April 2018
Intermediate to advanced
188 pages
4h 16m
English
Content preview from Conflict and Leadership
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The Nature of Conflict: What it Means, Where it Originates, Why it Gets So Weird
My Messy Story
In 2003, I was hired to advise on peace building in Southern1 Sudan. At that time, Southern Sudan was at the tail end of decades of civil war, drought, and famine. Secretary of State Colin Powell was driving peace talks forward. However, as anyone who’s spent time in conflict zones knows, building peace isn’t peaceful. It’s unstable territory. It shifts balances of power. It changes the economy. It creates unknown, unfamiliar dynamics that are difficult and sometimes dangerous to navigate.
I was hired by the disaster relief agency, Medair—the primary medical provider in the eastern half of Southern Sudan. Their questions were: How will our ...