Thousands of Americans and many citizens of other nations are now involved in U.S.-based programs in the fields of conflict prevention, resolution and management. Their work ranges from theory development and education to training and active participation in mediation and negotiation. They deal with all levels and types of conflicts -- from interpersonal to international -- in a variety of activities initiated by universities, commercial enterprises, private foundations and institutions, governmental agencies, research centers, charitable organizations, and religious and other groups. Here is a sampling of some of those efforts:

CDR ASSOCIATES

CDR Associates (formerly Center for Dispute Resolution) in Boulder, Colorado, provides decision-making and conflict management services and training for individuals and organizations in the United States and abroad. CDR's areas of work include environmental, public policy, organizational, and interpersonal issues. The organization pioneers procedures that directly involve concerned parties in decision-making and ensure that all parties are treated with respect. CDR has held seminars or consultations in Australia, Austria, Bulgaria, Canada, Colombia, Cyprus, Hungary, Japan, Kenya, Mexico, New Zealand, and the Philippines.

CENTER FOR PREVENTIVE ACTION

The Center for Preventive Action (CPA) is a new initiative established by the Council on Foreign Relations in New York to study conflict prevention and evaluate how it is working. The CPA sends investigative teams to pre-explosion crisis areas to devise strategies to settle or manage conflicts there and to advocate action by appropriate governments and organizations. It convenes an annual conference to assess the state of the art of conflict prevention, bringing together representatives of governments, international organizations, academia, nongovernmental organizations, foundations, and the U.S. Congress. CPA also serves as a coordinating center, informing those involved in conflict prevention about what others are doing in the field. In that regard, it serves as a repository of relevant books, articles, and documents.

CENTER FOR STRATEGIC AND INTERNATIONAL STUDIES

The Center for Strategic and International Studies (CSIS) in Washington, D.C., is a public policy research institution dedicated to the analysis of policy and its impact. CSIS maintains resident experts on all of the world's major geographic regions, and it also covers key functional areas, including international finance, the emerging markets, and U.S. foreign policy and national security issues. For more than three decades, CSIS has emphasized long-range, anticipatory, and integrated thinking on a wide range of policy issues. CSIS "action commissions" and other high-level groups have been formed in Russia, Poland, Ukraine, South America, Singapore, and Turkey to explore concrete ways of expanding economic, financial, and political ties with the United States.

CONFLICT MANAGEMENT GROUP

The Conflict Management Group (CMG) in Cambridge, Massachusetts, is dedicated to improving methods of negotiation, conflict resolution, and cooperative decision-making. CMG, a non-profit organization, is engaged in negotiation training, consulting, process design, facilitation, consensus-building, and mediation. Its activities build on years of research at Harvard University and practical experience around the world in a variety of arenas including trade, bilateral and multilateral diplomacy, border conflicts, business, labor-management, the environment, and internal and ethnic conflict. CMG has been involved in projects in many nations, including Canada, Chile, Colombia, Cyprus, El Salvador, Finland, Newly Independent States, Greece, Indonesia, Malaysia, and South Africa.

CONFLICT RESEARCH CONSORTIUM, UNIVERSITY OF COLORADO

The University of Colorado Conflict Research Consortium in Boulder, Colorado, is a multidisciplinary program of research, teaching, and application focused on finding more constructive ways of addressing difficult, long-term conflicts. A joint university-community program, the consortium unites researchers, educators, and practitioners from many fields for the purposes of theory-building, testing, and application of new conflict management techniques. These efforts are designed to lead to an improved understanding of conflict dynamics, along with better methods for confronting and managing continuing and intractable conflicts and reaching good decisions. The consortium's research has focused in part on issues related to environmental and natural resource conflicts, and racial and ethnic conflicts, including the atrocities committed in Rwanda and Bosnia.

CONFLICT RESOLUTION PROGRAM, THE CARTER CENTER

The Conflict Resolution Program (CRP) at The Carter Center -- a nonprofit, nonpartisan public policy institute founded by former President Jimmy Carter and his wife, Rosalynn, in Atlanta, Georgia -- marshals the experience of peacemakers to address suffering caused by armed conflicts around the globe. The Carter Center is a separately chartered and independently governed member of the Emory University community. Through its International Negotiation Network (INN), the Conflict Resolution Program monitors conflicts weekly and, upon request, offers advice and assistance to resolve disputes. Chaired by Jimmy Carter, the INN includes world leaders and experts in dispute resolution from international organizations, universities, and foundations who seek peaceful ways to prevent and end civil conflicts. CRP also has undertaken a preventive conflict project to reduce ethnic tensions in Estonia. CRP's projects have focused on many other regions, including North Korea, the Great Lakes Region of Africa, Liberia, Bosnia, and Sudan.

CONSENSUS BUILDING INSTITUTE

The Consensus Building Institute, Inc. (CBI), in Cambridge, Massachusetts, conducts independent studies and assessments of consensus building and dispute resolution efforts in the United States and abroad, and assists public and nonprofit agencies in their efforts to develop and employ consensus building and dispute resolution in performing their public-interest functions. CBI organizes workshops, seminars, and other training programs, and develops instructional materials to advance public understanding of the theory and practice of dispute resolution and consensus building. During the past three years, CBI has provided training and services to a broad spectrum of organizations and groups, including the Dutch Ministry of Housing, Spatial Planning, and the Environment; the United Nations Commission on Sustainable Development; and ambassadors to the World Trade Organization.

INSTITUTE FOR CONFLICT ANALYSIS AND RESOLUTION, GEORGE MASON UNIVERSITY

The Institute for Conflict Analysis and Resolution at George Mason University in Fairfax, Virginia, seeks to advance the understanding and resolution of significant and persistent human conflicts among individuals, small groups, communities, ethnic groups, and nations. Offering Doctor of Philosophy and Master of Science degrees in conflict analysis and resolution, the institute is engaged in research and publishing, a clinical and consulting program, and public education. Major research interests include the analysis of deep-rooted conflicts and their resolution; the exploration of conditions attracting parties to the negotiation table; the role of third parties in dispute resolution; and the testing of a variety of conflict intervention methods in community, national, and international settings.

INSTITUTE FOR INTERNATIONAL SECURITY AND CONFLICT RESOLUTION, SAN DIEGO STATE UNIVERSITY

The San Diego State University Institute for International Security and Conflict Resolution (IISCOR), in San Diego, California, encourages and facilitates teaching and research in the multidisciplinary area of international security and conflict resolution. The topics covered include nuclear armaments, international conflict, sociopolitical violence, and global environmental issues as they relate to security. The institute promotes teaching and research by organizing public forums, and convening faculty and student seminars. The institute is a joint effort of the College of Sciences, the College of Arts and Letters, and the College of Professional Studies and Fine Arts.

INSTITUTE FOR MULTI-TRACK DIPLOMACY

The Institute for Multi-Track Diplomacy (IMTD), a nonprofit organization located in Washington, D.C., is dedicated to conflict resolution and peacebuilding. Its mission is to promote a systems approach to peacebuilding and to facilitate the transformation of deep-rooted social conflict. IMTD's projects put the skills of conflict resolution, intergroup relations, and systems change in the hands of local peacemakers and peacebuilders in conflict areas around the world. IMTD acts as a catalyst in the multi-track diplomacy community to explore issues and activities that advance the field, encourage cooperation and creative partnerships, develop state-of-the-art methodologies in conflict transformation, and educate the general public on the importance of nonviolent conflict resolution. IMTD has implemented peacebuilding projects in Cyprus, Liberia, the Horn of Africa, and South Asia.

INSTITUTE OF WORLD AFFAIRS

The Institute of World Affairs (IWA), which has offices in Washington and New York, is a non-profit, non-partisan organization devoted to international understanding and peaceful resolution of conflict. It provides training programs designed to enhance professional skills in conflict resolution and infrastructure development. IWA also conducts independent evaluations and designs systems to improve the management of international conflict. Responding to the need to coordinate conflict resolution initiatives operating in the same conflict situation, the IWA created an electronic clearinghouse of conflict initiatives around the world called the International Conflict Initiatives Clearinghouse (ICIC). The information contained in the clearinghouse is accessible via the Internet at http://www.iwa.org/iwa/icicidx.htm and is distributed by mail and fax to individuals and organizations active in conflict transformation activities.

KETTERING FOUNDATION

The Kettering Foundation, a foundation rooted in the American tradition of inventive research, seeks to understand the way bodies politic function or fail to function. The foundation -- which has offices in Dayton, Ohio; Washington, D.C.; and New York City -- produces "issue books" that encourage serious deliberation on hard policy choices facing the public. It formulates "rules of engagement" that citizens and officials of government can use to turn unproductive relationships into more constructive ways of working together. It also designs, in collaboration with nongovernmental groups in other countries, such as Russia and China, methods for improving relationships between nations with substantial differences. For use by the parties in conflict themselves and not third parties, these processes are designed for situations where traditional negotiation and mediation are of limited usefulness.

MERCY CORPS INTERNATIONAL

Mercy Corps International (MCI) in Portland, Oregon, is part of an international family of humanitarian organizations that alleviate suffering, poverty, and oppression by helping people build secure and productive communities. Since its founding in 1979, MCI has given more than $230 million in assistance to over 45 countries worldwide. It provides agricultural development assistance, primary health care, development education, and emergency relief. Mercy Corps targets those countries or regions in transition to democracy or plagued by civil, religious, and ethnic conflict where humanitarian assistance not only meets basic needs but can help lay the foundation for building a just, inclusive civil society. MCI is actively working with Bosnian communities and international donors to assist in the implementation of the peace agreement signed in Dayton, Ohio.

PARTNERS FOR DEMOCRATIC CHANGE

Partners for Democratic Change in San Francisco, California, assists evolving democracies in Central and Eastern Europe and the former Soviet Union in the development of collaborative planning, problem solving, and dispute resolution skills essential to the success of a democratic society. Through its National Centers in Bulgaria, the Czech Republic, Hungary, Lithuania, Poland, Russia, and Slovakia, it provides training services to national government ministries, local government officials, environmental groups, elementary and secondary schools, ethnic/minority groups, nongovernmental organization activists, and private enterprise. Combining U.S. resources and expertise with indigenous talent and knowledge of the social, economic and political climate of the region, the National Centers design and implement conflict resolution programs and projects relevant to the specific needs of each country.

PROGRAM ON NEGOTIATION AT HARVARD LAW SCHOOL

The Program on Negotiation at Harvard Law School in Cambridge, Massachusetts, is an applied research center committed to improving the theory and practice of negotiation and dispute resolution by people, organizations, and nations. Scholars from a variety of disciplines and professional schools in the Greater Boston area -- including Harvard, the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Tufts University, and Simmons College -- work collaboratively on an array of activities, including research and theory-building, post-graduate education and training, the development of teaching materials, and numerous publications. The program's newest research project focuses on the human element, which has been described as "probably the defining factor in most negotiations."

PROGRAM ON THE ANALYSIS AND RESOLUTION OF CONFLICTS, SYRACUSE UNIVERSITY

The Program on the Analysis and Resolution of Conflicts (PARC) is an interdisciplinary center within Syracuse University's Maxwell School of Citizenship and Public Affairs in Syracuse, New York. The program is dedicated to enhancing knowledge about social conflicts -- their nature, course of development, and possible resolution -- through theory-building and research, education, and practice. PARC's efforts include individual and group research projects, conferences, seminars, a conflict forum speaker series, and a conflict resolution consulting group. PARC also conducts the Program in Nonviolent Conflict and Change (PNCC), which offers an undergraduate major in nonviolent conflict and change. PNCC's mission is peace education and research on nonviolent means of resolving conflict and bringing about or resisting change.

RESOLVE

RESOLVE is an independent, neutral, not-for-profit organization in Washington, D.C., that provides dispute resolution services in environmental and public policy matters. It was founded by a coalition of business leaders and environmentalists to mediate controversial environmental issues and promote the effective use of conflict resolution processes in public decision-making. In recent years, RESOLVE staff have mediated efforts to address many issues, including chemical policy, climate change, coastal management, drinking water, fisheries, forestry, and pollution prevention. RESOLVE's services include training in negotiation, alternative dispute resolution, mediation, meeting management, and facilitation.

SEARCH FOR COMMON GROUND

Search for Common Ground in Washington, D.C., is an independent, non-profit organization dedicated to transforming conflict into cooperative action. Its goal is to help the United States and the world become less polarized and more cooperative, and its programs are designed to find workable solutions to divisive national and international problems. The organization has developed the "common ground approach," which draws from techniques of conflict resolution, negotiation, collaborative problem-solving, and facilitation. The aim is to discover not the lowest, but the highest common denominator. Search for Common Ground has conducted initiatives in the Middle East, Burundi, Russia, South Africa, and the Former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia.

SPARK M. MATSUNAGA INSTITUTE FOR PEACE

The Spark M. Matsunaga Institute for Peace in Honolulu, Hawaii, is an academic community designed to explore, develop, and share knowledge of peace through teaching, research, publication, and public service. Recognizing the late Senator Spark M. Matsunaga's vision of a peaceful world, the Board of Regents at the University of Hawaii established the institute in 1986. Situated at the crossroads of the Pacific, and surrounded by disparate cultures, the institute has a unique opportunity to explore new and creative ways of building a world where all are free to realize their individual dignity. Addressing the major issues of conflict management, community building, and the reduction of violence, the institute offers courses that investigate the practical and theoretical dimensions of peace and conflict resolution at global and local levels. The institute's courses are appropriate for undergraduates, graduates, public and private school teachers, and the local community.

UNITED STATES INSTITUTE OF PEACE

The United States Institute of Peace (USIP) in Washington, D.C., is an independent, nonpartisan federal institution created and funded by Congress to strengthen the nation's capacity to promote the peaceful resolution of international conflict. Its 15-member, bipartisan board of directors is appointed by the president of the United States and confirmed by the Senate. One of USIP's key objectives is to mobilize the best national and international talent from research organizations, academia, and government to support policymakers by providing independent and creative assessments of how to deal with international conflict situations by political means. The institute's wide-ranging programs include grants, fellowships, conferences, workshops, library services, publications, and other educational activities. USIP trains international affairs professionals in conflict management and resolution techniques, mediation, and negotiating skills.