Paul Gottschalk

Ken Smith's book is still one of the most important books on understanding group conflict, and how to resolve it, nearly 40 years after it was originally published. I had the pleasure of getting to know the author, personally, at the University of Maryland and participate in his workshops presenting the concepts of the book. Those concepts were central to my own teaching and research on resolving conflict in South Africa, and helping shape National Security approaches after the end of the Cold War. And Ken's concepts are even more important, today, with the rise of Facism, throughout the World. Once again, we need to take heed of Ken's guidance to understand the power and promise of "The Middles" to lead us to a rebuilding of Democracy, threatened even more than it was in the 1940's. This involves a resolution of the so-called Tribalism that has undermined what was one a consensus on the Rule of Law and many other values required for a functioning democracy.