Editorial

Negotiations, Peace and War.

Wars or conflicts could cease either by annihilation of one adversary or by negotiation. The prolonged the Colombian conflict and efforts defeated opponents without apparent military solution, the solution seemed geared towards negotiation. Colombian prolonged conflict in which opponents have persisted in trying to defeat each other without visible military solution seems now to be guided into a negotiated way out. In this sense it is very difficult not to agree to peace. Only those who profit from the war business would view peace as a denial of its own rationale. Still, the problem is not just philosophical. It is largely an exercise of realities as it´s described by the Novel Aumann¹ (2006)

We should shift emphasis and study war in general, defining characteristics, what the common denominators are, what the differences are. Historically, sociologically, psychologically, and yes rationally. Why does homo economicus rational man go to war? The bottom line is again that we should start studying war, from all viewpoints, for its own sake. Try to understand what makes it happen. Pure, basic science. That may lead, eventually, to peace.

War is more constant than peace in the world, battles take place in one side or the other. He fought the homeland of Hegel and many of the great philosophers, also in the Balkans, Afghanistan, Russia against Chechens and other nationalities, Syria, Iraq, Iran, Israel, and Palestine. What are the interests of all those wars? Some place them as political, others as economic, others in many other ways or a combination of all the above. Huntington (1997) dissents by asserting that the problem rather than placed in the sphere of economic contradictions the axis of the conflict lies in global affairs and national or regional interests. It is worth asking oneself a couple of questions about the everlasting Colombian conflict beginning in the Independence War. First if a condition of continued war has been lived with just replaced players, but without solving the underlying problem? And second if the budgets of all “these wars” have the same rationale arguments originated in poverty, inequality, injustice and other important issues, but by dint of repeating, they seem anachronistic or at least delegitimized².

But one point also makes the whole scaffolding communicative tremble: Jane Goodall documented, it seems that chimpanzees also unleashed fierce hunts against neighboring groups more like wars of humans than the survival of species not endowed with rationality or soul. Similar events are documented by the National Geographics.

Just a variable isn´t the problem but it is found in the land of the complex, as suggested by Aumann (2006), and whose starting point is to decipher the interests, strategic balances of the contestants and watch the civilizing cultural problem of long-term Huntington puts it.

Some peace phenomena can be defined in the area of complex theory. In work not yet published, Sanabria, Cardenas and Contreras (2015), with data for Bogota 2011-2012, show the involvement of illegal weapons is 90 and 93% respectively in each year despite the decreased of crime by 10.5%. Moreover, 54.5% of crimes were motivated by revenge, 15% by fight or discussion, thus forming about 70% of the crimes for reasons associated with social behavior. Of all these almost 53% of crimes are committed between people of the same sector, 15% between acquaintances and 18% among offenders.

Another important result of this study is that on average 24% of crimes are committed in stratum 1, 54% in stratum 2, 17% at 3 and about 5% in strata 4, 5 and 6. Furthermore, personal problems occur among 31 to 45 years old people and cold steel fighting among 18 to 30 years old. Another result also contradictory is the absence of a relationship between unemployment and poverty associated with violence and, more unexpected than the percentage of crimes committed by armed groups does not exceed 5% in the quantitative impact on domestic national insecurity.

This shows that the economic, political and social variables by themselves explain the phenomenon of war, violence and insecurity insufficiently. Then the complexity theory serves as an explanatory basis for understanding these phenomena affected by multiple variables.

Returning to the issues raised by Huntington, one can think more social and cultural breaks. Thus, the ongoing negotiations in Havana, or any negotiation process, to be a good alternative, they should decipher the core of interests that allow the optimal strategic and it should also be capable of reproducing iterating over social geography.

If the optimal solution is not achieved the unwanted results of previous negotiation processes in Colombia can be repeated: the process of 1957 (war between Liberals and Conservatives), the negotiations of 1990 (demobilization of left cut guerrillas), and the process 2005 (demobilization of right-wing cut paramilitaries). Shortly after these peace processes ended new bodies of guerrillas had occupied the areas left by the demobilized. Since the conflict agreed in 1957, criminals groups have strengthened, known by the name of Bacrim, they formed by the remnants of the paramilitary which has been an unplanned output from Ralito negotiations. It seems then that there are more contenders now and there is no resolution to any apparent or real causes that have led the insurgency, the guerrillas and the paramilitaries to rise.

It is then required than the dialogues rather than trying to solve the problem of confrontation between guerrillas and the state they should are able to implement optimal solution to the core issues. As presented by Nash (1950), they should represent an optimal point, founded on the basis of cooperation with the presence of imbalances, and which would, by iterating, a cultural change in order to learn to solve conflicts through reasoning as defined by Auman. To reach this, it is essential that not only individuals in their role as builders of social rules from habits and routines participate (Hodgson, 2004, p. 290 and 2006, p. 5) but also companies need to cooperate as main developers of the markets, today defined primarily as an issue of entrepreneurship and innovation.

It is in this perspective that the dialogue could have a significant impact on the competitiveness and social development, creating new social rules in which conflicts are resolved positively for the growth.

Notes

¹ To Aumann rationality is understood that a person’s behavior is based on their best interest given the information available to it.
² If the justificatory side to side arguments about war are reviewed, it is found that there isn´t a significant difference so the armed exercise could be justified.

References

Néstor Juan Sanabria Landazábal
Docente investigador Universidad
Autónoma del Caribe
Editor
Barranquilla, Colombia.

Jorge Mario Ortega de la Rosa
Docente Facultad de Ciencias Administrativas,
Económicas y Contables
Universidad Autónoma del Caribe
Barranquilla, Colombia.

NOTA DEL EDITOR

A partir de este número la Revista Dimensión Empresarial, en procura de garantizar calidad para sus lectores, amplía su temática con temas de políticas en una perspectiva empresarial, en el convencimiento que este es un tema fundamental para la comprensión del entorno social y la gobernabilidad. Sin este importantísimo conocimiento, los diseños de las empresas pueden verse truncos al no introducir el tema de las políticas dentro de sus procesos de endogenización de la información necesaria para una toma de decisiones, con mejor posibilidad de acierto.

En esta perspectiva la Revista Dimensión Empresarial, de la Facultad de Ciencias Administrativas, Económicas y Contables, aúna esfuerzos con la revista Gobal Tribune de la carrera carrera de Ciencias Políticas de la Universidad Autónoma del Caribe, ampliando el Comité Editor compuesto por un editor general y tres editores correspondientes a las áreas temáticas: de mayor amplitud y amplía sus Consejos Editorial y Científico en procura de dar mayor alcance a sus contenidos.