Must We Fight?: From The Battlefield to the Schoolyard - A New Perspective on Violent Conflict and Its Prevention

by William Ury (Editor)

In this landmark book, William Ury-- best-selling author and director of the Project on Preventing War at the Program on Negotiation at Harvard Law School-- and a stellar panel of experts from several scientific disciplines debunk the commonly held notion that violence is a predictable part of the human condition and outline an innovative paradigm for preventing violent confrontations. Must We Fight? presents compelling new research and insights into human nature which clearly demonstrate that humankind is not doomed to continue the seemingly endless cycle of violent conflict. With intelligence and sensitivity, Ury describes a brilliant program for personal and community empowerment called The Third Side. As he explains, in most conflicts between two parties there is actually a third entity-the community in which the combatants, and their dispute, are embedded. The Third Side is a proven model for ending conflict that shows how to mobilize communities to stop and, in some cases, prevent individual and group violence.

Genres: Nonfiction

128 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 2001

About the author

William Ury is an American author, academic, anthropologist, and negotiation expert. He co-founded the Harvard Program on Negotiation. Additionally, he helped found the International Negotiation Network with former President Jimmy Carter. Ury is the co-author of Getting to Yes with Roger Fisher, which set out the method of principled negotiation and established the idea of the best alternative to a negotiated agreement (BATNA) within negotiation theory.

Reviews

[Kressel Housman · Rating 4 out of 5]

I recently heard William Ury discuss his approach to conflict resolution on the TED Radio Hour, and I was so impressed, I got hold of the most intriguing of his titles available at my local library. Inspired as I am by his overall message, this particular book wasn’t quite what I was looking for. It’s a series of transcriptions of speeches given at a symposium on conflict resolution, so William Ury is not the only contributor. The first two relied heavily on primate and anthropological studies to make their point, and I’m much more interested in reading about achieving peace amidst more modern challenges. William Ury’s explanation of “the third side” – the peace-seeking side of any conflict – was definitely the best part. So while the book encouraged me that there’s hope for finding the third side in my own conflict-ridden town, I definitely feel I need to read more on the subject. On to an inter-library loan of The Third Side.