Balance Your Brain, Balance Your Reality

Segment 1: The Left Brain and Conflict.

Everything in the human experience begins in the brain, including war, conflict and peace. Our guest on this edition of The Doug Noll Show, who will discuss this theory, is James Olson. James is a management-trained philosopher whose studies have included business, engineering, art, Eastern and Western religion, yoga, qigong, psychology, language, neuro-linguistics, philosophy and brain perspective. His book, The Whole Brain Path to Peace, argues that the hemispheric nature of our brains account for much of the conflict and peace in our world. His website is www.thewholebrainpath.com.

 

James’ personal journey started out as a farmer on the family farm. During the winters he had time to study a wide range of interests and he came up with a very holistic view of the world. When he realized he was left brain dominate he set out to determine what that meant and how it dictated his perception of reality. The two sides of the brain both feed us info. We take information from one side and information from the other side and integrate them to come up with our own personal perspective. James researched the left brain versus right brain and found that that left brain disassembles and deconstructs, while the right brain puts things together and assembles things. The left brain, if left untempered by the wisdom of the right brain, can get us into trouble and cause conflict.

 

Segment 2: Mixing Oil and Water.

Upbringing has a great deal to do with attitude and world perception. We are heavily affected not only by the dominant side of our brain but also by our environment. If someone has a dominate right brain but is never taught how to think critically, they will not have a balanced view of the world and will not use “whole brain” thinking. We have a dualistic set-up within the brain. Trying to mix the left brain’s polar ideas with the right brain’s non-polar ideas is like mixing oil and water. The left brain tends to be skeptical and cautious and controlling. It can be resistant to working with right brain.

 

Segment 3: Smart Phones Versus Brains.

The secret is to begin using our non-dominant brain more --- the side/perspective that has been neglected. To retrain our own brains and to reactive the non-dominant side, just understand different perspectives and different options. If you don’t know what your brain is capable of doing, you can’t access it. We know more about accessing our smart phones than we do about our own brains. The better we understand it, the better we use it. Meditation helps as well. Meditation shuts off the left brain and brings us into our right brain. This helps us see more holistically and make better decisions.

 

Segment 4: Understanding the Dualistic System and Finding Peace.

James has found most males are left brain dominant and most women are right brain dominant. There is a biological basis for sexual orientation. If we understand what’s going on in our brain we can find peace with a situation. If we don’t understand the dualistic system of our brain it can cause conflict and war-like behavior.

 

To listen to the complete interview:

 

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Helping to Create Peace One Person at a Time

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The Peacemaking Parent: It Starts at Home

Segment 1: Secrets of the Peacemaking Parent

Lorraine Esposito, our guest on this edition of The Doug Noll Show, is no stranger to peacemaking. She is a life and fitness coach and the nationally recognized author of The Peacemaker Parent, Solving Problems for Today, Teaching Independence for a Lifetime. Lorraine has been featured in broadcast, radio, print, and online media and is a public speaker regarding personal leadership to community and school-based audiences. Her website is www.peacemakerparent.com.

 

Lorraine’s personal journey as a peacemaking parent began at home with her young sons, then 6 and 8. In the process of exploring how to achieve a peaceful home, she discovered a method that instilled responsibility and accountability within her children and fostered peacemaking organically. She had tried different methods, including various books and counseling programs, but nothing worked for their family. The feeling of power, control and responsibility was lacking.

 

Lorraine says the secret to a peaceful home is belief and trust. Belief that the inner voice you have as a parent is actually truth. Trust in your children and that they are all that they need to be. When we are able to believe, trust and let go, our kids begin to show their greatness and choose wisely.

 

Segment 2: The Need for Perfection

Parents’ self-esteem is too often wrapped around their own children. The need for perfection is layered on top of peer pressure and the hype about getting a good education and being successful, etc. The smallest mistake triggers fear in parents, overwhelms them, and blocks good judgment. The first step to overcoming these issues is for the parent to look at their own environment and at themselves as individuals. Then the parent can observe what’s happening (without judgment or criticism) and see what’s working and not working. The underlying issues become apparent when we detach ourselves and observe with non-reactivity and non-judgment.

 

Segment 3: The Sacred Space

Lorraine started with a morning peacemaking program in her own home. She held a meeting with her children and empowered them to make decisions. The meeting was a safe, sacred space. When they all agreed on the rules they moved forward, but if they didn’t agree they stayed put until they did. As a family they established 7 things to do in the morning. The boys monitored themselves with parameters and framework and became confident all on their own without mom’s nagging. The consequences to not getting tasks done were natural. They took personal responsibility and dealt with the consequences.

 

*Sacred space with equality

*Consensus decision making

*Building in accountability

*Natural consequences

 

Segment 4: Personal Responsibility and Ownership

Lorraine finds when parents try her peacemaking approach that decisions that seemed difficult become easier to make. They are able to let go of things that aren’t serving them. Parents become happier, there’s not as much fighting, there’s more acceptance and forgiveness. Additionally, taking personal responsibility and ownership can help kids with scholastic achievement by fostering personal motivation. Good leaders can’t command or control anybody; good leaders inspire people, which leads to self-motivation.

 

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Spaeker for Universities & Organizations teaching Peace as a Pathway

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Inter-Tribal Conflict and Restorative Justice in Kenya

Segment 1: The Village Gathering

Our guest on this edition of The Doug Noll Show is Paula Langguth Ryan, principal mediator at Compassionate Mediators, LLC, and a member of ACR’s Elder Decision-Making and Conflict Resolution Section. We will discuss her work with The Village Gathering, which focuses on sustainable restorative justice mediation in Kenya. Paula’s latest book (among many) is the forthcoming Ryan’s Rules of Order: A Clear and Compassionate Process for Minimizing Conflict and Keeping Any Meeting on Track. Her website is www.paulalangguthryan.com.

 

Segment 2: One Tribe

As a middle child growing up, Paula felt an innate connection to peacemaking. Her professional peacekeeping work in Kenya begin right after the Kenyan election crisis in 2008. Paula was asked to go to Kenya to lead a pastoral conference for a week, but found that her work would not resonate unless the prevalent inter-tribal conflict was first addressed. At that point she knew nothing about restorative justice, but with help from other mediators, as well as a former warrior (now a self-taught peacemaker) named Lantano, the tribes literally ended up “breaking bread” together. Lantano reiterated a new message: we are ONE tribe. We’re Kenyans.

 

Paula’s 2^nd trip was in 2010 for two weeks. Again she met with members of a small tribe (1 of 13 tribes) about inter-tribal conflict. She watched Lantano, who had no formal training as a mediator or peacemaker, go to speak with the mothers of the fighting warriors as well as the elders of the tribes and successfully bring the members of the tribes together for a communal meal.

 

Segment 3: A Reconciliation Meal

Lantano, the young warrior turned peacemaker, organized a reconciliation communal meal. The meat was braided, and there is a tradition in Kenya that says if you have shared a piece of meat together you can no longer be enemies. At this communal meal the tribal warriors cut meat for each other and fed one another. Every warrior bit from a single piece of meat.

 

Segment 4: The Kenya Solution

Paula believes the solutions for Kenya’s problems have to come from Kenya. The Kenyan people know what the underlying fears are and how to address them. They want to solve their own problems. There is a deep authenticity when one has truly experienced war, and this authenticity stems credibility within the tribes. Professional mediators can provide support, coaching, training, and funds, but fundamentally they can’t be the peacemakers in Kenya. Only the Kenyans can.

 

To listen to the full interview:

 

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Suicide, Adaptation and Survival Within a War Zone

Segment 1: The Human Cost

Besides the enormous financial deficit that the Iraqi war and military operations in Afghanistan have caused the U.S., the human cost has been astronomical. In 2012, according to a recent Pentagon study, there has been one military suicide each day. On average 19 veterans commit suicide each day, with the majority being 18-29 years old. These suicide stats need to be addressed.

 

Our guest on this edition of The Doug Noll show is Bob Rail. Bob is the author of Surviving the International War Zone: Security Lessons Learned and Stories from Police and Military Peacekeeping Forces. After an extensive street law enforcement career, Bob became an International Police Officer for the U.N. in Bosnia and Kosovo, and designed curriculums for police officers from 60 nations all over the world.  Bob’s website is www.robertrail.com.

 

Doug asks Bob to reflect on the adaptation challenges, both going into a war zone and returning from one. Bob says that the human being is an incredible biomechanical machine which can adapt to anything. When you’re in a war zone you either adapt or die. The penalty for not adapting is complete. However, it’s difficult to unadapt. Veterans from WW2 still have times when they can’t eat certain foods or smell certain smells.

 

Segment 2: The War Zone Habit

When you’re going to a war zone, you have to adapt quickly to a very dangerous environment. Bob believes the military does an outstanding job of training our people to go to war, but when they come back, they come back ALONE. A war zone is a habit; you can’t just shut it off. The danger factor alone creates an intense bonding experience within your team. When you’re in dangerous situations your team becomes your family. You speak casually with your colleagues in a war zone about things you would never speak about with anyone else.

 

Segment 3: The Reentry Experience

To help a young person coming back from a war zone to readapt, recognize that the person who went away is not the person who came home. Listen to them. Some serious warning signs are: if you’re engaged in a conversation and they stop talking and shut down, if they sit in a dark room for hours at a time, or if they start giving away special items like jewelry or watches. Don’t let them shut down and retreat within. Intervention hotlines are available and there are a lot of people who can help, but the problem is making the connection. Those of us who have not gone through the reentry experience have no clue about the pain and the challenges that the people returning from the war zone have. We become intensely judgmental.

 

Segment 4: Current Kosovo

Regarding Syria and the UN monitoring force there currently, Bob thinks it’s an impossible job and that there is not going to be a solution if they stay on their current path. They are in over their heads and untrained. Kosovo will self-destruct. Instead of the UN bringing a homogenized society together they established a political duality with two elected officials. This will not work. They want a war and they don’t outside interference.

 

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Listen Up

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Ethics & Moral Courage from a Peacemaker

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Peacemaking and Football

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Segment 1 – Football and Peacemaking: the connection

The relationship between the NFL, brain injury and peacemaking is closer than you think. Our guest on this edition of the Doug Noll show will help us tie together the culturally significant pastime of football and the subject of peacemaking. She is Lorraine Esposito, author of The Peacemaker Parent, Solving Problems for Today, Teaching Independence for a Lifetime. Lorraine’s website is www.peacemakerparent.com.

 

The NFL is beginning to examine youth football because they have beloved sports figures in dire straights from injuries (specifically brain trauma). It’s good business to take care of the people who play the sports, as the kids of today will soon be eligible to play for franchises and the NFL needs to ensure the longevity of the sport. To combat the injury trend, Lorraine feels that the message about WINNING needs to be shifted and tailored to the developmental level of the kids. Admittedly this is difficult when one’s performance evaluation is based on the win/loss column at the end of the year. 

 

Segment 2: The Distinction Between Greatest and Greatness

Lorraine does believe winning is important. We need to give it our all, but the difference is how you define the prize. It’s not always the score on the scoreboard. Although we have a football industry that’s based on media consumption and huge local, regional and national identity, winning shouldn’t be our sole source of identity. From the top down, we need to redefine what winning means.

 

Winning needs to be balanced against other factors. There is a distinction between “being the greatest” and “greatness.” “Greatest” is fleeting and vulnerable and takes you away from the group.

 

Section 3: The Narrow Identity

It starts in elementary school. Kids wear jerseys of pro players and if they have insecurities, the jersey overcompensates. Their identity becomes their playing record and they have nothing else on which to fall back. Coincidentally, this is a core reason for war: when people only identify with a single ideology (their tribe, their religion, their regime) and do not have a broad identity structure, any attack on that identity will lead to a primal, violent response. They don’t have the capacity to see themselves beyond that narrow identity.

 

Segment 4: Moral Courage and the NFL

Lorraine tells us the link with football/competition/winning and peacemaking is simple: we need to stop and think about the promises we make to the people we care about. We need to take care of our people and make good on our promises, which will enable us to build integrity. Our actions will be consistent with our words. It’s not going to happen overnight. This is something that will evolve. There will be a tipping point and it will start with individual promises.

 

We don’t need to stand in judgment of the NFL. We recognize that this is a movement and a big change. All we can do is commit to making a change, remain open to updating what we thought was true, and hold our promises in mind. We need moral courage. The NFL should take a stand against the prevailing beliefs in favor of doing the right thing. After all, that’s what we try to teach our kids: it’s more important to have moral courage and stand up for your convictions than it is to cave to pressure and lose your moral compass.

 

To listen to the complete interview, click below:

 

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Ethics: Obedience to the Unenforceable

Segment 1: From Syria to Penn State
What is the similarity between Syria and Penn State? Failure of moral character. Bashar al-Assad has brought dishonor to his family and country by failing to take a moral stand against the brutality of the Alawite regime. Jerry Sandusky and the late Joe Paterno brought dishonor to themselves and Penn State by engaging in flawed moral behavior. On this edition of the Doug Noll Show we explore the issue of moral character by speaking with Len Marrella, founder and President of the Center for Leadership and Ethics and author of the award-winning book, In Search of Ethics, Conversations with Men & Women of Character. Len’s website is www.lenmarrella.com.

Len was fortunate to have parents who instilled the notion of character, which he has built upon throughout his life, both in the military and within the private sector. Len found early on that it was easier to be honest and trustworthy than not, and that others are irresistibly attracted to people of character. He tells us, “In the end, our character is our destiny.”

Moral character and ethical behavior is the foundation of trust. So why is it difficult for many to make sound, trust-worthy decisions? Our moral values have been incrementally deteriorating over the last 50 years due to affluence, expectations, and entitlement. In a sense we have too much freedom. The most important freedom we posses is the one to discipline ourselves, but we are disinclined to do that.

Segment 2: The Decline in Educational System Link
Len and I both believe that there has been a decline in our educational system and that critical thinking skills are not being taught in school. Making moral decisions requires critical thinking skills. The inability to deal with ambiguity, complexity and uncertainty drives people to simple decisions that are not value-based.

Regarding Penn State, when there’s so much success, money and power involved, it’s easy to get a false sense of pride that is not to be jeopardized. It’s a classic case of conflicting values: loyalty to a regime, family, or school versus moral, truthful character.

So how do we, as teachers, parents and a society, teach moral courage? Moral courage can be defined as the ability to handle adverse consequences (shunned by friends, judged by family, rejected by society) for making a moral decision. However, Len repeatedly reiterates to his students that they are going to be “happier, healthier and more successful” if they do things the right way.

Segment 3: HIs Word is His Bond
At West Point Len admits he was first motivated purely by fear, but soon learned that his word was his bond, and that was a great - and easier - way to live. He became motivated by character. When we meet people who live up to a moral code it is enlightening and inspirational. It’s about authenticity, a willingness to serve, love for your fellow man.

Segment 4: How to Heal
In order for Penn State to heal from this massive failure of moral character, they must acknowledge the wrong, be extremely humble, and have a willingness to serve. Often we can learn more from our mistakes than from our successes. We as a society are a forgiving people, and it is possible to turn this mistake into an opportunity to grow and evolve. Penn State can survive and thrive with moral leadership, restorative justice work and effective peacemaking.

Click below to listen to the full interview:

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Peace in Kosovo: An Interview with Dr. Gerald Garllucci

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In this edition of the Doug Noll show, we interview Dr. Gerald Garllucci about the history of the Balkans and Kosovo. Dr. Garllucci received his BA from Rutgers and his Ph.D. from University of Pittsburgh in Political Science. He worked in the US State Department for 25 years and then at the United Nations Department of Peacekeeping Operations. His blog is outsidewalls.blogspot.com.

Dr. Garllucci (Jerry) first joined the Foreign Service in 1980, with a post in Brazil. Through a connection within the State Department he applied for UN job and ended up in Mitrovica, the main city in the Northern Kosovo in 2005. He quickly found that he was trained as a diplomat but not a peacekeeper. At that time the UN was grappling with being called upon to do peacekeeping but not having the resources or training to be entirely successful. Additionally, the mandates in Kosovo were over-ambitious and difficult to fulfill.

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Jerry worked in the Security Council in 1998-1999 after the collapse of USSR, and during this time the US government thought Russia was no longer an issue. However, when the Serbs started making trouble in Yugoslavia, there was imperative political pressure for the US to do something. The Russians saw this as an area where their sphere of influence was being violated and they felt that NATO itself was at the core of it. A common approach was difficult. Ultimately a peace agreement was reached that resulted in Kosovo being partially recognized as a foreign nation. This resolution never settled the issue of independence and failed to win support among the Contact Group (5 western countries) and Russia.

Although there was a failure to reach a full agreement, the decision of the US and other western countries was to go ahead and recognize the independence. Key point: it is easier to break something than to make something. Problems that have existed for centuries cannot be solved overnight. You cannot bring peace to people if the timing is not right.

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Kosovo history: 100 years ago this region was Ottoman province. When the Balkans fell out of control of the Ottomans, it became part of Yugoslavia. Yugoslavia was an effort to hold together the Balkans despite existing of people of different faiths, beliefs and ethnicities. During the 1990s it began to break up along ethnic lines, which led to the Balkans Wars. The dispute over Kosovo was the last piece of this issue. The Albanians were stripped of their power, a war broke out, and NATO intervened and broke the Serbian control over Kosovo. This left an Albanian majority in a state of frozen conflict. In essence, Kosovo is faced with a situation common around the world: intra-country conflict – ethnic groups not wanting to be governed by other ethnic groups.

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So how does Kosovo move forward and find peace? Dr. Garllucci believes they need to find a way to let the two sides come to grips themselves, without imposed guidelines, deadlines or agendas, to reach a compromise. There are various formulas for this. The new Serbian government is ready to tackle the Kosovo problem. To the Albanians, the key element is the United States.

Listen to the complete interview here:

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The World is Ready for Peace Talk

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The Evolution of a Society

What makes some societies properous, thriving and stable, while others are barely able to hold it together? That question is posed to Dr. Daniel Cloud, Professor of Philosophy at Princeton University and and author of The Lily: Evolution, Play and the Power of a Free Society.

On the Doug Noll Show, Doug first asks Dr. Cloud (Daniel) about his personal journey and what interested him in the subject of social evolution. Daniel answers that his first job was teaching English in Beijing in 1984. He found China was a very poor country and there was much hardship. He was routinely asked by his Chinese friends, "What's the secret of the United States? What makes your society so special?" He had trouble answering but found that evolution, specifically technological evolution, was a thread that kept running through his conversations.

Evolution is the survival of the fittest, or more specifically, who is most successful reproductively. Daniel realized the West is not a culture, it’s a "set of technology" that has worked with a lot of different cultures. The West puts a lot of effort into throwing two ideas into an arena and fighting it out (electoral, financial, etc.). This creates our evolutionary processes.

Doug points out that when we have an evolutionary process there is room for origin, room for genesis, but also room for failure. We need to accept failure as well as success. This is an important point, because if we don’t allow failure to happen, we can’t eventually have our greatest success.

Daniel found that what we call "free society" only works well at particular points in history and at particular places. Free Society in modern form only started to be successful in 16th and 17th centuries. Democracy wouldn't have worked in earlier times. There is a link to technological change. Capitalism is a social adaptation for facilitating rapid technological change. A system can’t function without a thriving capitalistic economy.

Because the rules are constantly changing, members of our society are forced to try out their ideas themselves. “What can be done with a telephone? A compass? An airplane?” A few will succeed and become prevalent, which, in turn, moves society forward. The consequences of technological change are far-reaching.

Doug asks Daniel why he thinks other societies shun Democracy. Daniel believes it's because it's very counter-intuitive. It seems crazy to leaders of an authoritarian society to let folks try out new ideas and again and again, and fail many times, but keep trying.

Regarding the Middle East, Iraq looks chaotic from a distance, but Daniel says the Iraqi Democracy is "kind of working." The U.S. news coverage of Iraq's issues is very negative. The Iraqi economy is actually enjoying incredible growth. They are now the 2nd biggest oil producer, so they have some prosperity. Daniel reminds us that things always look bad during a revolution – like a complete mess. It takes a long time to get the right institutional structure in place. He has found that what most folks want is just a nice, quiet life and to see their kids grow up, but yet people tolerate societies that suppress them.

Doug remarks that it took the U.S. as a new government about 20 years to get its act together. And it took even more time for the Supreme Court to settle into a government that really worked. European leaders thought it would never work. What made them wrong was our technology: the telegraph, the railroad, etc. The Internet is a shock if you’re not from a free society. It's hard to believe how the Internet Internet is so full of free speech. Technology is freeing people from the shackles of suppressive society.

Doug then talks about what’s going on in the U.S. currently: people who embrace technology are generally more liberal. Our own society has a strong thread of deep conservatism, so how can we, as a society, cope with rapid technological change?

Daniel speaks to our current economic recovery and says manufacturing is recovering fine, but not the service sector because they are being automated out of existence by the Internet. We need to figure out how to transition from a service economy to an information economy. However, it’s not easy to put a price on information. Information is free. This process takes time and we haven’t figured it out yet. Further, government can't fix this. It has to be fixed by the private sector.

The Doug Noll Show Tonight

Tonight on the Doug Noll Radio Show 7-8pm PT I interview Daniel Cloud.

Daniel Cloud teaches in Princeton University’s Department of Philosophy, specializing in the philosophy of biology and the social sciences. He holds a Ph.D. in philosophy from Columbia University. Before he came to Princeton he was a postdoctoral researcher at the Institute for Biocomplexity and Informatics at the University of Alberta in Calgary, where he helped model the dynamics of gene-regulatory networks in cancer cells.

 

He also has extensive economic and financial experience as a founding partner of the Firebird Fund, one of the first successful Russia funds, and as an equity analyst for W.I. Carr in Hong Kong. 

 We will be talking about evolutionary biology, cooperation, and society. Tune in and participate in this Compelling Show.

 

The lines are open for your questions and comments at 888-327-0061, or Internationally, 01 858-623-0126.

 

Doug is the author of the award winning book Elusive Peace: How Modern Diplomatic Strategies Could Better Resolve World Conflicts and is an Award Winning Peacemaker http://www.elusivepeace.com

Right Relationship Webinar Series: Peacemaker Teaches Peace is an Inside Job

Los Angeles, Ca (PRWEB) August 09, 2012 Award winning peacemaker and award winning author Doug Noll has teamed up with his wife, Aleya Dao, world renowned energy healer to teach couples the secret communication skills that lead to emotional intimacy, and how to provide the stability and security that couples seek through their new Right Relationship Webinar Series. “When I wrote the book Elusive Peace, the focus was conflict resolution in international affairs. At the time that seemed the most pressing issue and least understood concept. I now realize that learning and applying the same principles to a marriage or partnership offers the same successful results in keeping conflict from escalating, helping families to remain intact, and shifts emotional orientations that will create stronger communities with less internal emotional damage,” Noll explains, adding that “peace begins within, and starts at home.”

 

 

Noll teamed up with his wife after sharing their professional experiences. “We discovered that sessions with our clients, Doug’s mediation clients, and my coaching clients—were similar in regards to what we were teaching and what their deepest desires are. My clients want to be heard and intimately understood. Doug’s clients reduced their conflict when he taught them how to listen and develop empathy,” Dao says.

 

Noll and Dao realized that the communication principles they both teach could be applied to relationships, so they made a You Tube video that reaped so many visits, that they knew they were onto something ( ).

 

Right Relationship Webinar Series starts August 12, 2012. Registration is available at the couple’s website page http://www.aleyadao.com/pages/102/Relationships.html

Peace is an Inside Job

I wrote Elusive Peace for the purpose of teaching conflict resolution skills and strategies, using international areas of conflct as a backdrop. Today I am teaching peace, connecting, communicating, developing empathy and emotional intimacy--peace within and with a loved one--with my wife Aleya Dao through our Right Relationship Webinar Series. This is a labor of love. We share openly and honestly about our path towards intimacy and bliss!

Please join us August 12 at 7pm PT for our next webinar. Register at http://www.aleyadao.com.

We look forward to your attendance!  

The Collapse of Syria

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In a past blog, I predicted the failure of Kofi Anan's mediation efforts. This was no magical feat on my part. Anyone with an once of experience in mediation could see that Mr. Anan was the wrong person at the wrong time with the wrong skills for the job. While he is a famous international diplomat, he is not and never has been a trained, professional mediator. That became apparent as he violated mediation principle after principle during his tenure. His resignation, accompanied by a public statement excoriating the international community, was more of a reflection of how he misread and misunderstood the conflict than about the political will of the UN Security Council.

What now? Clearly, a negotiated peace between the Assad regime and the opposition forces is unlikely. Iran and Russia have publicly supported the Assad regime and cannot gracefully retreat without significant loss of international prestige. For the Iranians, in particular, that is unacceptable. Thus, the conflict will have to play out to the end with Bashar al Assad being deposed or running for asylum. His mindset is unfortunately locked into a belief structure that will not allow him to see reality. Hence, he is as likely to be killed in office as to retire from it.

If anyone is thinking in the international community, they should be planning on how to prevent all out chaos and anarchy in Syria post-Assad. With the removal of the Alawites from power, there will a vacuum crying to be filled. A host of interests are eager to rush in, including Shiite fundamentalists, Sunni fundamentalists, al Queda-affiliated forces, and the Muslim Brotherhood. The Syrian people are not experienced in the tug and pull of democracy, do not have a strong civil society, and do not have foundational institutions to allow for a free society. These all have to be built from scratch. At the same time, the bureaucracy has to remain functional to provide basic services. Hopefully, the world learned that lesson from Iraq and Libya.

If mediators can assist at all, they will work on the inevitable conflicts arising in the opposition forces and help the various factions form political coalitions that approach independent self-determination.  This is messy, difficult work. Once the common enemy, Bashar al Assad, is gone, the glue holding together the opposition will melt away. Finding common purpose in a peaceful, nonviolent transition to an appropriate form of government will be very challenging. It will take courageous, visionary Syrian leadership to guide the people.

In addition, the internal factions will face the prospect of dealing with outside spoilers. Those spoilers could include Russia and Iran, looking to maintain and perhaps strengthen their influence in the new Syria. The US and European powers could also be spoilers if they see disadvantage to a truly independent, self-determinative Syria. The Kurds are also a wild card, and may negate Turkey's potentially positive influence on the Syrian outcome. The only way the outside power players can be thwarted is if the Syrian factions unite against outside interference. This poses a classic Prisoner's Dilemma situation for the Syrian factions as the decision to defect from cooperation with other factions may appear more attractive than agreeing to cooperate and facing the possibility of exploitation. Again, mediators might be able to facilitate the decision making process towards cooperation and away from self-interested choices that will ultimately defeat a peaceful Syria.

The experiences in the Middle East over the past 10 years should inform us all that classic international power politics is more likely to generate war than peace. The international powers certainly are not oriented to stability. Instead, they continue to joust for influence by thwarting each other's ambitions and interests. Thus, if the Syrian people want peace and self-determination they will need the discipline to turn away from the power inducements of the west or of Russia and Iran. They will have to turn inward and solve their own problems in their own way. They can do this with the help of skilled mediators. Time will tell if that is the path they choose.

The Radio Show that Will Make You Think

http://www.elusivepeace.com

Radio interview 10am PT today about Peace and Conflict

http://radiodov.com/leadership/doug-noll-accidental-guru-radio-show-aug-2/