1. Not everything is as black and white as it seems.
What is reality really? Reality is not just about the facts but how we perceive those facts. We can try to be
unbiased but the reality is we all see the world from a different perspective "ours" (Perception).
5 people witness an accident. Though each saw the same thing each will remember 5 different sets of
details some will correlate while others will not. Facts are the things we agree upon or is support by hard
evidence. If everyone saw the incident the exact same way, collusion would be suspect.
It’s the same way with history and conflict. One has to look deeper than what is on the surface. I.e. what
shapes that persons reality and identity, before we can really get to the root cause of conflict.
Conflict itself is a highly emotionally charged situation. Sometimes you have to ask why more than once to
get to the root cause. (The 5 why's process).
 Why did Jim and Frank get so angry in the meeting?
o Jim has 10 projects with deadlines due this week and doesn’t have time to work on
Frank’s project too. Jim normally is able to complete his projects on time and with
excellent results but lately has been falling behind and his quality has dropped. He has
been disciplined for not meeting expectations. Jim doesn’t want any more unrealistic
expectations dumped on him. Jim appeared to be insubordinate in the meeting.
o Frank is unaware that all of Jan’s project have been reassigned to Jim because the
department supervisor had to take emergency leave due to a serious family member’s
illness and sudden death. He is settling the estate and making arrangements for the
funeral and didn’t have the time to brief Frank on the status of the department before he
left. Frank was perceived as being insensitive and clueless in the meeting because he
wasn’t aware unrealistic his expectations were.
 Why does Jim have so many projects?
o Jim’s co-worker Jan has been on maternity leave for several weeks and he inherited Jan’s
projects. He is feeling the pressure of critical deadlines for both his and Jan’s projects.
He has been working overtime since Jan went on maternity leave and his patience is
wearing thin. Just as he began to see the light his department boss had a family
emergency so Jim is buried in work again and is also filling in for his boss at the
meetings.
 Why is Frank asking him to do another project?
o Frank was given a directive by his superiors to get his project done and he has a short
deadline.
o Jim is the expert and the best person to complete this critical project but Frank is not
aware that Jim is filling in for Jan or the department boss.
o This project is critical to the company.
 Why is this project so important to the corporate executives?
o This project addresses unexpected budget shortages. The company needs to address the
shortfalls and priorities the services it provides in order to keep their obligations to

2. customers and stay within the budget. If this project doesn’t succeed the company will
have to close its doors.
 Why can’t some of Jim’s and Jan’s project be delegated to someone else or reprioritized; is it
possible to adjust the deadline on the projects?
o The corporate finance project must be completed first. Frank can contact the other
partners to seek an extension on Jim and Jan’s other projects. This gives Jim the extra
time he needs to complete the corporate project. Frank also prioritizes the projects and
sees that Jim could use a temporary assistant to help with the projects. Frank has an
intern in another department that really isn’t being maximized so he reassigns him to
work with Jim.
In this exercise we see that the conflict was easily resolved using the 5 Whys concept to get to the root cause of the
problem. The root cause wasn’t the perception that Frank was overloading his employees with unrealistic
expectations or that Jim wasn’t using his time wisely. There was a legitimate staffing issue that either had to be
resolved or adjusted.
The real problem comes when our perception of reality is challenged by an outside view diametrically opposed to
ours especially when highly emotionally connected. Seeing things only one way and clinging to our perception
sometime causes more harm than good and prolongs conflict. In the exercise above Jim could have continued to be
resentful and angry about the extra work. Frank could have remained insulted by what appeared to be
insubordination and dumped the project on Jim without assistance. However, this would not have gotten the p roject
done and the company would have folded.
Sometimes we have to let go of our views and perceptions to reach a healthy position of mutual agreement. One
thing all party could agree on is they want the company to survive. Both parties needed to let go of the emotion and
focus on how to redefine the situation to meet everyone’s needs. In personal conflict sometimes we just need a few
modifications to achieve big goals. This is where wise counsel of an outside perspective (Mediator) can come in,
It wasn’t until we reviewed the events and a timeline was identified could we under the frustration of both parties.
International Affairs are no different. To really address the issue of conflict we must understand the history of the
conflict to include the culture and values of all parties.
As a nation, Afghanistan was occupied by the British around 1850’s as part of the Imperial Colonial Expansion and
later around 1979 by Russia and later by the United States . Afghanistan is of strategic importance to both Russia
and the United States.
Afghanistan is strategically located next to the Middle Eastern countries who are rich natural energy resources
mostly oil and natural gas. Afghanistan is not a major producer of petroleum products but it does border both Iran
and Turkmenistan, countries with the second and third largest natural gas reserves in the world. Russia happens to
be the first.
Turkmenistan is the country nobody thinks about. Their huge reserves of natural gas require the use of pipelines to
reach the market. It was part of the Soviet Union until 1991. 1. Its gas flowed only north through Soviet pipelines.
Now the Russians wants a pipeline north and the Chinese are building a pipeline east. The U.S. wants multiple oil
and gas export routes. They are negotiating with Afghanistan, India, Pakistan, and Turkmenistan to build a pipeline
going south. This would effectively limit the impact both China and Russia. All the players have high-level
delegations that visit frequently to discuss energy. The U.S. even has a special envoy for Eurasian energy
diplomacy. This isn’t discussed much in the U.S. but is frequently in the European News. This also ties into why
Russian was so determined to invade the Ukraine. The current pipeline flows through th e Ukraine.
This rivalry for pipeline routes and energy resources reflects the competition for power and control in the region.
Pipelines are important today in the same way that railway building was important in the 19th century to Britain.
The rail system connected trading partners and resulted in significant influence in the struggle for the balance of

3. regional power. Contrary to the popular opinion Afghanistan is more than a religious struggle it is a strategic piece
of real estate in the geopolitical struggle for power and dominance in the region. Arabic countries want their stake
in the region to as a theological power house controlled by one of many Muslim faction. Not only for financial
reasons but the Arab world has maintained control of the world’s energy market for some time. They see this as an
extension of that control and consolidated this power base to control and influence the other global powers.
This is not just a “Holy War” against non-Muslims as it often portrayed in the media. Religious values and customs
are deeply personal to all humans. This is used to garner support in both the Muslim, Jewish and Christian societies.
This muddies the water and distorts the picture of what the initial root cause was to begin with. It is manipulated to
garner public support in the region.
Civil Unrest and War in the region has develops as a result of this theological power struggle between the different
Muslim factions within the Mideast. Not unlike the differences in America there are many denominational
differences amongst the Muslim population as well. Sharia Law being the most restrictive and violent in its form of
oppression. This creates conflict amongst the people of the region who want to live and worship their own form of
the Muslim faith and the few Christian sects that have managed to co-exist within the region. Failure to adhere
completely to the law of Sharia results in brutality and death. Muslims resent the infiltration of western influence as
it undermines their faith and culture. This contributes to the growing terrorist problem by creating religious martyrs
in the form of suicide bombers to carry out attacks in the region and throughout the world. This form of religious
extremism has created the perfect condition for genocide, such as what happened with the Kurds in Iraq and Syria.
This and the 9/11 attacks created all the Justification the U.S. needed to enter war in the Mideast under the Just War
clause. Gaining a foothold in Iraq that eventually led to Afghanistan. The Taliban provided the justification the U.S.
needed to enter Afghanistan to achieve its strategic of dominance and geopolitical influence in the region. This
brutality and expansion of attacks throughout the world provided additional criteria for Just War the U.S. and its
allies needed.
The war in Iraq, Afghanistan and now Syria has depleted American resources and will to fight a war that seems to
have no end to justify continuing. The laws proportionality are starting to weigh on the conscious of the American
people as the cost rises. The economy is struggling and the American lifestyle and culture is now at risk. Families
are hurting financially due to the market collapse and the shrinking dollar. America is starting to lose support for
the war as it hits people where they hurt the most in their homes. As families increasingly find it difficult to heat
their homes during brutal winters or put food on the table the support is waning. The high energy prices including
oil and gas has dramatically forced changes to the American lifestyle and Americans are angry.
On the other hand, pulling troops out of Iraq created the perfect storm in ISIS (Syria and Iraq) which also poses a
threat to Afghanistan. The U.S. created a monster by allowing ISIS to come in and take control of a vast weapon
supply, equipment, and technology. Which is now being used to commit atrocities in Syria. Though fueled by
religious hatred this is really a struggle for power and control in many different ways. There are religious agendas,
energy market control, and geopolitical struggles, as well as cultural struggles. There are so many agendas by each
party in the conflict it’s difficult to tell who is a friend or foe depending on the agenda of the mission and who’s
playing the game. The only thing truly agreed upon is that America is respons ible for inadvertently arming ISIS and
must help eliminate the threat. America really can’t afford to finance the war but they can’t afford to give up
strategic alliances and influence in the region which is rich in both oil and natural gas. Allowing the Arab word to
control the energy market for any country is dangerous to all.