Review: Dangerous Magic

REVIEW

Dangerous Magic: Essays on Conflict Resolution in South Africa

by Andre Vlok

(From the Foreword)

Being a conflict advisor is not for the faint of heart. Purposefully choosing that profession in South Africa borders on insanity. Succeeding at that role in South Africa is nearly miraculous.

Andre is all of these, and that is to our great benefit for two reasons. While every conflict may be as unique as the clash of values and the individuals who hold them, Andre has still managed to deal with an unusual breadth of conflict types. This has enabled him, or forced him, to find a critical mass of approaches and practical learnings that will work in many different situations. More situations than most other professional advisors or conflict participants will ever face. I’m reminded of the wry quip that veterinarians make about doctors: “They only have to deal with one species.”

Not only has Andre managed to go broad in his application, but with this book, he has also managed to go deep. Complex problems require comprehensive solutions, and he has been able to draw from a wide-ranging, multidisciplinary body of work. This includes neuroscience, psychology, complexity theory, and other disciplines. There is no Universal Theory of Conflict. Beware anyone who claims such and fails to bring this level of multidisciplinary understanding.

As the world, real and virtual, shrinks and we humans are jammed ever tighter together, our values will only clash more. Diversity is only a strength if we can meaningfully engage with each other. It behooves all of us to understand how we can effectively show up and responsibly participate in the challenging years ahead. We need to hear from, and learn from, people like Andre, who have the combined breadth and depth of understanding conflicts, battle-tested in hardscrabble places like South Africa.

Works like *Dangerous Magic* give us an unprecedented opportunity for all of us, professionals or not, to improve our conflict competency and apply the practical realities of this unique combination of hard-won information and usable techniques.

Dr. Mark Szabo is founder of the Center for Complex Conflict. He can be reached at mark@complexconflict.com.

Buy on Amazon: Dangerous Magic: Essays on Conflict Resolution in South Africa