Happy New Year! During our first week back from Winter Break, we began to prepare for our Athens versus Melos role play. In addition to reading background information about ancient Greece, Athens, and Melos, and learning about the different roles, we looked at the Workable Peace Framework for handling disagreements and conflicts.
The Workable Peace Framework is represented as a diagram. The center of the diagram is a circle labeled “Sources of Conflict” that is divided into quadrants. There is one category in each of the quadrants: Identities, beliefs, emotions, and interests. We examined how identities, beliefs, emotions, and interests relate to each other when a conflict arises. We used the example of a teenager who wants a later curfew time. As we filled the different quadrants, we realized that the lines that separate them are not well defined. Certain words can be part of more than one category or move between categories depending on how they are framed.
On either side of the “Sources of Conflict” are acronyms for the words “WARS” and “PEACE.” Each letter represents a step towards war or peace during a conflict. I noticed that the first step towards either war or peace sets up the direction the conflict might take. In a two-sided conflict, if one side takes one step in the direction of peace, the other side may be more likely to take another step in the direction of peace. The same might be true for going in the direction of war. I think people’s first reactions to conflict are critical for this reason. The first reactions of either side will probably determine how the two sides will interact with each other and with the conflict itself.
For the most part, though, it does not seem like people automatically try to seek peace as their first reaction to conflict. Many times, people stop trying to meet each other’s needs, which is the first step in the direction of war. People tend to think about only what they want without trying to negotiate or compromise anything. When the stakes of the conflict are high, such as between two countries, conflict resolution in the direction of peace is necessary, and the two sides each may have to give up something to achieve peace.
In the case of Athens versus Melos, there is also a difference in resources and power between the two sides. Athens clearly has a more powerful military and navy, and Melos is at a disadvantage in this way. Athens wants to force Melos into joining the Delian League. This would require Melos paying annual tribute to Athens and sending military troops and ships to Athens. This would make Athens even more powerful as it expands. Melos does not want to be overtaken by Athens and have its oligarchy replaced with a democracy. Both perspectives are very different, but it seems like Athens is taking a generally offensive approach, while Melos is taking a generally defensive approach. The directions of the role play involve the class being split into groups to negotiate this conflict in the direction of peace.