Friedrich Glasl's model of conflict escalation
Friedrich Glasl's model of conflict escalation[1] assists in the analysis of conflicts. Appropriate reactions can be derived from this analysis. The model has nine stages – in contrast to the earlier model of Kurt R. Spillmann,[2] which describes five distinct stages of escalation. These stages are grouped into three levels, which each contain three stages.
Levels
Glasl represents "escalation in his nine stage model not as an ascent to higher and higher stages of escalation, but as a descent to deeper and deeper, more primitive and more inhuman forms of dispute... [which] inevitably leads into regions that evoke great 'inhuman energies' which are not ultimately amenable to human control or restraint."[3] In the first level both parties can still win (win–win). In the second level one of the parties loses and the other wins (win–lose), and in the third level both parties lose (lose–lose).
Many different kinds of conflict can be thus analysed: divorces, conflicts between colleagues and school children, and also conflicts between states.
1st Level (Win–Win)
- Stage 1 – Tension
- Conflicts start with tensions, e.g. the occasional clash of opinions. This is a common occurrence and is not perceived as the start of a conflict. However, if a conflict should result the positions become more fundamental. The conflict could have deeper causes.
- Stage 2 – Debate
- From now on the conflict parties consider strategies to convince the counterparty of their arguments. Differences of opinion lead to a dispute. The parties try to put each other under pressure and think in terms of black and white.
- Stage 3 – Actions instead of words
- The conflict parties increase the pressure on each other in order to assert their own opinion. Discussions are broken off. No more verbal communication takes place and the conflict is increasingly exacerbated. Sympathy for "them" disappears.
2nd Level (Win–Lose)
- Stage 4 – Coalitions
- The conflict is exacerbated by the search for sympathisers for one's cause. Believing one has right on one's side, one can denounce the opponent. The issue is no longer important: one has to win the conflict so that the opponent loses.
- Stage 5 – Loss of face
- The opponent is to be denigrated by innuendo and the like. The loss of trust is complete. Loss of face means in this sense the loss of moral credibility.
- Stage 6 – Threat strategies
- The conflict parties try to gain absolute control by issuing threats which demonstrate their own power. One threatens, for example, with a demand (10 million euros) which is enforced by a sanction ("otherwise I′ll blow up your main building") and underlined by the potential for sanction (showing the explosive). The proportions decide the credibility of the threat.
3rd Level (Lose–Lose)
- Stage 7 – Limited destruction
- One tries to severely damage the opponent with all the tricks at one's disposal. The opponent is no longer regarded as human. From now on, limited personal loss is seen as a gain if the damage to the opponent is greater.
- Stage 8 – Total annihilation
- The opponent is to be annihilated by all means.
- Stage 9 – Together into the abyss
- From this point personal annihilation is accepted in order to defeat the opponent.[4][5]
Together into the abyss: Samson analogy for the final stage
Samson's death in verse 16:30 of The Book of Judges in the Hebrew Bible is example of Genzel's final stage.[4][6] Samson's dying words in Judges 16:30 are 'Let me die with the Philistines'.[7][6] The expression means that after seeing that a person will not be able to defeat his enemy, he decides to take revenge on the enemy and cause both himself and his enemy to be harmed. According to Friedrich Genzel's conflict escalation model, this is the final stage in the escalation of a conflict in which a person is willing to lose everything, the main thing being to defeat his opponent.[4] In situations where death or severe injury is already difficult to avoid, it is seen by some as heroic to abandon efforts to save one's self and instead focus on causing as much harm as possible to the enemy, in the process of effectively committing suicide.[8][9] Samson's dying words have become a common expression in Hebrew, Arabic, and related varieties of English.[4]
In Arabic the Phrasing is slightly different, but the meaning is similar. In Arabic the expression is phrased differently, as roughly “Against me and my enemies, O Lord!” (Arabic: عليّ وعلى أعدائي يا رب).[10][11][12][13] The phrase is a proverb in Arabic, about an attacker's desire to harm his enemy even at the cost of the attacker causing his own death.[14] Foot example, the expression been used in The New Arab newspaper to describe Russian's nuclear strategy.[15]
Menachem Begin described the concept at length in a propaganda statement praising two Zionist militants who were killed in a suicide operation in a British-run prison in Palestine, one of his own Irgun fighters and another from the Lehi militant group.[5]
| Rough translation in English | Begin's statement in Hebrew |
|---|---|
| "…and their decision was to renew the ancient tradition of the ancient Hebrew warrior, Samson: Let my soul die with the Philistines! Indeed, if there is no more retreat, if death closes in on you from all sides, Samson's way is good: Even the enemy will descend with me into the abyss! And the two young heroes would have exploded along with the British executioners…" | …והחלטתם היתה לחדש את המסורת העתיקה של הלוחם העברי הקדמון, שמשון: תמות נפשי עם פלשתים! אכן, אם אין עוד נסיגה, אם המוות סוגר עליך מכל עבר, טובה היא הדרך של שמשון: גם האויב ירד יחד אתי תהומה! ושני הגבורים הצעירים היו מתפוצצים יחד עם התליינים הבריטיים אלמלא ידיעתם מראש… |
The Lehi had planned to turn the allegedly scheduled double execution – of their own militant and a member of Begin's Irgun – into a suicide attack, using concealed explosives to kill the militants as well as their executioners and other high ranking British security personnel. Begin, who approved the original plan, claimed that it was thwarted by a Rabbi – who allegedly did not know the plan – refusing to stay a safe distance away from the gallows at the time of the hanging.[5] The explosives detonated while the two militants were alone in their cell, killing only them.[16] This was still seen as a heroic victory for avoiding the hanging the British had planned.[5][17]
Strategies for de-escalation and conflict solution
The model describes how two parties in a conflict behave. Solutions leading to de-escalation are not immediately apparent in this model,[18] particularly when it appears to both conflict parties impossible to reverse the situation (e.g. an aggressive act on the territory of a state, separation of a common child from the other parent, withdrawal of nationality by a state, mass redundancy to improve shareholder value), or when one party selects conflict escalation as a strategic ploy.
To achieve de-escalation Glasl assigns the following strategic models to the different stages of escalation:
- Stage 1–3: mediation
- Stage 3–5: process guidance
- Stage 4–6: sociotherapeutic process guidance
- Stage 5–7: intercession, intermediation
- Stage 6–8: arbitration, court action
- Stage 7–9: forcible intervention
The ability to recognise and eliminate conflict-nourishing forces in a culturally neutral and non-judgemental fashion in order to de-escalate a conflict is highly advantageous in particular for managers, consultants and social workers.
Criticism
Glasl’s conflict model is criticized for being too deterministic and ignoring the probabilistic nature of conflict dynamics.[19]
See also
- Business ethics
- Charles E. Osgood § GRIT
- Conflict escalation
- Conflict management
- De-escalation
- Delphinstrategie (in German)
- Dialogue
- Getting to Yes
- Judges 16:30 (Biblical example of final stage)
- Just war theory
- Karpman drama triangle
- Mediation
- Nonviolent Communication
- Paul Graham's hierarchy of disagreement
- Rise up and kill him first[20]
- Book: Rise and Kill First
References
- ^ Glasl, Friedrich (1982), Bomers, Gerard B. J.; Peterson, Richard B. (eds.), "The Process of Conflict Escalation and Roles of Third Parties", Conflict Management and Industrial Relations, Dordrecht: Springer Netherlands, pp. 119–140, doi:10.1007/978-94-017-1132-6_6, ISBN 978-94-017-1132-6, retrieved 15 June 2024
- ^ Kurt R. Spillmann; Kati Spillmann (1989). "Feindbilder. Entstehung, Funktion und Möglichkeiten ihres Abbaus" (PDF). Zürcher Beiträge zur Sicherheitspolitik und Konfliktforschung (12): 19-.
- ^ "Konflikteskalation: Wie die Unversöhnlichkeit stufenweise wächst". Umsetzungsberatung.de. Retrieved 20 July 2017.
- ^ a b c d Natan Zahavi נתן זהבי (21 June 2024). שמשון נתניהו [Shimshon Netanyahu]. Maariv (newspaper) www.maariv.co.il (in Hebrew).
- ^ a b c d e Begin (April 1947). ירושלים (מאיר פיינשטיין ומשה ברזני) [Jerusalem (Meir Feinstein and Moshe Barazani)]. מאגר כתבי מנחם בגין (Menachem Begin Writings Database) (in Hebrew). מרכז מורשת בגין (Begin Heritage Center).
- ^ a b Judges 16:30
- ^ "Judges 16: Hebrew - English Bible - Mechon-Mamre". mechon-mamre.org (in Hebrew and English). English: 30 And Samson said: 'Let me die with the Philistines'. And he bent with all his might; and the house fell upon the lords, and upon all the people that were therein. So the dead that he slew at his death were more than they that he slew in his life. Hebrew: ל וַיֹּאמֶר שִׁמְשׁוֹן, תָּמוֹת נַפְשִׁי עִם-פְּלִשְׁתִּים, וַיֵּט בְּכֹחַ, וַיִּפֹּל הַבַּיִת עַל-הַסְּרָנִים וְעַל-כָּל-הָעָם אֲשֶׁר-בּוֹ; וַיִּהְיוּ הַמֵּתִים, אֲשֶׁר הֵמִית בְּמוֹתוֹ, רַבִּים, מֵאֲשֶׁר הֵמִית בְּחַיָּיו.
- ^ Shakib Ali (Arabic: شكيب علي) Hebrew: שקיב (שכיב) עלי (8 December 2023). לשחרר אותם לפני שלחמאס לא יהיה מה להפסיד. Ynet (in Hebrew). מצמררת המחשבה על הסיפור המקראי על שמשון הגיבור, שנתפס על ידי הפלישתים והוחזק בעזה, שם נקשר לעמודי המקדש. אחרי שהבין שלא יוכל להשתחרר, העדיף לנקום באויביו ומוטט את עמודי המבנה עליו ועל שוביו ואמר "תמות נפשי עם פלישתים". [It is chilling to think of the biblical story of the hero Samson, who was captured by the Philistines and held in Gaza, where he was tied to the pillars of the Temple. After realizing that he would not be able to be freed, he preferred to take revenge on his enemies and collapsed the pillars of the building on him and his captors, saying, "May my soul die with the Philistines".]
- ^ שלושה אירועי "תָּמוֹת נַפְשִׁי עִם פְּלִשְׁתִּים" של גיבורינו בעזה [ Three events of our heroes' "Let my soul die with the Philistines" in Gaza ]. כיכר השבת Kikar HaShabbat www.kikar.co.il (in Hebrew). 13 February 2024. כתב ההיסטוריון צבי אילן כי במהלך הקרב הקשה הוצת זחל"מ ישראלי, ונהגו ביצע מעשה הקרבה בל יאמן. הוא הסיע את הרכב הבוער לעבר שני זחל"מים מצריים, התנגש בהם ופוצץ אותם על יושביהם. מהדורה זו היא שלישית במספר של "תמות נפשי עם פלישתים", וההיסטוריה חוזרת על עצמה שוב ושוב בגבורת העם היהודי הנאבק באויביו. [Historian Zvi Ilan wrote that during the fierce battle, an Israeli tracked vehicle was set on fire, and its driver performed an unbelievable act of sacrifice. He drove the burning vehicle towards two Egyptian tracks, crashed into them and blew them up on their occupants. This is the third edition of "May My Soul Die with the Philistines", and history repeats itself again and again with the heroism of the Jewish people struggling against its enemies.]
- ^ Kamal Qubaisi (29 July 2010). اكتشاف أثري ينسف حكاية تدمير "شمشون" لمعبد فلسطيني بساعديه – زلزال بقوة 8 درجات دك الهيكل قبل 2900 عام [An archaeological discovery debunks the story of Samson destroying a Palestinian temple with his own hands. An 8.0 magnitude earthquake destroyed the temple 2,900 years ago.]. العربية alarabiya.net (in Arabic). Archived from the original on 28 June 2025. منذ مئات السنين ونحن نتواتر حكاية "شمشون الجبار" وصديقته دليلة، وشهرته كخارق للقوة قام بتدمير معبد للفلسطينيين بيديه قبل 2900 عام في غزة القديمة، حيث وقف وصرخ "عليّ وعلى أعدائي يا رب" قبل دفعه لعمودين في الهيكل انهار بانهيارهما وتساقطت حجارته عليه وعلى من كان فيه من أعدائه الفلسطينيين، مسجلا بذلك أول عملية انتحارية في التاريخ. [“Samson the Mighty” … destroyed a Philistine temple with his own hands 2,900 years ago in ancient Gaza, where he stood and cried “Against me and my enemies, O Lord!” before pushing two pillars in the temple, which collapsed and its stones fell on him and his Philistine enemies inside, thus marking the first suicide operation (عملية انتحارية) in history.]
- ^ عليّ وعلى أعدائي يا رب [On me and on my enemies, O Lord]. www.hammurabinewsagency.com. 18 February 2023.
- ^ عبدالفتاح, منى (31 August 2016). علي وعلى أعدائي.. أساس السلوك الانتحاري [On me and on my enemies. The basis of suicidal behavior]. makkahnewspaper.com (in Arabic). Saudi Arabia: صحيفة مكة. Archived from the original on 12 August 2025.
- ^ "عليّ وعلى أعدائي" - شمشونيات معاصرة! ["On me and my enemies" - modern Samsonites]. www.iraqicp.com Iraqi Communist Party.
- ^ شمشون الجبار: ثلاث روايات لبطل واحد [Samson the Great: Three stories of one hero]. منشور manshoor.com (in Arabic). 25 February 2018. «عليّ وعلى أعدائي»، مثل شعبي يعني «سأهدم كل شيء، ولتحل المصيبة بي وبأعدائي»، أي أنه يصوِّر الرغبة في إيذاء العدو/الخصم حتى لو تسببت في هلاك المؤذي نفسه. هذا المثل ارتبط في الموروثات الشعبية بشخصية «شمشون الجبار» … في كل الأحوال، وبغض النظر عن مدى دقة ما بلغنا من قصة شمشون، فإن «رسالتها» «عليّ وعلى أعدائي»، أو ما يصفه المسيري بـ«الانفجار الأخير الذي قد يقضي على الذات، لكنه يقضي على الآخر أيضًا»، بقيت بعد ذلك أسلوبًا لتفكير كثيرين، ونمطًا مألوفًا في صراعات عدة. ["On me and on my enemies", the proverb of my people means "I will destroy everything, and may the misfortune befall me and my enemies", that is, it depicts the desire to harm the enemy/opponent even if it causes the destruction of the harmer himself. This proverb has been associated in folklore with the character of "Samson the Mighty" … In any case, no matter how accurate the story of Samson is, its "message" – "upon me and upon my enemies", or what Messiri describes as "the last explosion that may destroy the self, but also the other", remained a way of thinking for many, and a familiar pattern in many conflicts.]
- ^ "عليّ وعلى أعدائي" عقيدة نظام عالمي جديد ["Against Me and My Enemies" is a new geopolitical doctrine]. The New Arab. 3 September 2022.
- ^ "2 TERRORISTS HID BOMBS IN ORANGES; Scooped-OutFruit Held Charge, Palestine Authorities Say After Suicide Inquiry". The New York Times. 23 April 1947.
An inquiry uncovered scooped-out oranges containing rivets similar to those used in terrorist anti-personnel mines … When he (Rabbi Jacob Goldman) was about to leave, Barazani said quietly: "I don't think we shall be alive until tomorrow morning". Dr. Goldman gave no special heed to this remark as he (Rabbi Jacob Goldman) believed the man was referring to his impending execution. The rabbi was in the prison officers' mess at 11:30 when he heard "two bangs". Barazani and Feinstein were dead, their bodies mangled, when the guards rushed in … By a special rabbinical dispensation their bodies were buried in a consecrated section of the cemetery although nominally, as suicides, they would be interred in the unhallowed ground near a stone wall.
- ^ Pomerantz, Batsheva (19 April 2007). "The writing on the wall". The Jerusalem Post.
One of the best-known stories of heroism leading to the creation of the State of Israel
- ^ "Die neun Stufen der Konflikteskalation nach Glasl / Konflikteskalation / Krieg / Kriegsgeschehen verstehen / Kriege / Materialien / Home - Institut für Friedenspädagogik Tübingen e.V". Friedenspaedagogik.de (in German). Retrieved 20 July 2017.
- ^ Bösch, Richard (2017). "Conflict Escalation". Oxford Research Encyclopedia of International Studies. doi:10.1093/acrefore/9780190846626.013.82. ISBN 978-0-19-084662-6.
- ^ Bronner, Ethan (27 January 2018). "New book reveals top assassination methods preferred by Israeli spies". The Independent. Bloomberg. Archived from the original on 8 March 2018. Retrieved 10 March 2018.
Bibliography
- Friedrich Glasl: Konfliktmanagement. Ein Handbuch für Führungskräfte, Beraterinnen und Berater. Haupt, Bern 9. A. 2009, ISBN 978-3-258-07556-3.
- Alexander Redlich: Konfliktmoderation in Gruppen (mit Lehrfilm auf DVD). Windmühle, Hamburg 7. A. 2009, ISBN 978-3-937444-18-5
- Some translations from: Ruth Mischnick: "Nonviolent Conflict Transformation – Training Manual for a Training of Trainers Course" (the link, https://web.archive.org/web/20160304082001/http://library.deeep.org/record/777/files/DEEEP-BOOK-2014-473.pdf, now links to the web archive as primary link is no longer available as at 2020-07-14).
