Can we move beyond conflict?

This chapter examines one of the oldest and most difficult political problems: how to deal with conflicts that are so deeply entrenched that they seem virtually inevitable. It considers how societies that have been torn apart by war become peaceful again. The chapter suggests that the nature of a conflict can only be understood in the context of its unique environment and that no general theory can ever do justice to these complexities. At the same time, it suggests that we can still learn from how particular societies have dealt with their political challenges. Given the uniqueness of each conflict, this chapter examines the issues at stake, not in an abstract manner, but in a concrete political setting: the deeply entrenched conflict on the divided Korean peninsula, where hatred and constant tension continue to dominate politics even more than half a century after the Korean War. This chapter illuminates the patterns of progress and regress, conflict and cooperation, hatred and empathy, to better understand whether it is possible to move beyond conflict.