This is the third edition of a writing project that began in the early 1980s. The authors' goal then, as now, was to present their ideas about the life history of conflict to a growing community of scholars, practitioners, and students. How does conflict originate? What decisions are faced by the individuals, groups, organizations, and nations that become involved in conflict? Why does conflict escalate? Why does it eventually run out of steam? What can be done to more conflict in the direction of settlement and resolution? As in the first two editions of this book, the authors' philosophy is to illustrate the answers to these questions with copious examples drawn from conflict in many realms of life.

The motivation for revising this book a third time is to keep up with world events and scholarly advances. While the basic structure of the book remains the same as before, virtually every section has been revised and many new sections and examples have been added. The authors have deepened their coverage of ethnic and regional conflict and of the role of culture in conflict. In addition, there is fresh material on such topics as conflict group mobilization, narratives and metaphors, violence, nonviolent resistance, ripeness, de-escalatory spirals, conflict resolution training, peace keeping, peace building, forgiveness and reconciliation. The authors also direct attention to recent conflict phenomena such as terrorism, schoolyard killings, and peace processes such as those in South Africa and Northern Ireland.

Earlier editions of this book have been used in courses on social conflict in fields as diverse as psychology, sociology, peace studies, business, political scient and international relations. As before, this edition is appropriate for use as a main course text or as supplementary reading.