ABSTRACT
This chapter explores how peace and conflict researchers have identified the different stages of the ‘conflict cycle’ and the strategies effective at each of these stages, with a particular focus on the role of higher education. Proposing that the main stages of the conflict cycle are: pre-violence; conflict escalation and persistence; the de-escalation phase; and the post-agreement stage, it examines how the academy’s ability to respond creatively is shaped by a number of factors that include the role of funders, lack of normative consensus about the best way forward and the dangers and opportunities created by the new digital age.
