Life in modern society, alas, develops in such a way that humanity does not always manage to peacefully exist on Earth. Nervous tension, a constant lack of time and rest, an unfair distribution of benefits between individual members of society provoke conflicts between people. However, sooner or later, de-escalation is brewing in any quarrel. Not everyone knows what it is and how to achieve it. We have learned to fight, but over the course of our thousand-year history, mankind has not understood how difficult it is to reconcile. After reading this article, readers will be able to find out the definition of such a term as de-escalation, what this word means in a broad sense and where it can be applied.
Meaning of the word and general explanations
To begin with, the word “de-escalation” itself is modified, and takes its roots from the English escalation, which in Russian sounds like escalation. The interpretation of this term is defined as expansion, increasing movement or distribution. After completing the word “escalation” with the prefix de, the output is de-escalation. What it is, now it’s quite simple to understand - this is the opposite action in relation to processes associated with stress, that is, contraction, decline, regression.
In daily routines, one most often hears about escalation or de-escalation of conflict situations that occur not only at the household level, but also within a geopolitical scale (civil wars, international and interracial struggles waged at the level of several states, terrorism). However, this word is applicable in relation to downscaling in general, and not only when it comes to armed confrontation.
The basics of conflict management
In any case, no matter what meaning we put into the expression under discussion, in the overwhelming majority of cases, we are glad when we see in the news bulletins a message that de-escalation has occurred somewhere. What kind of process this is is known even to those people who are not directly related to military operations.
In any confrontation, there comes a time when the warring parties are exhausting their own resources. Most often, after this the peak point of the war crosses and the so-called de-escalation of the conflict occurs. That this is a compromise of the parties, a mutually beneficial consensus or pressure from the outside is not so important, the main thing is that the warring parties come out of a tense situation with minimal losses and casualties. Gradual de-escalation implies a narrowing of the borders of territories falling under the conflict zone, disarmament, and the establishment of a constructive diplomatic dialogue between opponents.