Peacemaker Douglas Noll Identifies Cultural Shift Towards Peace

Douglas Noll, award winning peacemaker, President of the California Dispute Resolution Council, award winning author of Elusive Peace: How Modern Diplomatic Strategies Could Better Resolve World Conflicts(Prometheus, 2011) and this year’s winner of the CLAY award, discovers a cultural attitude shift towards the war in Afghanistan identified in his book Elusive Peace. “Most people accepted the war effort as long as Osama bin Laden was alive. The desire for vengeance and the accompanying hormone high has ended,” Noll states, adding that “a dopamine high accompanies a desire for vengeance.”

Noll writes in his award winning book Elusive Peace about brain function as it relates to conflict and peace. Science shows that the brain expresses pleasure hormones (Dopamine) when the need or desire for revenge occurs as featured in an article in Scientific American: (http://www.scientificamerican.com/article.cfm?id=revenge-evolution). “Once the motivation for revenge wanes the dopamine wears off and people lose motivation and interest in vengeance. The motivator, in this case, Osama bin Laden, is gone,” Noll explains.

“The recent protest in Chicago at the NATO summit was widely received and reported in media. This is new. Before, protests against the war in Iraq were met with resistance and a general attitude of dismay at outspoken anti-war protesters, much like the public criticism Cindy Sheehan received. Today, however anti-war sentiments are more widely accepted and approved. By the reports, people are tired of war and the media is reflecting that in stories,” Noll says predicting that “these anti-war sentiments coupled with a cultural anxiety about a protracted military spending campaign will be reflected at the voting booths in the upcoming election.”

Douglas Noll is the winner of the International Peace and Justice Book Award for Elusive Peace: How Modern Diplomatic Strategies Could Better Resolve World Conflicts. Doug is the 2012 winner of the CLAY award for co-founding the pro bono project Prison of Peace. Doug is a keynote speaker and sought after leader in the field of international, domestic and business conflicts. Doug is a sought after interview guest on TV and radio, and a keynote speaker and workshop presenter.

Doug is a full time peacemaker and mediator, specializing in difficult, complex, and intractable conflicts, an adjunct professor of law and has a Master’s Degree in Peacemaking and Conflict Studies. Mr. Noll is AV-rated and was a business and commercial trial lawyer for 22 years before turning to peacemaking. Doug is a founding board member of Mediators Beyond Borders, and the 2012 President of the California Dispute Resolution Council.

Noll is a Fellow of the International Academy of Mediators, a Distinguished Fellow of the American College of Civil Trial Mediators, a Diplomat of the California and National Academy of Distinguished Neutrals, a core faculty member of the American Institute of Mediation, and on the American Arbitration Association panel of mediators and arbitrators. Mr. Noll was one of the first U.S. mediators certified under the international mediator standards established by the International Mediation Institute. Doug is the author of Elusive Peace: How Modern Diplomatic Strategies Could Better Resolve World Conflicts (Prometheus, 2011), the winner of the international peace and justice book award. Doug Noll is a core faculty member of the American Institute of Mediation, a preeminent mediation Training Institute founded by Lee Jay Berman.

http://americaninstituteofmediation.com
Join Facebook at http://www.facebook/DouglasNoll. Visit http://www.elusivepeace.com. For interview and further information contact Inspired Media dianeden(at)centurytel(dot)net

Poor Conflict Resolution Skills Leads to Irreconcilable Differences

Douglas Noll, author of the award winning book Elusive Peace draws the correlation between the high number of couples who regret their divorces and a lack of peacemaking skills. The most common reason cited for divorce is irreconcilable differences-which Noll describes as a failure to understand conflict resolution skills. "Couples get to the point where they have differences they cannot reconcile. The lack of skill to solve problems is a major contributor in unresolved conflicts," Noll says.

Comedian and actor Russell Brand recently admitted that he regrets filing for divorce from his ex-wife pop artist Katie Perry, and wishes that he had tried harder to save his marriage. (www.masslive.com/entertainment/index.ssf/2012/05/report_russell_brand_regrets_d.html)

Brand's sentiments all too often mirror a good majority of divorced couples. Noll points to statistic that show: "40% of divorced people regretted their divorce and thought it was preventable." (Australian and New Jersey studies. (William J. Doherty, PhD, Family Social Science Dept., University of Minnesota, Bdoherty(at)che2(dot)che(dot)umm(dot)edu).

"Couples in high conflict relationships who divorce are most often at a point in their relationship where they cannot negotiate successful resolutions to conflict. Locked in win/lose belief systems, relationships often suffer irreparable damage," Noll points out.

Flooded with emotion, high conflict couples reach that pinnacle of distress where separating seems the safest option," Noll explains. "Most people are unskilled in resolving conflict successfully. To negotiate peace in a high conflict situation where both parties are satisfied with the outcome is an area the average person is not schooled in. Unfortunately most couples learn how to argue and solve problems from their parents, and generational patterns show up in today's relationships," Noll explains, adding that "this failure to solve problems amicably and with skill regrettably sets up a poor example to children. Bullying and fighting becomes the norm."

"As a peacemaker and professional mediator the dispute resolution skills we teach not only benefit diplomats, corporations and communities. Couples who learn to embrace peacemaking skills learn emotional intimacy and pass this valuable tool to their children," Noll explains. Noll believes that peacemaking starts at home so that collaboration is the norm for solving problems and kids at home learn critical relationship building tools. "If we teach children at a young age healthy boundaries, good listening skills, and empathetic responses in communication, we will be raising a generation of adults who will make better decisions in issues involving our global community," Noll says.

"However, when any relationship reaches a critical point, a skilled mediator is key for getting both parties to work together again," Noll points out.

Read more: http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/g/a/2012/05/15/prweb9501430.DTL#ixzz1v2nP8iHp

Untitled

Award winning Peacemaker Douglas Noll discovers brain function and peacemaking connection

While studying conflict resolution Douglas Noll discovered the scientific and neuropsychological reason negotiators fail at peace talks. "When I took modern scientific studies and transposed them onto past failed peace talks, the answers became clear. We have been using 18th century strategies in a 21st century world to resolve conflict. This led to writing Elusive Peace in the hope that diplomats, politicians and voters would use this information to become better informed and using the keys in my book shift from failure to success by employing professional mediation skills instead of outdated strategies that cause financial devastation and cost innocent lives," Noll explains.

• 

Douglas E. Noll Professional Mediator

The time has come to use what we know in resolving conflicts internationally, nationally, and personally

San Francisco, CA (PRWEB) April 30, 2012

Douglas Noll, award winning author of Elusive Peace: How Modern Diplomatic Strategies Could Better Resolve World Conflict (Prometheus, 2011) and award winning peacemaker, discovered the connection between brain function and peacemaking while studying conflict resolution strategies. This information contributed to the motivation to write his book and teach others his groundbreaking theories.
“Because we are 98 percent emotional and two percent rational, when people are in conflict, heightened emotions play a bigger role than rationality. Until people understand this, and begin to develop better skills and strategies to overcome natural tendencies to react, peace will remain elusive,” Noll explains, adding that “the problem of ongoing conflict exists in the international arena as well as between couples in relationships. Until there is understanding about brain function, people will continue to be stuck in a vicious cycle of ongoing and repeated conflict.”

While researching peacemaking Noll compared the failed peace negotiations of the past several
years and realized that the failure to create peace was due to outdated models of negotiating peace and not factoring in scientific studies that explain how the mind works in the context of conflict.
“I found that traditional military and diplomatic methods for resolving global conflicts cannot work. In Elusive Peace I show why with explanations ranging from neuropsychology to philosophy and political analysis,” Noll explains.

Noll’s body of work explains how diplomats enter negotiations with flawed assumptions about human behavior, sovereignty, and power, and shows that negotiators still use a model of European diplomacy dating back to the 18th century to solve the complex problems of the 21st century. Through numerous examples, the author shows that the key failure in current diplomatic efforts is the entrenched belief that nations, through their representatives, will act rationally to further their individual political, economic, and strategic interests. However, the contemporary scientific understanding of how people act and see their world does not support this assumption. On the contrary, research from decision-making theory, behavioral economics, social neuropsychology, and current best practices in mediation indicate that emotional and irrational factors often have as much, if not more, to do with the success or failure of a mediated solution.

“We must use professional and skilled mediators at negotiation tables around the world in areas of conflict to benefit from what we now know scientifically, and what we want to happen in peacemaking during a time when conflict worldwide is at an all time high and the threat of weaponry use is increasing,” Noll warns. For interview contact dianeden(at)centurytel(dot)net.

About Douglas Noll
Douglas Noll is the winner of the International Peace and Justice Book Award for Elusive Peace: How Modern Diplomatic Strategies Could Better Resolve World Conflicts. Doug is the 2012 winner of the CLAY award for co-founding the pro bono project Prison of Peace. Doug is a keynote speaker and sought after leader in the field of international, domestic and business conflicts.
http://www.facebook/DouglasNoll.com
Doug is a founding board member of Mediators Beyond Borders, and the 2012 President of the California Dispute Resolution Council.

Noll is a Fellow of the International Academy of Mediators, a Distinguished Fellow of the American College of Civil Trial Mediators, a Diplomat of the California and National Academy of Distinguished Neutrals, a core faculty member of the American Institute of Mediation, and on the American Arbitration Association panel of mediators and arbitrators. Mr. Noll was one of the first U.S. mediators certified under the international mediator standards established by the International Mediation Institute. Doug is the author of Elusive Peace: How Modern Diplomatic Strategies Could Better Resolve World Conflicts (Prometheus, 2011), winner of the international peace and justice book award. Doug Noll is a core faculty member of the American Institute of Mediation, a preeminent mediation Training Institute founded by Lee Jay Berman. http://americaninstituteofmediation.com