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Transforming Power Relationships: Leadership, Risk, and Hope. IHS Political Science Series No. 135, May 2013

Read, James H. and Shapiro, Ian (2013) Transforming Power Relationships: Leadership, Risk, and Hope. IHS Political Science Series No. 135, May 2013. [Policy Paper]

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    Abstract

    Chronic communal conflicts resemble the prisoner’s dilemma. Both communities prefer peace to war. But neither trusts the other, viewing the other’s gain as its own loss, so potentially shared interests often go unrealized. Achieving positive-sum outcomes from apparently zero-sum struggles requires a kind of riskembracing leadership. To succeed leaders must: a) see power relations as potentially positive-sum; b) strengthen negotiating adversaries instead of weakening them; and c) demonstrate hope for a positive future and take great personal risks to achieve it. Such leadership is exemplified by Nelson Mandela and F.W. de Klerk in the South African democratic transition. To illuminate the strategic dilemmas Mandela and de Klerk faced, we examine the work of Robert Axelrod, Thomas Schelling, and Josep Colomer, who highlight important dimensions of the problem but underplay the role of risk-embracing leadership. Finally we discuss leadership successes and failures in the Northern Ireland settlement and the Israeli-Palestinian conflict.

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    Item Type: Policy Paper
    Uncontrolled Keywords: Zero-sum conflict; variable-sum conflict; prisoner’s dilemma; South Africa; Israeli-Palestinian conflict; Northern Ireland Settlement; power relations; conflict; cooperation; risk-embracing leadership.
    Subjects for non-EU documents: EU policies and themes > External relations > conflict resolution/crisis management
    Subjects for EU documents: UNSPECIFIED
    EU Series and Periodicals: UNSPECIFIED
    EU Annual Reports: UNSPECIFIED
    Series: Series > Institute for Advanced Studies (Vienna), Department of Political Science > IHS Political Science Series
    Depositing User: Phil Wilkin
    Official EU Document: No
    Language: Czech
    Date Deposited: 28 Aug 2013 10:04
    Number of Pages: 44
    Last Modified: 28 Aug 2013 10:04
    URI: http://aei.pitt.edu/id/eprint/43303

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