Conflict management contributes to understanding of current events

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The current event selected is the recent conflict in Libya whereby citizens decided to rebel against the regime. The crisis has been playing out for a number of months and there are various articles that have been written about the situation in the country. Conflict occurred in the country as other Arabic countries such as Egypt also rebelled against sitting governments. The situation in Libya has been widely publicized thus it is a good event to use in conflict management theories.

The conflict in Libya has been attributed to various causes such as the economy and democracy. Voigt (2011) argues that the Libya's vast oil is a resource curse since the country depends on oil. The article attributes the uprising in Libya to the country's resources stating that funds received from the oil went to corrupt leaders and that the majority of the population does not share in the wealth and this led to conflict in Libya and other oil rich countries. The article goes ahead to question whether the unrest in country will lead to democracy or renewed violence.

Galtung (2011) on the hand believes that the uprising in Libya is a lost cause since people have refused to learn from history. This is because the author of the article believes that democracy cannot be imposed on a population and the country remains stable. There are two major groups in Libya that include Sirte clan and Benghazi Clan and that imposing 'stable secular democracy' would result in the groups fighting against each other. When two groups have different interests they cannot work together since each considers its goals.

The Transitional National Council is viewed as unable to unite and control different elements. The various elements comprising Libya's rebellion are at difference with each other and they seem on the verge to fight against each other (Atwan, 2011). It would be bad for the country if the elements within the rebellion do not unite and continue to have separate interests.

The study of conflict management contributes to our understanding of the situation in Libya. There is conflict in Libya which is characterized by disagreement between the regime and the rebels, both parties have different needs and interest and there was interaction (communication). Our study of conflict management assisted us to understand that conflict arises when needs are not met and may also occur when an individual or group is seen as obstructing another from achieving objectives. Conflict management identifies the fact that conflicts mostly arise over allocation of resources and power.

Knowledge in conflict management enabled us to understand and categorize the unrest in Libya as inter group because it is between two groups supporting different interests. Learn Peace (N.D) provides that conflict is characteristic of humans and provides that conflicts have similar structure and process. Conflict is termed as an activity that drives humans into the future but in order to do so it must be adequately managed. Conflict often leads to change, new skills, improved method of doing things and also to improved ...