Cultivating Crises

Cultivating crisis sounds like a paradox: how to cultivate something that is by default wild and violent? It sounds more like training the dragon to be cultivated, polite, to stop throwing fire all around. Many times, in our life, something that looks like a paradox at the end is a part of a solution, not necessarily a problem. 

When there is a fire on an oil field it can be cut down only by a strong explosion at the eye of the fire immediately sucking away the oxygen, gas so necessary for the fire to feed itself. Metaphorically ‘taking oxygen from crises’ is what must be done for effective conflict resolution. This is easier to say than to do. Innumerous elements are involved in a conflict and for most of the people it is almost impossible to imagine who did what and why. But the logic behind conflict and its reason is always simple: find the interest that is hidden and the players (usually not one but more) misusing the situation or even producing certain situations to reach their egoistic goals. 

Many people were taught that they have a right to use anything and everyone without any limitations if there is an opportunity to reach personal success and become wealthy. Slowly, we hope not too slowly, some people in some nations and states realized that this is not the right way leading us to a happy future. We are extracting the future of our grandchildren and we must change our way of thinking and our models of acting. But it is hard to reach the critical point of awareness since where and when when things will start to move in a right direction is difficult to know. Today we cannot speak about security if we do not mention climate changings, about defense not speaking about hybrid threats, democracy not to oppose to authoritarian governments that are multiplying with each new election.

What does it mean to cultivate crisis and how do we see it? Migrations: who can name a period of 50 years in a new history without people migrating in high numbers from point A to point B or whatever point? But why do we perceive migration form Africa and Asia to Europe as a new threat? Isn’t the whole game played around perception?  That we are under huge pressure, needing to help authoritarian regimes build walls, barbwire borders that at least kill domestic and wild animals but do not protect anyone permanently since the movement of individuals or groups is a permanent process. If it is not legal and coordinated it was, it is, and it will be illegal. Can we cultivate migrant crises? Yes, we can but not with the same approach and the same policy and the same culture as we do it know. 

First, we must understand, second, we must change what causes the movement, motivation, and honestly look into the phenomena with the eye of demography. Huge parts of Old white world are becoming older and we need new people at least to work, labor. Third, we must be innovative not repeating old answers to new questions. We must risk more not knowing what will come with new relations. And fourth, if we are preparing for new people to come, as that victorious army is on the border, then we cannot establish peaceful relations – it is a war since the starting point and space for negotiations to reach win-win positions is lost even before the first word has been spoken.

We at the Interaction Global Network do not have definite answers and in advance prepare solutions as in hypermarket where everything is on the shelves.  No, we have subject matter knowledge and experiences that allow us to search for better solutions to crises respecting human rights, minimizing tensions, respecting the dignity of all sides involved, and negotiating for a better future. Cultivating crises is a recipe, permanently growing and developing and never ending. We will publish reports about edible recipes all around the world and please send us proposals. One hint as possible example: New Zeeland and how their government handled covid-19 crisis.