Parenting Coordinator

Negotiation is the most effective response to conflict when both parties stand to gain something, each has some power, and there isinterdependency. Negotiation offers flexibility and viability other responses, such as Avoidance, Confrontation, and Diffusion lack. The process of negotiation involves listening to both sides and seeking out common areas of interest and agreement. There are four essential skills team leaders need to learn and apply to effectively resolve disagreements using the negotiation process:

Diagnosis: Recognizing areas of understanding and areas of differences.
Initiation: Bringing the disagreements to the surface.
Listening: Hearing not only what the other person is saying, but the emotional aspects as well.

Problem Solving: A process with numerous steps including data gathering, Considering its impact, examining alternatives, identifying solutions, and developing a plan of action. In order to resolve their differences, you should bring the parties together and, with the assistance of a third party, ask the following questions: What is the problem, as you perceive it? What do you want or need from the other person? What first step can you take to resolve the problem? Each party should be questioned while the other listens, asking questions only for clarification. Then the parties discuss a mutual definition and understanding of the problem. They should be allowed to express their feelings and get hostility out at this stage, but both parties must be willing to admit partial responsibility for the problem. This requires good listening, low defensiveness, and an ability to stay in a problem-solving mode. Agreement should be reached on what steps will be taken to resolve the problem, and should be put in writing in order to prevent later misunderstandings.

The key to the negotiation process is exposing the different positions as early as possible. If conflict is left to simmer and then erupt into open warfare, it becomes much more difficult to resolve.

Sources of Conflict among Project Teams

The number one conflict developed from goals and priority issues. Previous literature presented the number one source of conflict as being disagreements over schedules, which ranked at number seven in Kezsbom's study. It makes sense that goals and priority issues have risen on the list as organizations have evolved into multi-project, streamlined environments. In these new complex, hybrid organizations, employees often find themselves serving on a variety of project teams, being led by a variety of project mangers while reporting directly to functional managers. This sets the stage for Kezsbom's third conflict category: communication and information flow. When reporting relationships are complex it becomes more difficult to share information.

Personality and interpersonal issues, ranked in the number two category by those in high technology environments, presented another dramatic change from previous studies. This change may be related to the increased use of cross-functional, self-directed teams in which individuals with technical backgrounds must rely on the work of others to get their own work done. This specifically illustrates how important it is to provide training in communication and interpersonal skills to cross-functional team members, while emphasizing an appreciation of the value of differences.

Overall, this study provides valuable insights for organizations, project leaders, and project team members. Because goal and priority issues frequently change, communication must be improved. Kezsbom (1992) makes these recommendations:

More frequent and effective upward, downward, and team communications.
More frequent meetings and status review sessions to increase communication between functions and minimize inconsistent perceptions of project goals and priorities.
Increase human relations training and facilitate more active team-building efforts.
Organizations must be aware that conflict grows from differences, but so does innovation. If project teams are properly trained in human relations and team-building skills, production and quality measures will increase.

No matter what kind of team it is, no method of managing conflict will work without mutual respect and a willingness to disagree and resolve disagreements. Donald Weiss, president of Self-Management Communication, Inc., believes each person on the team must be willing to take the following four steps when a team meeting erupts into a storm (Weiss, 1997): listen, acknowledge, respond, and resolve remaining differences.

Listen: To hear what someone else is saying is not the same as listening. To listen effectively means clearing your mind of distractions and concentrating not only on the words but also on nonverbal gestures, which often convey ninety percent of what the person is trying to say. When resolving disagreements, you often have to deal with feelings first.

Acknowledge: You can acknowledge people's positions without agreeing with them. Show this with statements like, "I understand that you're angry," "If I understand you, you think we should", or "Let's explore your opinion further." You may still disagree with them, but at least they know you've heard them.

Respond: You've listened and acknowledged what the other person is saying. Now it is your turn to be heard. If you're offering criticism of your teammate's ideas, make sure it's constructive, and if you're disagreeing with them, be ready to offer an alternative. Be willing, also, to be questioned or challenged, while avoiding defensiveness when you answer.

Resolve remaining differences: Define the real problem by looking for what's causing the disagreement. Then analyze it into its manageable parts. Now you can generate alternative solutions to the problem and select the alternative on which everyone can agree.

For individuals to work effectively in teams they must be able to clearly communicate their ideas, to listen, and be willing to disagree. Although it is difficult, learning to appreciate each other's differences reflects a team's ability to manage conflict. When conflict occurs we must not turn our backs and hope it will go away. Instead, we must learn to tolerate it, even welcome it, for well-managed conflict can be the source of change and innovation. As more and more organizations attempt to make the difficult transition to teams, they must develop and provide programs for their employees which offer training in conflict management skills and techniques. I hope the ideas in this paper can help organizations and their teams begin, or continue, this challenging task.

POLITICS

The Road Ahead in Afghanistan: Toward a Diplomatic Surge?

So what do Tehran, New Delhi, and Beijing have in common? Quite simply, they have a common enemy in the Taliban. But all three states are also wary of seeing an indefinite US presence in Cen­tral Asia.

The Afghan problem, it seems, almost inevitably comes back to the all-important role of Pakistan. Because of its porous border with Afghanistan, Pakistan is frustrating coalition efforts to pursue the Taliban and al-Qaeda. Pakistan, in its mutual competition with India, is fueling regional insecu­rity. This explains why NATO–ISAF commanders acknowledge that they are dealing with two sides of the same coin. Paki­stan has a lot to lose from a coalition failure in Afghanistan, for example, its territorial integrity, or the loss of the United States as a staunch ally.

Islamabad also faces more practical problems caused by the continuing conflict in Afghanistan, such as a renewed influx of Afghan refugees. Al­though close to 2 million have returned from Pakistani camps since 2002, some 300,000 or so remain across the border. Iran faces a similar problem. Aside from humanitarian considerations, both Tehran and Islamabad incur considerable costs from attending to the basic needs of that many extra human beings. A peaceful solution to Afghanistan’s wars, which have now destabilized the region for some 30 years, should be welcomed by most of that country’s near and distant neighbors. And it is within reach.

I. Find the equivalents in the text:

Настороженно относиться; исключительно важный; прозрачная граница; нестабильность в регионе; территориальная целостность, надежный союзник; приток беженцев; нести значительные расходы; территориальная целостность; не за горами;

II. Answer the questions:

1) What states are Tehran, New Delhi, and Beijing, Islamabad capitals of?

2) What do you know about the Taliban and al-Qaeda?

3) What is ISAF?

4) What are the main problems of the region?

III. Make a report on the other regions in the world where there is a threat of terrorism.

UK Faces 'Generation of Conflict'

Britain's armed forces must prepare for a "generation of conflict", the head of the Army has said.

General Sir Richard Dannatt's comments, released by the Ministry of Defence, were made to a Royal United Services Institute conference in June.

Gen Dannatt warned of the threat from a "strident Islamist shadow" over the world and the need for "some form of success" in Iraq to combat it.

He said the Army was facing a global "conflict of values and ideas".

At the conference, which members of the media were not allowed to attend, Gen Dannatt said the Army had held discussions on how to prepare for the possibility of "a generation of conflict".

He said troops must have the right training and equipment, but should also be prepared for a much longer fight for "hearts and minds".

"The heady appeal of 'go first, go fast, go home' has to be balanced with a willingness and a structure 'to go strong and go long'", the general said.

'Extremism and jihad'

Gen Dannatt stressed the need for some progress in Iraq and "significant achievement" in Afghanistan.

Gen Dannatt said Britain's mission in Iraq must be to help "construct a modern Islamic state in the tinderbox that is Iraq in the face of extremism and jihad".

He added in Afghanistan the Army was "on the edge of a new and deadly great game", referring to a phrase popularised by Rudyard Kipling.

The author used the term to describe the strategic battle between Britain and Russia during the 19th and early 20th Centuries.

Foreign Secretary David Miliband said he believed Gen Dannatt was referring to the UK's role in a long-term "military, diplomatic and ideological" battle against terrorism and extremism.

"Anyone who tells you there's a short-term fix in Afghanistan isn't telling you the truth," Mr Miliband told BBC Radio 4's Today programme.

Gen Dannatt also warned the high esteem in which the Army was held by British people was "fragile and under no circumstances must we take this for granted".

It "may be increasingly difficult to gain" the public's respect and trust, he added.

I. Find the equivalents in the text:

не сдаваться; иметь большое влияние; безрассудный призыв; пороховая бочка; долгосрочный; краткосрочный; считать само собой разумеющимся; ни при каких обстоятельствах.

II. Explain the expressions from the text:

a)"strident Islamist shadow"

b)"conflict of values and ideas";

c)“fight for "hearts and minds".

III. Answer the questions:

1) What does General Dannatt understand by “the need for some progress in Iraq and "significant achievement" in Afghanistan”?

2) Why do you think members of the media were not allowed to attend the conference?

3) Who and what is Rudyard Kipling? What were his political views?

4) Why does General Dannatt think that there is the possibility of "a generation of conflict"? And what does he mean by that?

Ethnic Conflicts

Kurds are the fourth largest ethnic group in the Middle East, and the largest one without their own state. They live in the territories of Turkey, Iran, Iraq, Syria, Armenia and Azerbaijan. Kurdish ethnic conflict in Turkey existed since the very early years of the Turkish Republic and continues to this day. In Turkey, the government has attempted to deny the very existence of Kurds as a separate people.

The Kurds seem further from autonomy or independence today than in the past. In part, the cause lies in their disunity in language, religious behavior, and especially tribal structure.

Some of the frequent Kurdish revolts in the twentieth century sought autonomy; others aimed at complete independence in a sovereign state. But the fate of all of these insurrections was the same. No Kurdish movement has succeeded over the long run even in extracting major concessions

Although the Kurds are easily distinguishable from the rest of the world, they are by no means united. Kurds are set apart from their neighbors chiefly by language. Kurdish belongs to the Indo-European family and is a close relative of Iranian. Yet Kurdish is not at all a unified tongue. It is divided into at least three major dialects.

Religious behavior also divides the Kurds. To be sure, the overwhelming majority are Sunnis of the Shafii rite, a version of Islam not widely practiced by others in this region. However, Kurds seem drawn to various dervish brotherhoods and to unorthodox Islamic sects. Even more significant, many tribal leaders also combine hereditary religious leadership with their temporal authority. This combination serves to intensify tribal distinctions among Kurds.
Tribal structure is no doubt an important impediment to a national movement

There are the instrumental and the symbolic theories which explain the sources of the ethnic conflict. While the instrumental theory argues that the nation and nationalism, thus the ethnic conflict, were artificial modern phenomena, and

invented by the elite, the symbolic theory brings historical explanations based on the ethnic symbols, shared cultural values and myths. The instrumentalist theory conceives the ethnicidentity* as created and constructed by the ethnic elite. The instrumental theory also argues that the modernization and the economic factors were the fundamental sources of the ethnic conflict. On the other hand, the symbolic theory does not associate the ethnic conflict with the modern era. According to the symbolists, there is continuity between the past and present time, and the ethnicity concept is not invented. Symbols, myths and cultural values are the major constructors of the ethnicity

*****

*Ethnicidentity – ethnic identity

I. Find the equivalents in the text:

уступки; сунниты шафиитского толка; принадлежат различным братствам дервишей; светская власть; помеха; утверждать; этническая идентичность; с другой стороны; непрерывность; этническая принадлежность.

II. Answer the questions:

1) What prevents the Kurds from unity?

2) What are the theories explaining the Kurdish nationalism?

3) What, do you think, are the ways of solution/settlement of the ethnic conflict between the Kurds and the Turkey?

4) Find information and make a report on some other ethnic conflicts in the world.