Where is 3S Working?
The following are just a few examples from different domains of how the Third Side works to head off destructive conflict. While these examples are still exceptions in our modern societies, they suggest what the Third Side could accomplish if one day it became strong and these kinds of interventions became the norm.
We also invite your stories; we realize that these initial stories carry an American perspective and we would like to build a collection of stories from across the globe of the Third Side in action. Please email us at info@thirdside.org
In the workplace
Torn by interdepartmental rivalries, corporate lawsuits, strikes, employee grievances, and unexpected violence, there are also signs of the Third Side at work. "When my sales representatives create conflicts, they're often over customers and territories," says Michael Rosenberg, president of a home food delivery service. He asks the quarreling salespeople to exchange customers or to work as a team. "This way," he explains, "they're forced to help each other for the good of the company, rather than worrying about protecting their own turf."
Thousands of businesses and ...
In the community
In the early 1990s, teenage violence in Boston seemed out of control. There was a shooting every day and a half, a tripling of the rate over the course of ten years. A nine-year-old boy out trick-or-treating on Halloween was killed by gang crossfire as was a teenager walking to an anti-drug meeting. Yet after more than twenty youngsters died a year from firearms in 1992, the rate fell to zero in 1996. The key, according to Boston Police Commissioner Paul Evans was "collaboration." The entire community was mobilized. The police worked closely with teachers and parents to ...
In a Warring World
It started as a conversation involving professors and peace activists. Norwegian sociologist Terje Rod Larsen and his wife, Norwegian diplomat Mona Juul, set up a series of direct unofficial secret peace talks between Israelis and Palestinians in Norway. The first Israeli representatives were two scholarly peaceniks, Yair Hirschfeld and Ron Pundik, with links to the Israeli leadership.
Representing the Palestine Liberation Organization were economist Abu Alaa and two aides, Hassan Asfour and Maher el Kurd. The talks eventually ended up becoming official and produced the ...