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jaredwill_'s review
4.0
I read "How Civil Wars Start: And How to Stop Them" by Barbara F. Walter and "High Conflict: Why We Get Trapped and How We Get Out" by Amanda Ripley together and, I think they are almost perfect companion pieces.
They both use some of the same examples as well as explore the dangers of conflict entrepreneurs but, more so they complement each other.
Walter's book shows how dangerous conflict can be and how the US is edging ever closer to civil war but, the solutions are macro and would need support in a deeply divided congress to implement.
Ripley's book details much lower stakes but, gives solutions that each individual person can take to reduce conflict around them.
Together they show how dangerous small-scale conflict can become if it's nurtured by conflict entrepreneurs, how individual people can slow or resolve these conflicts, and the kinds of tools governments can use to create bulwarks against the worst outcomes of these conflicts.
They both use some of the same examples as well as explore the dangers of conflict entrepreneurs but, more so they complement each other.
Walter's book shows how dangerous conflict can be and how the US is edging ever closer to civil war but, the solutions are macro and would need support in a deeply divided congress to implement.
Ripley's book details much lower stakes but, gives solutions that each individual person can take to reduce conflict around them.
Together they show how dangerous small-scale conflict can become if it's nurtured by conflict entrepreneurs, how individual people can slow or resolve these conflicts, and the kinds of tools governments can use to create bulwarks against the worst outcomes of these conflicts.
shirleytupperfreeman's review against another edition
This is my new favorite book! I listened to it, read by the author, and can't wait to buy a copy and read it again while taking notes. Using stories and examples from people all over the world, Ripley investigates the how, what, why and when we get sucked into high conflict --- conflict that seems impossible to resolve, that exists for its own sake, that feels just plain intractable. From messy divorces, to gang warfare, to city council arguments, to Israel & Palestine, to FARC and the Columbian military and especially our own current politics, Ripley pulls together multiple threads to help us think about how we got here and how we can get out of the 'tar pits' of high conflict. I just want to read and talk about this book with everyone I see.
ssimpson92's review
5.0
“Out beyond ideas of wrongdoing and rightdoing, there is a field. I’ll meet you there” - Rumi
High Conflict by Amanda Ripley is a book I wish everyone would read. Not only is it well written, it provides so much insight into something we are seeing more and more these days: deeply polarizing, (what she calls) “high” conflict. And she does it in the most engaging way. Not only does she include “the research,” she provides real life cases to flesh out the research. The stories of how conflict escalates and how the people enmeshed in it pull themselves out are many and varied. Stories like that of Gary Friedman, a skilled conflict mediator who, despite knowing the pitfalls of high conflict, got drawn into the quagmire of tribal politics when he ran for, and won, local office. There’s also Curtis Toler, a gang leader on the South Side of Chicago, who now helps others extract themselves from gang life. And, because high conflict is not limited to the U.S, she also brings in stories from around the world, like that of Sandra Milena Vera Bustos, a guerrilla fighter in the Colombian civil war, who eventually left the rebel fighters and now works to help reintegrate people like herself into the larger community. These are just a sampling. There are many others.
High conflict, as Ripley notes, is often rooted in an “us vs. them” mentality, a stance we often see in the current political environment. So, there’s just no way to keep politics out of the conversation. But Ripley’s book does not take a stand in the political divide and the discussion goes well beyond the political; her main objective is to show that the dynamics pushing us into high conflict — as well as the techniques that can help to pull us out again — are present in all kinds of situations (from marital disputes to war) and across countries. And that is what is most useful about this book. Not only does she show that we are all susceptible, she gives us proven tools and techniques for working our way out of high conflict, back into healthy disagreement, back into curiosity, back into listening and acknowledging that we are all humans who must figure out how to live together.
I loved this book and highly recommend it!
High Conflict by Amanda Ripley is a book I wish everyone would read. Not only is it well written, it provides so much insight into something we are seeing more and more these days: deeply polarizing, (what she calls) “high” conflict. And she does it in the most engaging way. Not only does she include “the research,” she provides real life cases to flesh out the research. The stories of how conflict escalates and how the people enmeshed in it pull themselves out are many and varied. Stories like that of Gary Friedman, a skilled conflict mediator who, despite knowing the pitfalls of high conflict, got drawn into the quagmire of tribal politics when he ran for, and won, local office. There’s also Curtis Toler, a gang leader on the South Side of Chicago, who now helps others extract themselves from gang life. And, because high conflict is not limited to the U.S, she also brings in stories from around the world, like that of Sandra Milena Vera Bustos, a guerrilla fighter in the Colombian civil war, who eventually left the rebel fighters and now works to help reintegrate people like herself into the larger community. These are just a sampling. There are many others.
High conflict, as Ripley notes, is often rooted in an “us vs. them” mentality, a stance we often see in the current political environment. So, there’s just no way to keep politics out of the conversation. But Ripley’s book does not take a stand in the political divide and the discussion goes well beyond the political; her main objective is to show that the dynamics pushing us into high conflict — as well as the techniques that can help to pull us out again — are present in all kinds of situations (from marital disputes to war) and across countries. And that is what is most useful about this book. Not only does she show that we are all susceptible, she gives us proven tools and techniques for working our way out of high conflict, back into healthy disagreement, back into curiosity, back into listening and acknowledging that we are all humans who must figure out how to live together.
I loved this book and highly recommend it!