A leader is one to whom people turn when they feel less contented with either situation or persons and wish to obtain reprieve so quickly. He is the one others trust when they think their own head and shoulders cannot carry all or any particular thing about themselves. They wish to tell their stories to such a person, they want the person to hear those stories whether verbalized (actually spoken, written or symbolised) or not. They simply want the leader to listen to their hearts and…

Click here to lead the latest blog post.  In it, I describe how I coped with a challenging Union Rep.  He was focused on making his case, as if he were a TV lawyer.  Though he'd participated in many of these mediation, he still didn't seem to get it that persuading the mediator wouldn't be helpful - and persuading the management would not be possible.

To Build or Rebuild?  Whether you are managing development programs, advising political leaders in a conflict-affected state, or helping a community rebuild from conflict, you are having an economic impact.  How do you develop a course of action that boosts the opportunities of a conflict-affected state for economic growth, while avoiding aid dependency and fueling corruption?  This is a course for non-economists who understand that economics matters.

The United States Institute of…

“How many deaths will it take?” In how many places within the United States and abroad?

Aurora, Colorado? Tucson, Arizona? Virginia Tech? Columbine? The University of Texas tower?

Nagasaki? Korea? Vietnam? Grenada? Panama? Iraq? Afghanistan? Pakistan?

NRA headquarters. Photo by Bjoertvedt, used under CC…

The United States Institute of Peace’s Academy for International Conflict Management and Peacebuilding is pleased to announce that its on-campus courses for Fall 2012 are now available for registration. The fall schedule presents 17 courses, including Strategies for Trauma Awareness…

The United States Institute of Peace (USIP) is a publicly funded institution chartered to "provide the widest possible range of education and training, basic and applied research opportunities, and peace information services on the means to promote international peace and the resolution of conflicts among the nations and peoples of the world without recourse to violence.” USIP’s Academy for International Conflict Management and Peacebuilding provides practitioner-oriented education,…

• Brandeis University in Massachusetts is offering a Master’s Program in Coexistence and Conflict with several scholarship opportunities. The program is geared towards professionals.
• The Summer Peacebuilding Institute in Harrisonburg, Virginia is still open for the 2012 year. The institute offers courses in development, humanitarian assistance,…

• I ask readers interested in peace and conflict to join the Peace and Collaborative Development Network and donate to help keep them alive, if possible. The network is a great place to meet others working in the field, browse job openings, read great blog entries and learn where to find other conflict resources.
• The International Centre on Nonviolent Conflict is…

Patricia Smith

Peace X Peace Founder

"Where is common financial sense in terms of the dollars — not counting human loved ones — required to build peace as compared with the hundred-fold dollars spent on destruction through war?"

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In 2002 when I founded Peace X Peace, we were the first social…

• The University of Notre Dame’s Kroc Institute for International Peace Studies is running its 4^thAnnual Summer Institute for Faculty in Peace Studies Program Development from June 10-15, 2012.
• Twitter defended its recently announced…

Building on how-matters.org’s earlier posts, “How to build strong relationships with grassroots organizations” (part 1, part 2, part…

Check out the fresh LPI webpage and share it on Facebook and Twitter!

Visit www.life-peace.org and find new updated information on what we do and where we work. A brand new section has been added describing…

Great piece from Michael Shank on the Huffington Post:

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/michael-shank/on-92111-un-day-of-peace-_b_974197.html

 …

Watch out for New Routes 3/2011:

Water – a source of development and conflict

“We are drawn to water. Water runs through each and every one of our bodies, regardless of skin color, religious belief or profession”, says one of the authors in New Routes no…

Private militia and armies are a common feature in contemporary violent conflicts and pose a major challenge in the search for peace internationally. Yet, very little research and analysis have been dedicated to those groups so far. A new study entitled Armed Violence in Mindanao: Militia and private armies, seeks to contribute to closing this research gap, and suggests how the prevalence of…

The Connecticut Center for Nonviolence is offering Kingian Nonviolence Conflict Reconciliation Training at Central Connecticut State University from July 11th- July 23, 2011.

This intensive training seminar is based on Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.’s philosophy of nonviolence and

provides participants with an introduction to nonviolence conflict reconciliation. The seminar is ideal for teachers, students, counselors, social workers,…

Below are a sampling of courses we're offering at this year's Summer Peacebuilding Institute. Every year SPI welcomes practitioners from around the globe to partake in trainings and take courses for academic credit.

“Building Justice: Transitional and Indigenous Applications in Post-war Contexts”: When violent conflict divides a society, as Desmond Tutu once pointed out, it leaves in its wake trauma, broken trust, and discord—and no roadmap to find the way out. This course will…