Conflict Resolution

Advanced Problem-Solving Strategies

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Negotiation

Helping the Other Side Succeed

Sep 12, 2010 | by Joe Markowitz | 0 comment

In his press conference on September 10, 2010, President Obama commented on the re-opening of peace talks between Israelis and Palestinians as follows: And one of the goals I think that I’ve set for myself and for my team is to make sure that President Abbas and Prime Minister Netanyahu start thinking about how can they help the other succeed, as opposed to how do they figure out a way for the other to fail.  Because if they’re going to be successful in bringing about what they now agree is the best course of action for their people, the only way they’re going to succeed is if they are seeing the world through the other person’s eyes.  And that requires […]

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Making War While Making Peace

Dec 04, 2009 | by Joe Markowitz | 0 comment

I’ve been debating Afghanistan policy on my political blog and elsewhere, and here will reprint the post I did on that subject: Politically speaking, it is not a viable position simply to suggest that we pull US and NATO forces out of Afghanistan, because that implies that we don’t care whether the Taliban returns to power and makes Afghanistan into a haven for Al Qaeda once again. Anyone who wants to talk about Afghanistan in a way that might be listened to has the obligation to show that a different strategy has at least as good a chance of fulfilling the objective of keeping the Taliban out of power as our current strategy. One organization that seems to be addressing […]

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The New Earth Army

Nov 16, 2009 | by Joe Markowitz | 8 comments

The new movie The Men Who Stare at Goats is a comic take-off on the true story of an Army program to incorporate New Age concepts into the military. In the movie, Jeff Bridges plays an Army Colonel who trains an experimental unit of “Jedi warriors” who bring psychic powers and peacemaking concepts into modern war-fighting. George Clooney plays the most talented soldier trained by this unit, who actually does seem to have psychic powers. Of course, most of the ideas propagated by this so-called New Earth Army, which was based on a real program called the First Earth Battallion, were crazy, did not work, and were scoffed at by the regular Army. Just as you are ready to laugh […]

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Litigating efficiently

Sep 22, 2009 | by Joe Markowitz | 0 comment

A hot topic in the litigation field during these bad economic times is how to reduce litigation costs. Numerous articles and discussions have appeared about alternative billing or staffing arrangements that can save clients money, presumably by reducing the amount of time spent on activities that do not advance cases toward trial. I agree that billing by the hour sometimes creates perverse incentives for attorneys, just as it does in any profession that bills by the hour or by the procedure. I also agree that over-staffing and engaging in unnecessary work drives up legal bills. But I also think that discussions about litigating more efficiently sometimes miss the larger point. The best way to reduce litigation costs is not to […]

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