ABSTRACT
The fundamental question of whether peace education can facilitate change of the sociopsychological infrastructure that feeds continuation of intractable conflict is essential not only for educators but also for every human being that values peaceful resolution of conflicts. This question is especially valid in view of the fact that intractable conflicts still rage in various parts of the globe, and they not only cause misery and suffering to the engaged societies but also threaten the well-being of the international community at large. These conflicts are over real goods, such as territories, natural resources, self-determination, and/or basic values, and these real issues have to be addressed in conflict resolution. But, no doubt, it would be much easier to resolve them if they were not accompanied by intense sociopsychological dynamics. Intractable conflicts that have been going on for a long time (as in Sri Lanka, Chechnya, Northern Ireland, and the Middle East) deeply involve society’s members who develop a sociopsychological repertoire of beliefs, attitudes, and emotions about their goals, about causes of the outbreak of conflict and the course of that conflict, and about the rival, and about the desired solution. Eventually, this repertoire becomes an investment in conflict that evolves into culture of conflict. It is rigid and resistant to change, fuels its continuation, and thus inhibits deescalation of the conflict and its peaceful resolution.
