Building Bridges

Description

I started writing this book at the beginning of the COVID-19 pandemic which brought home to us all our common humanity and our common vulnerability to forces that we do not control. It was an appropriate time to think about the journey we need to make together from polarization to consensus, from separateness to community, from duality to oneness.

As someone who has devoted the last thirty years of her life trying to build bridges, resolve conflict and foster reconciliation in the divided island of Cyprus, this seemed to be the right time to share what I have learnt in the context of my work as a politician, citizen activist and individual working for reconciliation and re-unification.

What I learnt is, I hope, not just relevant to Cyprus even though my experiences relate primarily to the island. This book is a personal account and not a textbook on conflict resolution, alternative dispute resolution, mediation, or negotiation.

At present we live in a culture based on separateness and power. We think that we are separate individuals, nations, and communities, and that some of us are more deserving than others. We assume that those of us who are stronger have the right to impose our will on others.

This book argues that we need to build a culture of harmony that starts from the premise that we are all connected. It describes the skills we need to learn to be able to move from polarization to convergence. After all we are all human beings in the same family of life. We all basically want the same things and when we cooperate and work together for the benefit of the whole, we all come out better off. This is the world view we need to take on board now if we are going to make it as a species into the next century.