Despite the sadness and disappointment I feel when I read the news stories from around the globe it has been year of progress and acceptance of the work I do. Although some might differ I translate
that to mean we are all moving toward a world of more engagement and compassion. My expectations are high for the kind of breakthroughs I envision for 2006. My personal highlights for 2005 include:

> Delivering programs for the American Management Association

> Developing a collaborative relationship with Guild Communication,
(a long time government contractor) and creating a new program
for the SES (Senior Executive Service) that combines Creating
Organizational Trust (with Dennis and Michelle Reina;) Risk
Communication; Agreement and Resolution

> Deepening my partnership with World Wide Digital Media (WWDM;)
the organization that enabled the design and creation of
ResolutionWorksOnline.

> Planning and Designing a very succssful Berrett-Koehler author's
retreat

> The Creation of the Berrett-Koeher's Author Co-op

> Realizing that I am a Social Entrepreneurs and beginning to look
for funding and distribution sources

> Having the "Cycle of Resoution" selected for inclusion in "The Change Handbook."

> The imminent shift of the NGO I have been a board member of into
providing collaboration and conflict resolution education for
children, government and NGO's. This will include
building a Board, developing funding sources, programs and
staff.

> Collaborating with Dan Goodman at The National League of Cities to
develop programs for municipal governments

> Planning a 60th Birthday cruise to the middle east.

I am looking forward to more collaborative activity in 2006 with a host of colleagues.

Just before "Getting to Resolution" was published my mother told me "there are too many books being published. I told her she should not be saying that right now, but I did agree with her. So too
There are too many people making pronouncements and assessments during this reflective time. I was going to write add my share, but it seems Aan Weiss has done it for me. No need to reinvent
when Alan's words have captured closely enough what I observe. Thank you Alan!

***************

The Human Condition: The end of the world (or not) by Alan Weiss,
from his newsletter "Balancing Act" www.summittconsulting.com

Why do people who cheat on their income taxes, change lanes without
signaling, and keep money they find on the street act so shocked when executives cook the books and spend lavishly on themselves in major corporations? Why do people who have never bothered to vote locally bother to complain about the schools or the streets? Why do people who lead imperfect lives become outraged when a politician is proved by the media (the members of which also lead imperfect lives) to have led an imperfect life?

We live in the kind of world we, collectively, deserve to live in. That doesn't mean it's always good or fair or balanced. But it does mean that we shouldn't be so shocked when others demonstrate the same errors in judgment or venality that afflict virtually all of us.

This is not the end of the world. I don't believe that corporate greed and malfeasance are any worse today than 50 years ago. They are merely more reported in more effective media channels. I don't believe the world is more dangerous today than 50 years ago. We lived through nearly a half-century of devastating nuclear weapons pointed at us by an enemy who could effectively target and launch them. I don't believe the world is even more polluted today. It's merely polluted in different ways. One simple and distasteful
example: In the late 19th and early 20th Centuries, the horse defecation alone on New York City streets necessitated shovelers at corners to clear paths, and constituted potential disease, filth and pollution volumes far worse than today's internal combustion engines. (The few horses pulling hansom cabs around Central Park in New York today are required to wear a kind of equine diaper,
and there are heavy fines should the horses foul the streets.)

No, not all is well. There appears to be global warming above and beyond normal cycles (or repeating the worst of previous cycles). (Polar bears in the arctic have changed their habitat from ice floes to beaches in Alaska because the ice has retreated a record 160 miles from shore.) Ancient religious strife has inherited modern weaponry. We have been able to conquer diseases and
extend life to record ages, but we face very complex ethical questions about proper treatment and sources (the first face transplant is now embroiled in tremendous controversy in France, and a Korean scientist has admitted to falsifying research in his cloning work).

So my picture is not intended to be anodyne. But we control more of our destiny than ever before. Human beings, after all, brought down the Iron Curtain, and passionate groups monitor ethics, animal rights, prisoner treatment, nuclear proliferation, and a host of other issues. Locally and nationally, we can affect our governments, our businesses, and our schools, IF we choose to do so.

But we "gotta wanna." Emerson said that "He who has a mind to meddle must have a heart to help." Fair enough.

It's not the end of the world. It's what we make it.

**********

So, as the year ends I'm troubled and hopeful; scared and confident. I'm truly living in a world of duality which I think is a good thing for a resolutionary thinker. That said, the dichotomy needs a bridge in places where everyone pays too dearly for the cost of ongoing conflict. Real political dialogue is essential for a functioning democracy. It seems
essential to let go of pre-concieved "right" ideas so we might engage with the enemy and find out if they are us. From the congress to the executive branch and to all levels of government in between we have become poor excuses for democratic participation which
reflects the lack of humanity we demonstrate compared to what is possible.

In the early 1980's, shortly after I moved away from the intense conflict of daily legal practice, I had a vision of Kiosks on every corner that people could access at the early stages of
any kind of conflict. The kiosk would be staffed by someone who could at least point people in the right direction. Making this a reality, in my view, would be the educational and practical
resouce that would make the world a more hospitable place - or at least address most of the kinds of unnecessary battles I had been exposed to as a lawyer. Flash forward 20 some odd years
and this vision is closer to reality given that technoogy can provide a kiosk in every home. It is just a question of will and creating the scale to achieve it.

Look for the following developments in 2006:

> Ofering training to congress in the art of dialogue.

> Developing collaboration trainings through the National League of Cities

> Developing a community of Resolutionary's

> Developing a program for Kids and the funding to bring it forward on a large scale

> Developing and implementing the communication program that incorporates risk, ethics, trust, agreement and resolution such that government, educational institutions, NGO's and Corporations become Cultures of Agreement and Resolution thereby creating a world that works for more of us.

Please let me know how you would like to be involved. It is time for action!

My best to you for an engaged 2006!

With Love,

Stewart

Getting To Resolution

The Book of Agreement

To subscribe to this list, please send an e-mail message to:
TheResolutionary-On@lists.webvalence.com
To unsubscribe, send an e-mail to:
TheResolutionary-Off@lists.webvalence.com
You may type an "x" in the subject or the body if your e-mail program requires it.

Stewart Levine
9015 Golf Links Rd.
Oakland, CA 94605