Ethos of Peace and Conflict
A Study on the Dynamical Ethos of Peace and Conflict in Israel/Palestine
Led by Dr. Peter Coleman, this study proposes to look mainly at conflict ethos in Israel/Palestine. Building upon the work of Daniel Bar-Tal, Dr. Coleman argues that under prolonged intractable conflict, societies develop a particular ethos which comes to provide a clear picture of the conflict, its goals, its conditions, requirements, images of the own group and of the rival.This narrative reflects the society members’ 
experiences in conflict. Some of the themes appear especially in times of conflict and others appear also in times of peace, but in intractable conflict their contents become adapted to the new conditions. The narrative of the ethos of conflict is supported by the narrative of collective memory and in both narratives similar themes appear.
The Ethos of Conflict project is a 5-year longitudinal study in which the research team will collect time-series survey data to begin to look at changes in the variance, strength and complexity of conflict and peace ethos in both Jewish and Palestinian communities in the Middle East. A fuller account of both types of ethos within multiple communities which examine changes in degrees of coherence or variance within groups on both may allow for more robust understanding of the relationships between these parameters and policy variables.
Questions regarding this project can be addressed to Christianna at cgozzi@ei.columbia.edu