Labor
lawyer and mediator Theodore W. Kheel has created
an interactive course on conflict resolution, in
the form of a CD, and he is believed to be considering
making it available, via the Internet, to United
Nations agencies, governments, companies and labor
unions, nongovernmental organizations and schools
-- without cost.
Kheel,
the first publisher of The Earth Times, would not confirm
that he was planning to do that, but neither did he
deny it.
The
course, titled “The Primer on Conflict
Resolution,” contains basic information
about the techniques and strategies of alternative
dispute resolution, including negotiation,
mediation and arbitration, and is based on
a book written by Kheel, “The Keys to
Conflict Resolution. It was created by the
Foundation on Prevention and Early Resolution
of Conflict (PERC), a nonprofit organization
which Kheel serves as president.
Information about the course may be obtained
by e-mailing course@conflict resolution.org
or by logging on to the web site www.conflict
resolution.org. Among other things, the web
site hosts online discussions of conflicts
in the news. Kheel said he is considering allowing
organizations to download the course, to make
it accessible to their constituencies. To get
permission to do that (and a password for access),
they would have to send an e-mail stating their
interest in conflict resolution and their plans
for distributing the course.
“Our aim,” said Kheel, “is
to get the widest possible distribution and
thereby encourage people to think in terms
of conflict prevention and resolution.” “Conflict
resolution is a way of life,” he added.
Interviewed
by The Earth Times in his office overlooking
East 55th Street in Manhattan,
Kheel said work on the course is still incomplete,
so he could not offer any definitive invitations.
But he did speak up with enthusiasm about “A
Tribute to Mediation” that PERC is co-hosting
on May 29 with Cornell University’s Institute
on Conflict Resolution.
Former
US Senator George J. Mitchell, who made history
by helping
Catholic and Protestant
groups in Ireland hammer out their Good Friday
Accord, is to be honored on that occasion as
the first recipient of the “Master Locksmith
of Deadlock Bargaining Award.”
(The
title “master locksmith of deadlock
bargaining” was first applied to Kheel
by Business Week Magazine.)
Others scheduled to take part in the event,
to be held at the New York Press Club, 330
West 42 St., include:
Ken
Auletta, author of “World War 3.0:
Microsoft and Its Enemies”; Raymond F.
Kelly, Bear Stearns & Co.; William L. Lurie,
former President of the Business Roundtable;
Congressman Charles B. Rangel; Dr. Dennis Ross,
Washington Institute for Near East Policy,
and Gail Sheehy, author of “Passages.”
Kheel
said the event will include panel discussions
on three topics: the failed effort to mediate
a settlement of the government’s anti-trust
suit against Microsoft; the ongoing (and apparently
escalating) conflict between Palestinians and
Israelis; and preventing conflicts between
police and minorities.
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