Resolving International Conflict: Dynamics of Escalation, Continuation and Transformation

Together with fellow colleagues at the Centre for Resolution of International Conflicts (CRIC), Associate Professor of Sociology Poul Poder has edited the book Resolving International Conflict: Dynamics of Escalation, Continuation and Transformation.

Resolving International Conflict rethinks the dynamics of conflict escalation and continuation by engaging with research from the wide range of subfields in this area. The book suggests a new framework for understanding conflict as a particular form of situation, interaction and tension. It shows how conflicts are shaped by varied dynamics relating to emotion, securitization, incentives, digital technology and violence; even attempts at monitoring, resolving or remembering conflicts may end up contributing to their escalation or continuation. Split into two sections, the first part focuses on the question of why and how conflicts escalate, while the second part analyses the continuation of conflict. The book features several case studies of conflict escalation and continuation - in Bahrain, Israel-Palestine, South Sudan, Northern Ireland and, most prominently, the case of the Syrian uprising and subsequent civil war. Throughout the book, and, in particular, in the conclusion, the consequences for conflict transformation are discussed.

Associate Professor Poul Poder has furthermore contributed to the book with two chapters titled 'How Conflict Escalation Happens: Three Central Interaction Rituals in Conflict' and 'Humiliation Dynamics in Conflicts in Our Globalized World.' The first chapter concentrates on how emotions emerge ritual and situational practices but also on how the ritual outcome of Emotional Energy (EE) has implications in terms of agency formation, while the second chapter examines three diagnoses of humiliation dynamics characterizing today’s globalized world.

Isabel Bramsen, Poul Poder, & Ole Waever, Resolving International Conflict: Dynamics of Escalation, Continuation and Transformation, Routledge, 2019.