Must We Fight?: From the Battlefield to the Schoolyard: A New Perspective on Violent Conflict and Its Prevention. (Nonfiction).(Brief Article)

EDITED BY WILLIAM L. URY. Jossey-Bass, $19.95 (140p) ISBN 0-7879-6103-5

Ury, co-author of the bestselling Getting to Yes and a director at Harvard Law School's Program on Negotiation, observes that, in most cases, conflict between two parties involves a "third side"-- "the community in which the combatants, and their dispute, are embedded." Whether the conflict takes place in inner-city Boston, between Hindus and Muslims in India or in apartheid South Africa, Ury argues that the solution to "containing, resolving, and preventing" violence lies in activating this third group, whether it means involving independent witnesses, having "community talks" or mobilizing the …