Morton Deutsch International Center for Cooperation & Conflict Resolution

In a time where it’s easy to retreat into our own perspectives, creating space for dialogue matters more than ever.

Across Columbia, initiatives like Listening Tables and facilitated conversations are showing that it’s possible to engage across difference with intention, respect, and care.

Read more here: https://news.columbia.edu/news/columbia-setting-example-how-move-forward

Nelson Mandela spent 27 years in prison. When he walked out, he had to negotiate with the people who put him there.

He didn't trust them. He said so.

He negotiated anyway because he had learned to separate what he felt from what he decided.

His own words: "Until I changed myself, I could not change others."

Most leaders in conflict wait to feel ready before they act differently. Mandela's insight is that the internal work comes first. Before the negotiation. Before the strategy. Before anything else.

The CIQ framework calls this Self-Level conflict intelligence, specifically Emotional Regulation: managing your own internal responses to conflict before attempting to influence anyone else's.

It is the first of the five CIQ levels because nothing else works without it.

Not a personality trait. A learnable competency. It is what the CIQ Lab builds.

To learn more about the CIQ Executive Program and to sign up for the info session on April 30th, 1-2pm (on Zoom), sign up here: https://teacherscollege.zoom.us/webinar/register/WN_qJpKsw_PSX2THhTc0JNJjw #/registration

Why is political polarization so hard to reduce?

According to Peter T. Coleman, it’s because we’re treating a “cloud problem” like a “clock problem.”

Polarization isn’t caused by a single event or figure. It’s a complex, system-level pattern shaped by neurological wiring, social identity, media ecosystems, incentives, and leadership norms. Like addiction, it reinforces itself across multiple layers of society.

Research shows that many well-intentioned bridge-building efforts have limited long-term impact, not because they are misguided, but because they operate at the micro level while polarization is sustained at the macro level.

Reducing toxic polarization requires shifting incentives, reshaping norms, and building new habits over time.

It’s not simple. But it is possible. Read more here: https://www.apa.org/monitor/2026/03/coleman-reduce-political-polarization

Meet the 2025–2026 Research Fellows at the MD-ICCCR!

From studying political polarization and leadership conflict to exploring cross-cultural cooperation and difficult conversations, these scholars are pushing forward research that helps people navigate differences more constructively.

Congratulations to this year’s fellows:
Nicole Borunda
Lan Phan, Ph.D.
Diego Ramos Ochoa
Mike Friedmann
Pedro Franco

We’re proud to support the next generation of researchers advancing the future of conflict studies!

Did you know shared goals reduce conflict more effectively than dialogue alone?

Classic research by Muzafer Sherif in the Robbers Cave experiments demonstrated that simply bringing rival groups together to talk did not reduce hostility. What worked was the introduction of superordinate goals, challenges neither group could solve without the other.

Later work grounded in interdependence theory by Morton Deutsch showed why: when people perceive their outcomes as positively linked, cooperation becomes rational and mistrust declines.

Dialogue can build understanding.

But shared goals change incentives.

Ever wonder what the MD in MD-ICCCR stands for?

It honors the founder of the center, Morton Deutsch, a pioneering social psychologist whose work helped lay the foundation for modern conflict resolution.

Deutsch’s groundbreaking research on cooperation and competition revealed a powerful insight: the way relationships are structured determines whether conflict becomes destructive or constructive. When people see their goals as linked, trust and creativity grow. When goals are framed as win-lose, mistrust and escalation follow.

His work reshaped how we understand negotiation, leadership, education, and peacebuilding, and continues to guide research and practice at the Morton Deutsch International Center for Cooperation and Conflict Resolution today.

Conflict is inevitable. Destructive conflict is not.

Recruiting Participants for the Moving Through Conflict Study!

We are conducting a study about how movement influences the way individuals think, feel, and behave when confronted with politically and morally polarizing issues like abortion, government surveillance, and immigration. This is a minimal risk study, although you may experience some discomfort writing about politically and morally polarizing topics and/or fatigue from engaging in a simple physical task. Participants must be adults, 18+ years old.

How to Participate

Step 1: Complete an Eligibility Screening Survey (~5 minutes): https://tccolumbia.qualtrics.com/jfe/form/SV_1YvA94IBhFoAeWO. There is no compensation for completing the eligibility screening.

Step 2: If eligible, complete Session 1 Survey online (~15-20 minutes). Those who complete this step will have the option to enter their email address into a drawing for one of two $50 Amazon gift cards. Email addresses are stored separately from survey responses. The chances of receiving a gift card are approximately 2 in 105. Only the two people whose names are drawn will be contacted via email to receive their gift card.

Step 3: Come to the lab at Teachers College (New York City) to complete a simple physical task and write about a politically and morally polarizing topic that you hold a strong opinion about and is personally important to you (~45-60 minutes). Participants who complete this step will have the option to be emailed a $20 Amazon gift card.

For more information, email Nicole: [email protected].

IRB Protocol #: 25-175

In a fractured world, the question isn’t how to eliminate conflict, it’s how to live with difference without destruction.

Decades of social science show that human flourishing depends on building systems where conflict no longer defaults to violence, domination, or dehumanization.

A reflection from Peter Coleman on what can serve as our North Star in uncertain times. Read more here: https://pc84.medium.com/what-is-our-north-star-448b8da29184

Did you know that much of today’s political power is generated by splitting — sharpening moral boundaries, amplifying fear, and turning disagreement into identity-based conflict?

This strategy works quickly, but it leaves behind mistrust, exclusion, and fragile institutions. Research on conflict suggests another path: leadership that contains disagreement rather than weaponizing it, building resilience instead of outrage.

Read more here: https://pc84.medium.com/our-politics-is-running-on-fission-and-it-is-unsustainable-9f666f7fb857

Empathy has long been treated as the cure for political division. But research suggests empathy alone may actually exhaust us and deepen polarization.

Compassion offers something different: care without collapse, concern without emotional flooding, and accountability alongside dignity. If we want conflict that doesn’t combust, compassion may be the skill democracy needs most. Read more here: https://pc84.medium.com/weve-been-seeking-the-wrong-thing-eef0770771bd

In an age of deep division, Emile Bruneau’s research offers a powerful reminder: healing doesn’t always start with speaking, it starts with listening, and with being heard.

His work shows that dialogue isn’t one-size-fits-all. Those with more power need to listen. Those who feel unheard need space to speak and to have their experiences accurately reflected back, without debate.

Being heard restores dignity, agency, and trust. And it can shift attitudes even without agreement.

Peacebuilding isn’t magic. It’s method.

Read more here: https://pc84.medium.com/the-radical-power-of-hearing-or-being-heard-537bcfa4313b