1. ABC Triangle
Rizal Panggabean

2. Origins and Use
ABC Triangle, or the triangle of conflict, is one of the most popular and useful way to investigate and to illustrate the complexities of conflict.
First developed by Johan Galtung, based on his research on the definitions of conflict, the triangle summarizes the elements or dimensions of conflict.
ABC Triangle provides a useful framework to analyze the stakeholders/actors in a conflict situation, by going deeper into three important aspects of conflict dynamics: context, attitudes, and behavior.

3. C: Context and Contradiction
Refers to the incompatibility of goals (needs, interests) between parties to the conflict.
Possible sources of incompatibility is different from conflict to conflict. Examples:
Social structure vs. social values (caste system; patriarchy; rich-poor; ethnicity; religion)
Scarcity (of oil, water, elected offices)
Competition (for market share; in election; for power)
Migration (rural to urban; north African countries to Europe)
Change (social; political; economic; globalization; climate)
Sources of incompatibility may overlap, creating more tension and increasing the stakes.
Questions:
What contradiction precedes the conflict you are dealing with?
How is the contradiction built into the society?
What are the contentious issues emerged from the incompatibility?
How development programs build incompatibility into the society?

4. A: Attitudes
Refers to parties’ perception and other psychological conditions experienced by the parties in a conflict situation. Attitudes include cognitive aspects such as misperception, enemy construction, negative stereotypes, and feelings such as anger, hate, suspicion,
Possible sources of conflict attitudes:
Aggressive drives
Intra-personel tensions
Aggregate frustrations
Dehumanization
Parties to a conflict develop different feelings, emotions, perceptions (and misperception) toward the other.
Questions:
What negative feelings and emotions developed among parties to the conflict you are dealing with?
How do these maintained and sustained and through what processes?
Do certain programs and policies created negative attitudes among the parties or beneficiaries?

5. B: Behavior
Refers to the polarizing – and sometimes destructive – activities or actual behavior of the parties in a conflict.
Examples: throwing, burning, killing, intimidating, shooting, demonstration, war, &c.&c.
Questions:
What conflict behaviors are used in a conflict situation you are dealing with?
What strategy and tactics are used?
What weapons are used in the conflict?
What conflict behaviors emerged due to certain development programs and assistance in a community?

6. Remember:
Conflict can be negative/destructive in its process and outcome; it can be positive/constructive. Conflict does not equal violence
Possible benefits of conflict:
It create or foster social change
Transform latent conflict into manifest conflict amenable for resolution and transformation
Focus energy and policy to important problems in the society and then to problem-solving
The key is whether there is conflict management/transformation and if yes whether it is good or poor and whether it lead to violence or peace

7. Strategies of Intervention
Building a culture of peace
Creating a peace constituency
Friendship
Healing
Forgiveness
Acceptance and recognition
Moderating public discourse
Humanitarian pause
Cessation of hostilities
DDR
SALW
Leadership
Skills in nonviolence
Positive social contacts
Deal with the attitude
Deal with the context and situation
Deal with the behavior
Democratization
Elections
Majority rule
Minority rights
Youth
Economic reform/conversion
Security sector reform