuitions and community can affect his/her way of thinking. In addition, one can use the larger circle to see how society affects the communities and the individuals. According to this theory, in resolving conflicts, we should first critically analyze the conflict and locate it within the category of conflicts where it fits. Having done that, we should then proceed to find the best way to resolve the root causes of the conflict.

The reason why I mainly focused on culture, religion, and the nested theory is that I come from a religious country to a western country, which is the United States. I noticed that many American students and citizens do not know a lot about the Arab country's culture and religion. In fact, many think that Qatar, UAE and KSA are one country. For example, many westerns view Arab women as oppressed women and that they are forced by men and their culture to cover their hair. However, this is not true because a lot of Arab women cover their hair and their body because of their religion and most of them do it without being forced. In fact, Arab women's position has changed a lot and women's role in the UAE is different from in Qatar and KSA. Thus, when someone does not have enough information and knowledge about others' backgrounds and especially their culture and religion, conflict can exist.

In addition, being an Arab Muslim girl it is usually hard for me to open a conversation with other Arab conservative Muslim women. They will always reject my opinion even though we are both Arabs and Muslims. The difference between us is in the way of growing up and the way our parents taught us about our culture and religion. Thus, we can be from the same society and have the same religion and culture but differ in the way we understand our religion and culture. Sometimes this difference can lead to conflict. Hence, I believe that religion and culture are important in conflict and resolution. Therefore, the nested theory shows the different levels that can affect individuals.