2. What are the dynamics of conflict?

Activity 1 - What are conflict dynamics?

Activity Tasks

Read - Conflict dynamics is concerned with how conflicts evolve through different stages of conflict. Read and make notes from pages 184-185 of Kirsch, M. (2017). Oxford IB Diploma Programme: Global Politics Course Companion to explore some of the models that can be used to understand conflicts.
Review - Review one of the following conflict models. Make a note of how it identifies the different stages of conflict evolution:
1. Model 1 - Galtung’s Triangle of Violence
2. Model 2 - The Ramsbotham Woodhouse Triangle
Discuss - What role do models play in the human sciences? How can we decide if one model is more useful than another?

Activity Tasks

Apply - Using one of the conflict dynamics models of your choice, apply your model to one of the case studies below by researching and noting down details of how your conflict has evolved:
1. Syrian Civil War - Syria: The story of the conflict
2. Armenia/Azerbaijan Conflict - The Nagorno-Karabakh Conflict: A Visual Explainer
3. The Arab Spring - How the Arab spring engulfed the Middle East – and changed the world
Create - Now try to visualise the conflict dynamics of your case study. Create a diagrammatic version of your conflict dynamic model to show the specific evolution of your conflict. Try using canva.com to design an infographic to visualise your conflict dynamics.
Examine - Go further by reading this article on how conflict dynamics models work. Add details of the other models to your notes.