CONNECTORS FOR PEACE

SYSTEMS AND INSTITUTIONS- In all societies where intrastate war erupts, systems and institutions like markets and communications systems continue to link people across lines. For example, local markets or the continued need to trade goods may bring together merchants from opposing factions in a conflict. Media sources (foreign or local news broadcasts on the radio or TV) also provide linkages between people regardless of their affiliation. Irrigation systems, bridges, roads and electrical grids are additional examples of institutional and systematic connectors.

Attitudes and Actions. Even in the midst of war and violence, it is possible to find individuals and groups who continue to express attitudes of tolerance, or even love or appreciation for people on the "other side". Some individuals in ways that are contrary to what we expect to find during war - adopting abandoned children from the ''other side'' linked across lines to continue a professional association or journal, setting up new associations of people opposed to the war. They do these things because they seem ''normal'' or ''right''. Often, they do not think of them as extraordinary or even as ''non-war.''

shared values and interests. A common religion can bring people together, as can common values such as as the need to protect a child's health. UNICEF, for example, has negotiated days of tranquility based upon the value placed upon inoculating children against disease. These same connectors sometimes act as dividers, but we tend to think more about the divisive effects of values in times of war.

common experiences. The experience and effects of war on individuals can provide linkages across the conflict lines. Citing the experience of war and suffering as ''common to all sides,'' people sometimes create new anti-war alliances across conflict lines. sometimes the experience of war unites individuals who are traumatized by violence, regardless of their different affiliations.