Deëscalation tip #39

 Can entire nations be deëscalated?

Yes, but the key is to understand both the limits and transformative possibilities of leadership. Wait! you say...isn't our evolving culture supposed to do away with leadership so that everyone is free and equal?

No. Not if you wish to move ahead with the transformations we need out of destructive conflict into constructive conflict. As trainer and nonviolence author Rivera Sun terms it, we need "leaderful" movements.

The key is what sort of leaders? In the field of conflict transformation we note that if someone benefits financially, in status, or in power from the eruption or continuation of destructive conflict, they are part of the conflict industry and should never be in leadership positions. 

When the "champion" of an identity group or nation refuses to meet with anyone from the "enemy," and successfully portrays that as being the fighting leader needed, that person is a dysfunctional leader if the desire is more peace, more progress, less destruction. 

Choosing a leader or group of leaders who are trying for transformation instead of power, status, or wealth, is the track toward deëscalation of destructive conflict and that can scale up or down, from a small group to a nation.