On Stages of Conflict Escalation - Conflict and Multimodal Communication: Social Research and Machine Intelligence - page 52

Chapter 3
On Stages of Conflict Escalation

Jens Allwood and Elisabeth Ahlsén

3.1 Introduction

An issue in the theory of conflict is whether there are stages (steps, phases, or
levels—the terminology varies) in conflict escalation (and de-escalation). If so, how
many are there and what are their identifying characteristics?
A prerequisite for identifying stages in conflict is a definition of what a conflict
is. In this paper, we take the following definition (cf. Allwood 1992 ) as our point of
departure:
Conflict: A and B are in conflict D A and/or B believe they have incompatible
interests and/or perform negative actions against each other.

3.2 Taxonomies of Conflict

There are a number of aspects that can be considered in characterizing and
classifying conflicts. Some possible taxonomies of conflict are:

1. The number of participants. Is it a two-party (bilateral) or three-party (trilateral)
conflict, or are many parties involved (multilateral conflict)?
2. The degree of interactivity: Is it a one-way or a two-way conflict?
3. The degree of overtness: Is it an overt or a covert conflict?
An overt conflict occurs when two agents are in overt conflict, if they both
experience grounds for conflictual action against each other and as a result take