Description
Facing the challenging task of finding sustainable solutions to peacebuilding, conflict resolution applies a range of different tools. Among these tools, education has become increasingly prominent, as a way to engage with different conflict narratives and therefore a way to encourage dialogue between supposedly irreconcilable identities and claims. This paper contributes to the discussion about education as a conflict resolution tool by looking into the value of using fictitious case studies in education in conflict-affected environments. We argue that ‘imagined conflicts’ can be a tool for both practicing and learning about conflict resolution, by creating temporary spaces of constructive interaction between the conflicting parties. These spaces challenge participants’ existing ideas about conflict in general, as well as the ‘other’ in conflict. The analysis focuses on the use of fictitious case studies in an international conflict management course in the Caucasus. We ran this one-week intensive course at the NATO Defence Institution Building School in Tbilisi, involving both military and civilian officials from Georgia, Azerbaijan, and Armenia. Based on semi-structured interviews and open-ended participant feedback, we discuss the rationale for and assess the impact of structuring the course around an ‘imagined conflicts’ in this specific context, and to what extent they provide opportunities for future reconciliation.
