Conflict and Conflict Resolution 261
Originally aimed at the business market with prod-
ucts such as RIM’s BlackBerry and Palm’s Treo,
the smart phone has entered the consumer market
with Apple’s introduction of the iPhone. Opening
up the iPhone to independent application develop-
ers has turned it into a specialized computing
device as well as a phone. Other smart phone plat-
forms, such as Windows Mobile, BlackBerry, and
Google’s Android, are also encouraging applica-
tion development, changing the landscape in the
personal computing industry.
Another innovation is in the low-end netbook
category, with small devices capable of simple PC
tasks selling for US$200 to US$400. Sales of net-
books took off in 2008 when 10 million units were
sold. Aimed originally at the developing country
education market, these devices are now sold to
consumers in all countries and seem to be cutting
into sales of full-fledged laptops. Netbooks also
promise to open up new markets of lower income
consumers around the world.
With all this innovation around new devices, is
it possible that the Wintel-based PC will become
obsolete? Google is not only trying to organize all
of the information in the world, it is also sug-
gesting that users only need a simple terminal,
netbook, or smartphone to access the Internet. In
their vision, user applications and user data will
reside online, as well as all the information encom-
passed by the World Wide Web. Even traditional
computer companies such as IBM are touting simi-
lar concepts such as cloud computing, software-as-
a-service, and virtualization (in which the individual
PC is no longer a physical device). Will Google and
others succeed in this grand vision, or will users
and device makers stick stubbornly to their more
intelligent stand-alone devices? As of 2009, there
does not seem to be a simple answer.
Nearly 300 million PCs were sold in 2008—
more than ever before in history—so it looks as if
all of the new devices are supplements rather than
substitutes for the PC. Instead of converging on
one type of device or approach to computing,
the market is expanding with a wider array of
options than the traditional categories of desktop
and laptop. Personal computing is now mobile and
increasingly ubiquitous, and those options will
likely keep expanding in the future.
Jason Dedrick and Kenneth L. Kraemer
(c) 2012 Sage Publications, Inc. All Rights Reserved.
See also Computing; Connectedness, Global; Global
Communications and Technology; Information Age;
Internet; Knowledge Management Systems; Media,
Global; Social Networking; Technology Sector;
Web 2.0
Further Readings
Bureau of Labor Statistics. (2002). Retrieved from ftp://
ftp.bls.gov/pub/news.release/History/empsit.01102003
.news
Bureau of Labor Statistics. (2009). Retrieved from ftp://
ftp.bls.gov/pub/suppl/empsit.ceseeb3.txt
Curry, J., & Kenney, M. (1999). Beating the clock:
Corporate responses to rapid change in the PC
Industry. California Management Review, 42(1), 8–36.
Dedrick, J., & Kraemer, K. L. (1998). Asia’s computer
challenge: Threat or opportunity for the United States
and the world? New York: Oxford University Press.
Dedrick, J., & Kraemer, K. L. (2005). The impacts of IT
on firm and industry structure: The personal computer
industry. California Management Review, 47(3),
122–142.
Dedrick, J., & Kraemer, K. L. (2006). Is production
pulling knowledge work to China? A study of the
notebook computer industry. Computer, 39(7), 36–42.
International Data Corporation (IDC). (2006).
Worldwide PC market: 4Q05 and 2005 review.
Framingham, MA: International Data Corporation.
International Data Corporation (IDC). (2008, December).
Economic crisis response: Worldwide PC 2008–2012
forecast update. Framingham, MA: International Data
Corporation.
Juliussen, E. (2006). Worldwide PC market: May, 2006
version. Arlington Heights, IL: eTForecasts.
Reed Electronics Research. (2007). Yearbook of world
electronics data, 2007. Surrey, UK: Author.
Treacy, M., & Wiersema, F. (1993, January–February).
Customer intimacy and other value disciplines.
Harvard Business Review, pp. 84–93.
Conflict and
Conflict Resolution
The term conflict, as it relates to global studies,
refers to the actual or perceived incompatibility
of values, identity, resources, and/or access to
power between two or more parties that leads to
disagreement. The study of conflict, in general, has
262 Conflict and Conflict Resolution
been divided into different types, namely, intraper-
sonal, interpersonal, intragroup, intergroup, and
international. International conflict is the type of
conflict normally associated with global studies
because its effects often have immediate global
significance. As the nature of conflict has changed
and become more readily globalized, the category
“international conflict” has increasingly encom-
passed interpersonal and intergroup conflicts.
International conflict resolution is the academic
discipline that examines international conflicts.
International conflict resolution is rooted in the
larger field of study and practice called conflict
resolution. As both a field of study and a practice,
conflict resolution is interdisciplinary in nature. It
draws from diverse disciplines, such as psychology,
sociology, political science, and economics. Despite
its name, conflict resolution recognizes that not all
conflict needs to be resolved. Instead, it combines
theory, research, and practice in an attempt to
manage, transform, and/or resolve conflict.
International conflict resolution examines (a) the
nature of conflict that has global significance;
(b) the various methods available to address inter-
national conflict, for example, negotiation, con-
ciliation, mediation, diplomacy, arbitration,
adjudication, and reconciliation; and (c) the effects
the conflict has (or may have) on parities directly
and indirectly involved, including the social, cul-
tural, political, economic, environmental, psycho-
logical, and medical effects.
Development of International
Conflict Resolution
Resolving conflict and maintaining peace have been
employed as long as there has been international
conflict. However, international conflict resolution
as an academic field of study and practice began to
emerge only after World War I (1914–1918). The
development of international conflict resolution
has four phases. Phase one (1918–1945) is shaped
by the experiences of World War I and World War
II, traditional wars that were between nation-states
or groups of nation-states. Much of this early
work on international conflict resolution was done
in the field of international relations, which was
an emerging subject field in political science. After
World War I, the focus was on ways to prevent
another world war through security, disarmament,
(c) 2012 Sage Publications, Inc. All Rights Reserved.
and international dispute resolution. It was during
this period the first international body devoted to
international peace was developed, the League of
Nations, which was the precursor to the United
Nations. With the emergence of World War II
(1939–1945), and the subsequent collapse of the
League of Nations (1946), it became apparent that
there were problems with the early efforts of con-
flict resolution, and much of the work on conflict
resolution came to a standstill.
Phase two (1945–1965) is marked by institu-
tional growth of conflict resolution. Following
World War II, the central concern of international
conflict resolution was on how to ensure interna-
tional peace and the protection of human rights
within sovereign nation-states. As a result, 50
country representatives came together in 1945 to
draw up the Charter of the United Nations, which
laid the framework for the United Nations, an
international organization with the explicit man-
date to work for international peace.
During this phase, the Cold War developed as a
rivalry between groups of nations practicing two
different ideologies. On the one side, the United
States and its allies constituted the Western bloc,
which promoted the ideologies of capitalism and
democracy. On the other side, the Soviet Union
constituted the Eastern bloc, which promoted the
ideologies of socialism and communism. In the
1950s and 1960s, at the height of the Cold War,
scholars and practitioners in Europe and North
America were trying to understand and manage
conflict in light of the experience of the end of
World War II and the emergence of the Cold War.
Academic journals and centers devoted to the
study of conflict resolution were established. For
example, in the United States, Kenneth Boulding,
an economist at the University of Michigan, helped
establish The Journal of Conflict Resolution and
the Centre for Research on Conflict Resolution
at the University of Michigan. In Europe, Johan
Galtung, a sociologist, founded the Journal of
Peace Research and the International Peace
Research Institute, associated with the University
of Oslo, in Norway.
Phase three (1965–1989) is a period of expan-
sion of international conflict resolution. It was
a period deeply shaped by the intensification of
the Cold War and the threat of a nuclear war.
The focus was predominantly on nation-state

resolution. In the 1970s and 1980s, there was an
increase in undergraduate and graduate programs
at universities throughout Europe and North
America, the development of departments and
institutes of conflict resolution at universities, and
the creation of independent organizations dedi-
cated to conflict resolution. It was during this
period that various theories and methods associ-
ated with international conflict resolution were
developed.
The theories and methods of international con-
flict resolution are based on the fact that conflict is
a dynamic process, and as a result, there is not just
one theory for examining the nature of conflict on
the global scene, nor is there just one method for
resolving international conflict. It is more accurate
to say that there are numerous theories and meth-
ods of international conflict resolution. For exam-
ple, there is not just one single school of thought
or a single theory of international conflict resolu-
tion. It would be more accurate to suggest that
as a result of the experience of the Cold War, con-
ventional international conflict resolution was an
approach to international conflict. It was influ-
enced by three often-converging trends in the
Western tradition, namely materialism, political
realism, and secularist political philosophy.
Philosophically, materialism refers to preoccu-
pation with the material world, as opposed to
intellectual or spiritual concepts, or to the theory
that physical matter is all there is. In conflict reso-
lution theory, this meant that if the sociopolitical
and socioeconomic causes of the violence could be
identified and redeveloped, then subsequent vio-
lence might possibly be avoided.
Secularism is an ideology that holds that reli-
gious issues should not be the basis of politics, or
in the extreme, that religion has no place in public
life. Although modern secularists disagree on
many matters, they did share the common belief
that, with the rise of secular institutions and scien-
tific reasoning, religion would become increasingly
irrelevant in people’s lives. As a result, interna-
tional conflict resolution tended to focus on secu-
lar matters, with little consideration of religion,
and religion has been left out of international
conflict resolution theories and processes.
Realist political thought, or realpolitik, empha-
sizes that politics is based on practical concerns
rather than theory or ethics. Realism assumes that
(c) 2012 Sage Publications, Inc. All Rights Reserved.
Conflict and Conflict Resolution 263
conflict and power struggles are intrinsic to human
nature. It emphasizes the role of the nation-state
and assumes that nation-states are motivated by
national interests. For states to maintain their
power, they must preserve their political autonomy
and their territorial integrity, and they must do this
through a balance of power. As a result, interna-
tional conflict resolution theories emphasize the
state as the key actor and international diplomacy
as the conventional game plan for maintaining
stable relations.
International conflict resolution has an intellec-
tual history that not only mirrors the dominant
Cold War schools of thought by focusing on statist
means of resolving conflict but also reflects the
liberal, Western intellectual tradition that empha-
sizes socioeconomic concerns (materialism), and
secularism as means of resolving conflict. As a
result, international conflict resolution theory has
conventionally focused on economic, social, and
political transformation.
Numerous methods can be used for resolving
international conflict. Most methodological
approaches to conflict resolution recognize that
because of the dynamic nature of conflict, conflict
progresses through various stages. For example,
the stages of conflict tend to include conflict emer-
gence, conflict escalation, stalemate, deescalation,
dispute settlement, and postconflict peacebuilding.
These stages are nonlinear; the stages can be
repeated, or sometimes the conflict primarily
moves between two or three stages. Each stage has
corresponding strategies to help minimize violence
and to help resolve and transform the conflict. For
example, conflict emergence occurs when compet-
ing interests, needs, or values manifest. To prevent
the conflict from escalating, methods such as con-
ciliation, negotiation, mediation, or arbitration
would be explored. Conflict emergence may be
dealt with through a settlement or resolution, such
as a peace accord, or it may be followed by subse-
quent escalation. The stalemate stage is when nei-
ther party in the conflict can win and neither side
wants to back down or accept loss. In international
conflict, the stalemate stage is often the high point
of war, and methods such as peacekeeping or
humanitarian intervention are considered. The
deescalation stage can be temporary, or it can be
part of a broader trend toward settlement or reso-
lution. Here, the intention is to decrease violence
264 Conflict and Conflict Resolution
and generate agreements among different parties
through methods such as negotiation, conciliation,
or mediation. The dispute settlement stage is when
the underlying causes of the conflict are dealt with.
At this stage, peace accords may be negotiated,
new constitutions may be developed, and demo-
cratic elections are often held. Once a settlement or
resolution is agreed to, the conflict moves to a
postconflict stage where the focus is on repairing
the damage that was done with a long-term goal to
work for sustainable peace. A variety of strategies
are used at this stage, such as criminal prosecu-
tions, lustrations, truth commissions, amnesty, and
reconciliation processes.
The fourth phase (1989–present) of the develop-
ment of international conflict resolution is rooted in
the major shifts in the nature of international con-
flict post–Cold War. It is at a stage of reconstruction,
where responses to the changing nature of interna-
tional conflict are still being worked out. This phase
has been shaped primarily by two interconnected
transformations that have occurred after the Cold
War and have substantially changed the nature of
international conflict. The first transformation is the
shift from a bipolar world to a unipolar world.
During the Cold War, the conflict between the two
major superpowers shaped the global world and
essentially created a bipolar world. The focus of
international relations was on a balance of power
between the two superpowers, which meant that
intergroup conflicts were essentially kept in check.
However, with the end of the Cold War, the United
States emerged as the lone superpower. As a result, a
power vacuum was created around much of the
world, and there was no superpower to control
domestic and global affairs. Under the Cold War,
ethnic and religious identities had been held down
around the world under the communal mentality of
communism. However, with no superpower to keep
things in check, regional intergroup conflicts, with
ethnic and religious dimensions, began to flourish.
Conflicts in the Balkans, Bosnia, and Rwanda are
examples of the fallout from the transformation of a
bipolar to a unipolar world.
The second transformation that took place after
the Cold War is associated with the movement
toward economic, political, cultural, and techno-
logical global integration associated with global-
ization. After the Cold War, borders opened, and
a ripe arena for global integration of markets,
(c) 2012 Sage Publications, Inc. All Rights Reserved.
nation-states, cultures, and technologies developed.
Little research has been conducted on the relation-
ship between conflict and globalization. What
research has been done has focused on the debate
regarding the impact of globalization on the world.
On one side of the debate, there are advocates of
globalization who praise it for its free market capi-
talist economic system and the technological
advancements that have globally integrated the
world. On the other side of the debate, there are
critics who suggest that globalization is detrimental
because the Western homogenization it purports
damages culture, and it perpetuates poverty by
increasing the gap between the rich and the poor,
particularly in the poorer nations of the world.
Current Research
The many changes in the global system after
the Cold War have transformed how individu-
als, societies, and states interact with each other.
In terms of international conflict, the number
of international conflicts has decreased dramati-
cally, whereas the number of internal, intergroup
conflicts has increased. These conflicts tend to be
identified as ethnically based conflicts in which the
key actors are nonstate actors, and the key issues
are based on identity, culture, and/or religious
nationalism. Yet the conceptual theories employed
by conflict resolution theorists are still rooted in
materialist, realist, and secularist assumptions,
and they have, for the most part, been unable to
address the complexities of contemporary conflict
that include ethnic cleansing, civil war, religiously
inspired violence, and a global War on Terror. As a
result of the changing nature of international con-
flict, the field of international conflict resolution
has slowly responded, and the current work being
done tends to focus on four areas.
The first area focuses on strengthening the role
of the state. Although this may seem to be rooted
in political realism, it does not solely focus on
the traditional realist method of conflict resolution
of balancing power between states. Instead, it
responds to the fact that the newly integrated
global order has presented many challenges to the
concepts of national sovereignty and state auton-
omy, and by extension international order. In the
post–Cold War era, the number of failed states has
risen, and as a result, the field of international

conflict resolution has focused on two interrelated
areas. The first area looks at how to prevent failed
states, and the second area focuses on issues asso-
ciated with humanitarian intervention. Both areas
focus on failed states and the issues of human
security; the role of the state in conflict resolution;
and the role of international organizations, like the
United Nations, and nonstate actors within failed
states.
The second area of work being done by contem-
porary conflict resolution scholars to respond to
the changing nature of international conflict
focuses on the role of nonstate actors. This area of
work directly challenges political realist assump-
tions in that it is based on the assumption that
states are not the only key actors in politics and by
extension, in international conflict. It focuses on
two areas related to nonstate actors. The first area
examines the role of nonstate actors in violence
and perpetuating international conflict. It exam-
ines terrorist organizations, such as al Qaeda;
organized crime networks, such as drug cartels;
and rebel groups, such as armed militias and war-
lords. The second area of work examines the role
nonstate actors play in international conflict reso-
lution processes. It focuses on regional, national,
and transnational nongovernmental organizations
(NGOs), multinational corporations (MNCs), civil
society, faith-based actors and organizations, busi-
ness communities, and media conglomerates.
The third area of work examines the role reli-
gion can play in international conflict resolution.
This field of study developed out of the resurgence
of religious nationalism on the international scene
and the rise in religious terrorism. This area of
international conflict resolution is referred to as
religious conflict resolution. It directly challenges
realist-secular assumptions that claim that the role
religion would play in the world and in people’s
lives would decline and that only state actors
should be involved in politics and conflict resolu-
tion. The basic thesis of religious conflict resolu-
tion states that if religion plays a role in people’s
lives and if it played a role in perpetuating the
conflict, then it should at least be accounted for in
the resolution. Without accounting for religion,
the conflict resolution mechanisms and theories
fail to deal with the elements of the conflict and
miss the potential peacebuilding sources found in
the religions themselves.
(c) 2012 Sage Publications, Inc. All Rights Reserved.
Conflict and Conflict Resolution 265
The fourth and final area on which interna-
tional conflict resolution research focuses is tech-
nology. The technical revolution has created both
challenges and opportunities for international
conflict resolution, particularly in terms of global-
ized information and communication technology
in the form of the Internet. Although this area is
relatively new in international conflict resolution,
scholars and practitioners are primarily focusing
on two areas. The first area examines the effects
that the advancements in technology have on vio-
lence and conflict on a global scale. This research
examines the role of the Internet in international
affairs, as a medium both for proliferating political
propaganda and rhetoric and for establishing
transnational networks that support political vio-
lence. The second area focuses on how informa-
tion technology can be used as a peacebuilding
tool. This area examines how the technological
revolution has changed socialization and commu-
nication patterns and the impact this can have in
conflict zones. It focuses on how global access to
information technology can build transnational
peace networks; assist in diplomacy and dialogue;
help bridge the growing gap between developed
countries and developing countries; and aid gov-
ernment, private-sector organizations, and non-
state actors in conducting their work.
Megan Shore
See also Cold War; Ethnic Identity; Globalization,
Phenomenon of; International Relations;
Religious Identities; Security; Terrorism; United
Nations; War
Further Readings
Boulding, K. E. (1957). Organization and conflict.
Journal of Conflict Resolution, 1, 122–134.
Cheldelin, S., Druckman, D., & Fast, L. (Eds.). (2008).
Conflict: From analysis to intervention (2nd ed.). New
York: Continuum.
Deutsch, M., Coleman, P. T., & Marcus, E. (Eds.).
(2006). The handbook of conflict resolution: Theory
and practice (2nd ed.). San Francisco: Jossey-Bass.
Galtung, J. (1965). Institutionalized conflict resolution:
A theoretical paradigm. Journal of Peace Research, 2,
348–397.
Jeong, H.-W. (2000). Peace and conflict studies.
Aldershot, UK: Ashgate.
266 Confucianism
Juergensmeyer, M. (2008). Global rebellion: Religious
challenges to the secular state, from Christian militias
to al Qaeda. Berkeley: University of California Press.
Kriesberg, L. (2007). The conflict resolution field:
Origins, growth, and differentiation. In I. W. Zartman
(Ed.), Peacemaking in international conflict: Methods
and techniques (pp. 25–51). Washington, DC: United
States Institute for Peace.
Kriesberg, L. (2007). Constructive conflicts: From
escalation to resolution (3rd ed.). Lanham, MD:
Rowman & Littlefield.
Paczynska, A. (2008). Globalization. In S. Cheldelin, D.
Druckman, & L. Fast (Eds.), Conflict: From analysis
to intervention (2nd ed., pp. 217–220). New York:
Continuum.
Ramsbotham, O., Woodhouse, T., & Miall, H. (2005).
Contemporary conflict resolution: The prevention,
management and transformation of deadly conflicts
(2nd ed.). Cambridge, UK: Polity Press.
Shore, M. (2009). Religion and conflict resolution:
Christianity and South Africa’s truth and
reconciliation commission. Aldershot, UK: Ashgate.
Stern, P. C., & Druckman, D. (2000). International
conflict resolution after the Cold War. Washington,
DC: National Academy Press.
Conflict and Security, Global
See Global Conflict and Security
Confucianism
Confucianism is a philosophical system of beliefs,
sometimes referred to as a religion, instituted
in varying degrees during the past 2,500 years
throughout several East Asian nations—including
China, Japan, South Korea, Taiwan, Hong Kong,
Singapore, and Vietnam—and globally through
Asian diaspora communities. The English word
Confucianism can be traced back to 16th-century
Jesuit missionaries in China who used the term to
describe a tradition that had Chinese philosopher
Kung-Fuzi (551–478 BCE) as its figurehead.
Because Confucianism evolved within several
different cultures concurrently, there are cultural
differences in doctrinal emphases, expressions, and
(c) 2012 Sage Publications, Inc. All Rights Reserved.
manifestations. However, the positing of humans
within correct social and moral structures to
achieve harmony remained foundational within
the Confucian worldview. Sources often refer to
early or classical Confucianism, Neo-Confucian-
ism, and modern New Confucianism, which points
to various Confucian practices and philosophies
spanning different time periods. Confucianism has
had to coexist, although not always without ten-
sion, with several other philosophies/religions/
belief systems, and it has been integrated into
sociopolitical and economic structures of the East
Asian countries mentioned. Academics are investi-
gating the prevalence and relevance of Confucian-
ism today as it encounters modernity for the East
Asian nations mentioned, their diasporic commu-
nities, and the global community.
Early Confucianism
Kung-Fuzi (Confucius) was born in eastern China
to an aristocratic family during the Zhou Dynasty.
Supposedly founding his own school when he was
22 years old and teaching up to 3,000 students,
Confucius is most commonly associated with the
Analects of Confucius (Lunyu), a collection of
his sayings composed by his followers between
500 and 300 BCE. Confucius believed he was
rediscovering and promoting a philosophy that
extended back to ancient times. This philosophy
tried to explain the roots and develop theories
of human relationships to promote collective
and individual stability, prosperity, and harmony.
Confucius did not make theological assertions
about deities, gods/god, or the afterlife, although
Confucianists did discuss heaven’s relation to
humanity. Confucius’s work, along with that of
his followers Meng-zi (Mencius) (372–289 BCE),
author of the Four Books (Si Shu), and Xun-zi
(310?–211? BCE), formed the backbone of clas-
sical Confucian thought. Confucius has been
referred to as “the sage of all times.”
Generally, collective well-being was prioritized
over fulfilling individual desires and aspirations.
Humans were essentially social creatures who
could attain fulfillment by perfecting their indi-
vidual and social moral natures, which was a self-
realizing process. Confucian scholars debated the
essence of human nature, whether it was inher-
ently good and moral (Mencius) or not (Xunzi),