Role of the church as an intermediary in international conflict: a theological assessment of principled negotiation

This thesis explores the interface between conflict resolution theory and the theology and praxis of the church. One purpose is to demonstrate the value of theological ethics in the development of conflict resolution theory. A second purpose is to select and examine a particular conflict intervention role and assess its applicability as a potential model for the functioning of the church as an intermediary in the resolution of international conflict.The particular theory selected comes from the problem solving school of conflict resolution. At the same time, principled negotiation, developed by the Harvard Negotiation Project of Harvard Law School, has a very pragmatic orientation.This theory's applicability for the church is first assessed by examining two case studies, both examples of nonofficial third party intervention in some aspect of East-West relations during the Cold War. The first case is one where the authors of principled negotiation act as third party interveners. The second case examines the role played by a religious group, the Quakers, in a similar context.The final section of the thesis develops a theology of conciliation with which to assess the applicability of principled negotiation for use by the church. The result is an affirmation of the model's general appropriateness for use by the church. However, various adaptations in both theory and practice are recommended, in order to reflect the theological context within which the church operates and in order to make a contribution to the general development of conflict resolution theory