Traditional conflict resolution approaches (e.g., facilitated dialogue, communication training, mediation, etc.) often fail because they address symptoms rather than causes. Jeremy Pollack, PhD, a social-organizational psychologist who leads North America’s largest workplace conflict resolution consulting firm and has coached executives at Fortune 100 companies and major nonprofits, draws on neuroscience, social neuropsychology, and predictive-processing theory to reveal why conflict escalates and how sustainable peace is actually created. His research-grounded framework shows that lasting resolution begins with understanding the autonomic nervous system and the brain’s threat-prediction mechanisms.
Wired for Peace illuminates the internal neural architecture that determines how individuals perceive danger, construct narratives, react to stress, and choose between protection and connection. You’ll discover how the autonomic nervous system, predictive processing, and neuroplasticity influence the 5 C’s of conflict resolution: curiosity, communication, care, collaboration, and creativity. The book reveals why conventional modalities frequently fail unless underlying neural mechanisms are managed first.
Each chapter includes practical tools designed for anyone experiencing persistent conflict and especially useful for leaders, coaches, and conflict practitioners. You’ll learn the real organizational costs of dysregulated systems―culture erosion, burnout, turnover, chronic mistrust, and impaired decision-making―and gain a complete framework for building more resilient individuals, teams, organizations, and communities through the science of safety, prediction, and connection. These tools address the evolutionary and neurobiological foundations that all forms of conflict share.
Written for leaders of all human systems, from families to workplaces to communities, and employees at every level in companies and nonprofits, Wired for Peace provides essential techniques for anyone experiencing persistent conflict and seeking to address its root causes rather than its surface symptoms. Community leaders, conflict resolution practitioners, and executive coaches will find research-backed techniques to add to their conflict management toolbox―approaches grounded in how the brain actually processes threat and creates the conditions for genuine peace.
PRAISE FOR WIRED for PEACE
“The most significant conflicts we face today trigger neurological ‘fight or flight’ reflexes that lead to escalation and impasse. To understand and successfully resolve these issues, we need to understand how the brain perceives, models, and responds to conflict. Over several decades, cutting-edge scientific research has brought hope that neurophysiology can help mediators reduce the chemical and biological sources of aggression. If you would like to know more about how to do so in conflicts on all scales, Jeremy Pollack has written an excellent review for non-scientists, showing how the brain works and how mediators can turn this information into practical techniques that expand our skills and make us more successful in resolving our disputes. It is packed with life- and game-changing information we can all learn from.”
―KENNETH CLOKE, Author of The Dance of Opposites and The Magic in Mediation
“In Wired for Peace, Jeremy has offered up a true gift that explains the complex and evolving understanding of neuroscience and practical guideposts for how we can mobilize this cutting-edge research to more constructively respond to both divisive and escalating conflict. I can think of nothing more useful in the current state of toxic polarization that seems to grip many of our social, identity, and political divides. A must-read for us all!”
―JOHN PAUL LEDERACH, Professor Emeritus, University of Notre Dame, Author of The Moral Imagination: The Art and Soul of Building Peace
“This is an excellent read for those seeking tools to improve their ability to navigate conflict in their lives. It is full of practical tools to help readers understand their own and others’ conflict behaviors. Dr. Pollack offers a theoretically rich approach to working with conflict that will deepen understanding for scholars, leaders, and practitioners in local to global contexts. This book is well researched, easy-to-read, and at the cutting edge of interdisciplinary conflict resolution.”
―KATY COLLIN, Director of Graduate Studies in Conflict Resolution, Georgetown University
“In Wired for Peace, Jeremy connects neuroscience with real-life conflict in a way that feels accessible and immediately practical. He challenges us to look inward first―to understand our own nervous systems―before trying to change anyone else. The result is a deeply human, science-informed guide to resolving conflict and building lasting collaboration.”
―PARAG SHAH, CEO of Miles Mediation and Arbitration
About the Author
JEREMY POLLACK, PHD, is a social-organizational psychologist and CEO of Pollack Peacebuilding Systems, the largest workplace conflict resolution consulting firm in North America. A former research fellow at Stanford University’s Center for International Conflict & Negotiation and research associate at UCLA’s Center for Behavior, Evolution, and Culture, he coaches executives at Fortune 100 companies and contributes regularly to Forbes.com, Fast Company, and Industry Week. He is also author of the Conflict Resolution Playbook and co-author of Peaceful Leadership.
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