What is conflict and what is its stages

Civil Education Brochure on Peace, the Constitution and Elections
Prepare: Road Center
Translated by moatinoon

The dispute is a relationship between two or more persons or parties to whom there is a belief that there is a conflict, inconsistency or dissonance of objectives, and each party believes that the outcome of the dispute is a partys gain in return for a loss to another party. Conflict also means perception and belief in different interests. Goals are always linked to interests that are divided into material, psychological or procedural interests.

The concept of conflict differs from violence involving any act, speech or behaviour that causes destruction, harm or material, psychological, social or environmental harm to others or prevents people from reaching their full humanity.

The stage of sustainable or lasting peace:
It is an ideal stage in societies dominated by the principles of good governance, transparency, justice, freedom, reassurance and economic, social and political stability. This phase requires political diplomacy to sustain peace.

Hidden, latent and apparent conflict:
A situation where societies are conflict-free does not necessarily mean consensus in objectives, where the conflict is hidden or hidden. Not addressing the root causes of conflict and addressing the imbalance in the compatibility of objectives leads the conflict from latency to emergence and confrontation, a stage where the parties recognize that they have different ideas and views on a particular topic or issue. There may be violence at low levels between the parties and each party begins to prepare and look for allies with the expectation that confrontation, violence and polarization will increase for each side to step up. This phase requires preventive diplomacy for peacekeeping and conflict prevention.

Escalation and impasse:
In the escalation phase, sharp polarization prevails, tension escalates further, each party to the conflict emerges as an enemy, communication between the parties is disrupted and accusations between the parties and negative statements are shown. This is one of the most dangerous stages because it leads to the crisis phase and the impasse, and it is where the conflict is out of control and is accompanied by violence as either party seeks to win the round and lose the other. This stage needs crisis management diplomacy and conflict management.

Armistice and Settlement Phase:
The Armistice Phase begins when the parties begin negotiating to get out of the nation and realize the difficulty of achieving the goals with violence. It is an important stage to assist the parties to reach a mutually satisfactory settlement, a phase linked to the de-escalation of conflict (e.g. ceasefires) and the peace industry (peace agreements). The post-peacemaking phase also requires peacekeeping (United Nations peacekeeping missions after the Comprehensive Peace Agreement and the Juba Peace Agreement).

Peacebuilding phase:
This stage comes when the parties reach a solution. Here, it is necessary to repair the relations that have been damaged during the escalation of conflict and crisis. It is a post-conflict phase in which conflict is transformed by transforming relations between the parties to conflict to be positive, and addressing the root causes of conflict. It is this phase that creates conditions at the long level to spread a culture of peace.
When does conflict occur, and what kinds of conflicts?
 When people go after their goals and interests
 When the other party realizes that difference is an impediment to the realization of interests (misunderstanding and ignorance of things)
 When people think that ways to achieve their desired goals are weakened by their difference with the other party.
 Conflict occurs when any party believes that the values, objectives, ideas and beliefs, interests and conduct of the other party have come to threaten their interests, values, beliefs and identity.
 Conflict occurs because of past times, anathema and mistrust.
 when there is an inadequate social situation”
 Unequal access to resources (material resources limited), unequal distribution, unequal power discrimination (love of political power and love of control), lack of access to employment
 Poverty, oppression, persecution, sedition and personal interests. This varies from family level to national level.

• Types of conflicts: Conflicts are classified into several types, but the most common ones are:

 Armed conflicts: Whether on an international or non-international scale within the same country, such as Sudans slanderous conflicts in Darfur, Southern Kordofan, Blue Nile and others.
 Political conflicts: They occur as a result of competing access to power and participation in political decision.
 Cultural perspective: conflicting cultural trends and tendencies.
 Environmental perspective: declining geographical and environmental space for users of environmental resources
 Personal disputes: These disputes are based on a high degree of emotion, with many substantive conflicts lurking behind them, and demonstrate the ways in which parties deal with each other.
 Ideological conflicts: such conflicts are characterized by horizontal distress and extremism, eliminate any common space between the parties, and manifest themselves in ways in which a party attempts to impose its belief systems and values on other parties (religious or ideological belief).
 Disputes over identity and values: These conflicts arise when a party feels insulted or neglected its identity or any essential part thereof, often on ethnic, religious, cultural or political grounds.
 Conflicts over natural resources: These are the most widespread in the Sudan, and occur because of competition over access to and use of different natural resources, may take the form of personal or armed conflicts or ethnic identity. Conflicts between farmers and pastoralists are often seasonal conflicts associated with the season of agriculture and harvesting, conflicts between pastoralists themselves due to competition over good pasture or water sources, conflicts between farmers and stable populations about land ownership and use... and other conflicts with political and tribal polarization and lack of development.

Conflict levels:
Conflict can occur at the level of individuals between two persons, may occur at the level of one family, between two families within a community, between two communities, or at the level of tribes between two ethnic tribes, and may occur at the level of the state, such as disputes between status and territories, and may be between states.