Comparing Reconciliation Actions within and between Countries.

Source: (2004) In Yaacov Bar-Siman-Tov, ed., From conflict resolution to reconciliation. New York: Oxford University Press. Pp. 81-110.

Louis Kriesberg provides an overview of the variety of reconciliation actions as they differ in application between domestic and international contexts. A number of approaches to explaining reconciliation actions exist, and the social conflict approach synthesizes these. In addition to the context, asymmetrical power relations, the history of the conflict, and the conflict stage each have an effect on types of action. In the chapter, the author uses an explanation of four basic dimensions of reconciliation, including truth, justice, regard and security. These serve to categorize reconciliation actions by primary areas of impact, and to contrast the kinds of actions used in and between societies. Some examples include the South African Truth and Reconciliation Commission, the Israeli-Palestinian case, Germany and Czechoslovakia, and the dissolution of the Soviet Union.