PEACE

Broadcast starting December 5, 2007

It's easy to say "give peace a chance," but why is that so hard to do? In this program, we explore the art and science of resolving interpersonal conflicts peacefully, examine some common obstacles to peace, sit in on a mediation session between a landlord and his angry tenant, and probe the role of interfaith dialog in promoting peace. Guests include Robert Mnookin, director of the Harvard Negotiation Research Project; peace psychologist Dan Christie, professor of psychology at the Ohio State University; psychologist Dacher Keltner, founding director of The Berkeley Center for the Development of Peace and Well-being; storyteller Heather Forest, founding director of Story Arts; Imam Omar Abu-Namous, imam of the Islamic Cultural Center of New York; Dean James Parks Morton, president of the Interfaith Center of New York; Venerable T. Kenjitsu Nakagaki, president of the Buddhist Council of New York, and Rabbi Gerry Serotta, co-chair of Rabbis for Human Rights, North America. Plus making time for peace... commentary by John Hockenberry.

In an introductory essay, host Dr. Fred Goodwin reflects on the role of trust and deterrence in ensuring peace. Communication and a willingness to extend trust are important in forwarding interpersonal peace, but he suggests that these principles do not apply to international relations. As an example of misplaced trust in international relations, he cites British Prime Minister Neville Chamberlain's ill-fated declaration on signing a non aggression pact with Adolf Hitler in 1938, "I believe it is peace for our time."

Next up, The Infinite Mind's Devorah Klahr reports on a professional mediation. Gerbert Bonhomme is Verna Monrose's new landlord, and the two do not get along. To settle their dispute, they have come to Community Mediation Services, an organization in Queens that offers free mediation. The two meet in a small room and sit at opposite ends of the table. Their mediator, Z.Q. Abdu-Shahid sits between them. He asks them to explain their situation. Bonhomme feels that Monrose is harassing him. Monrose says Bonhomme is harassing her. The mediator listens, only interrupting when the conversation escalates into an argument. "What would it take to resolve this matter?" Abdu-Shahid asks them both. Then they write up and sign a contract, a synthesis of Bonhomme and Monrose's stipulations. Bonhomme wants Monrose to speak nicely to her. Monrose says she wants Bonhomme to stop talking to her "like I'm nothing." Afterwards, Bonhomme says he will try to avoid arguments with Monrose. She says that the next time she suspects that he is harassing her, she will calmly ask him about his intentions. "Next time, I'll ask," she says.

To contact or learn more about Community Mediation Services visit the Community Mediation Services web site or write to 89-64 163rd Street, Jamaica, New York 11432.

Next, Dr. Fred Goodwin interviews Robert Mnookin, professor of law at Harvard Law School and director of the Harvard Negotiation Research Project. A common problem in mediating disputes, Mnookin says, is that the parties involved tend to see the situation in "zero sum" terms, that is, "If I win, you lose and if you win, I lose." He encourages all parties in the negotiation to find solutions that will benefit everyone. Complex negotiations often involve third parties negotiating on behalf of the involved parties. Very often the negotiator's interests are not aligned with the interests of the party he or she is representing, another potential stumbling block to optimal resolution of the conflict. He emphasizes two complementary skills for effective negotiation, empathy and assertiveness. While he calls himself "a negotiation imperialist," he says that it's not always appropriate to negotiate with a hostile party. As an example, Mnookin points to the opportunity British Prime Minister Winston Churchill had to negotiate with Italy's leader Benito Mussolini in 1940. Churchill was right to turn down Mussolini's offer to talk, says Mnookin, as news of the negotiations would have dispirited the British people and have interrupted the government's efforts to rally them for war.

To learn more about negotiation or to contact Robert Mnookin, visit the web site for the Program on Negotiation at Harvard Law School or write to The Program on Negotiation at Harvard Law School, 513 Pound Hall, Cambridge, Massachusetts, 02138

Next, the Infinite Mind's Emily Fisher talks with storyteller Heather Forest, founder of the cultural arts organization Story Arts. Ms. Forest tells a story from Africa called "The Red and Blue Coat." Once there were two friends, famous throughout their village for the closeness of their friendship. One day, the village trickster decided to make the two friends fight. He made a coat. Its right side was blue and its left side was red. Making sure the two friends saw him, he walked between them. The friends exclaimed on the coat's beauty, but soon exchanged cross words and then blows as they argued over the coat's color. In the middle of their fight, the trickster returned, this time walking towards them. The two men stopped fighting and accused the trickster of making them fight. "You were both wrong and both right," he tells them. "You're fighting because you only looked at my coat from your own point of view."

After a short break, Dr. Fred Goodwin interviews peace psychologist Dan Christie, professor of psychology at the Ohio State University and Dacher Keltner, associate professor of psychology at the University of California, Berkeley and founding director of The Berkeley Center for the Development of Peace and Well-being. Dr. Christie explains that peace psychology involves looking at the structural underpinnings of violence and peace. Often members of different groups fight when they perceive that another group is benefiting at their cost. For instance, in South Africa many whites have become more prejudiced after the dismantling of apartheid and the institution of majority rule, says Dr. Christie. He says he thinks its important for psychologists to "debunk notions of biological determinism." While we may have biologically based aggressive instincts, he says war and fighting are not inevitable. Dr. Dacher Keltner discusses the evolution of alternative instincts towards altruism and ways in which peaceful passions and values can be cultivated.

Next, Dr. Fred Goodwin moderates a round table discussion that explores why religion has so often been used to justify violence and the role that religious leaders can play in promoting peace. Participating in the discussion are Imam Omar Abu-Namous, imam of the Islamic Cultural Center of New York; Dean James Parks Morton, president of the Interfaith Center of New York and the former dean of the Episcopalian cathedral St. John the Divine; Venerable T. Kenjitsu Nakagaki, president of the Buddhist Council of New York, and Rabbi Gerry Serotta, co-chair of Rabbis for Human Rights, North America and associate rabbi at Temple Shalom in Chevy Chase, Maryland. All state that their religions include principles that support peaceful interactions with people of other religions. Together they discuss the problems that arise when politics and issues of national identity become entwined in religion.

To contact T. Kenjitsu Nakagaki or learn more about his work, visit the web site for The New York Buddhist Church or write to him at The New York Buddhist Church, 331 Riverside Drive, New York, New York 10025-3421

To contact Rabbi Gerry Serotta or learn more about his work click here or write to him at Temple Shalom, 8401 Grubb Road, Chevy Chase, Maryland 20815-3000

To contact Dean James Parks Morton or learn more about his work in forwarding interfaith dialog, visit the web site for The Interfaith Center of New York or write to him at The Interfaith Center of New York, 40 East 30th Street, New York, New York, 10016 .

To contact Imam Omar Abu-Namous or learn more about the Islamic Cultural Center of New York write to him at The Islamic Cultural Center of New York, 1711 Third Avenue, New York, New York 10029

Finally, commentator John Hockenberry shares thoughts about peace that he wrote from a hillside in the Berkshires. Peace is always available to us, he suggests, but we need to make time for it.

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