A Problem-Solving Workshop on Border Conflicts in Eastern Africa

Abstract

Six participants each from Somalia, Ethiopia, and Kenya met on neutral turf and participated in a two-week workshop to search for solutions to the border disputes between Somalia and her two neighbors. The workshop was a social invention based on ideas and techniques generated by the behavioral sciences. This pilot venture, admittedly a mixture of successes and failures, can provide the basis for improvement and extension of the concept. In particular, we can draw implications for the composition of participant groups, duration, location, and goals in organizing future workshops; and for the techniques, groupings, and pacing utilized during the workshop.