Doug NollI'm called in when human dynamics are getting in the way of strategic leadership execution.

Elusive Peace: How Modern Diplomatic Strategies Could Better Resolve World Conflicts

16 Mar 2011 · 2 min

Watch on YouTube

1:58

In this YouTube excerpt, the speaker argues that even the most entrenched violent actors—those who derive power from chaos—can be mediated if a skilled facilitator understands their underlying interests and the human brain’s biophysiology. Violence is portrayed as an energy‑intensive, inefficient tool, and the speaker suggests that mediators can teach alternative, lower‑energy strategies that satisfy the same deeper needs. The core claim is that the brain processes peace and conflict uniformly across cultures, so knowledge of human biophysiology can be leveraged to design universal mediation techniques applicable from family disputes to international wars. The segment sets up the premise of the larger "Elusive Peace" series, promising a framework that uses neuroscience to transform conflict into cooperative outcomes.

Chapters

It's possible to mediate evil, but it takes a lot of patience and it takes a lot of knowledge and insight by the mediator in working with people, because evil is extremely difficult, especially when it involves violence and war. There are people who don't think they will benefit from peace. There are people who believe that their power is best derived from chaos and violence. Typically, those people don't have any other tools other than the violence. It's what they learned, it's what they grew up with, it's what they use to maintain their power. A skillful mediator can look at that and help these people engage in a conversation that teaches them about what their real interests, needs, goals, and desires are, so that they can see that violence is only one tool. For achieving the, the well-meaning, well-being in life that they're seeking. So what's really interesting is that violence takes a huge amount of energy, it takes a huge amount of effort, it takes a huge amount of resources, and it becomes all-consuming. And what's amazing as a mediator is when you can teach people that there are other tools, there are other ways that use less energy, less violence, less anxiety, and they can get even more than what they're seeking. Elusive Peace is going to show you that human conflict whether it's in the home, in the community, in the nation, or across nations, is exactly the same. The human brain processes peace and conflict identically around the world regardless of culture. So what Elusive Peace will show you is how mediators can use the knowledge of human biophysiology to help bring peace to the table.