State Department Analyst Talks Conflict Resolution
(Posted February 10, 2016)
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On Feb. 4, Andrew Loomis, a Juniata alumnus and employee of the State Department and Bureau of Conflict Stabilization Operations, talked about his career and the number of things the Department does for conflict resolution in the United States and around the world.
Loomis has done work in Burma and Bangladesh to try and prevent violence. He described his work in the Department as, "Helping to get ahead of the curve and to not respond crisis to crisis." This proactive approach means that he and his colleagues need to first identify who is "stirring the pot" of conflict and to act early.
He describes conflict zones around the world as "cesspools for terrorist groups." Part of Loomis' job is to analyze how such economic fluctuations will affect global violence trends. These conflicts have led him to create a theory of conflict resolution which states four main points:
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Put emphasis on world signals: Treat new threats as dangerous and as a high priority to gain an understanding of the person or group associated with the threat.
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Diagnose the path to violence: Find out how and why these people are threatening other groups and countries. Was it the country's fault? Ultimately, what caused them to be violent?
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Develop strategies to resolve conflict: Find ways to infiltrate a system if needed, but also create policy and programs to prevent violence in the first place.
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Execute the strategy: Loomis stated, "Leadership today puts economics first," which he thinks is a big problem. If we want to stop conflict around the world, we will put a bigger emphasis on it.
A.J. Brocato Juniata Online Journalist '18
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