Next Program for TMTR Members
Date Change: Friday, November 20, 2026, at noon Central Time on Zoom
(and join us at 11:30 am for TMTR Member Update Meeting)
(and join us at 11:30 am for TMTR Member Update Meeting)
TMTR'S HOUR OF POWER
TMTR Members only!
TMTR Members only!
Kenneth Cloke
Imagining the Future and Frontiers of Conflict Resolution
with Kenneth Cloke
“By believing passionately in something that still does not exist, we create it. The non-existent is whatever we have not sufficiently desired.”
- Nikos Kazantzakis
We create our own future, but not entirely as we choose. In this sense, we can describe the future of mediation as mediated or negotiated, in part by our vision, values, attitudes, intentions, and actions; and in part by the natural, technological, and historical conditions in which we live, imagine, and act. For these reasons, it is impossible to bring about a future for which the preconditions have yet to appear; nor can we imagine a future for mediation until we have practiced and experienced it over an extended period of time and recognized its inherent limits.
Conflicts mark frontiers and borders, the places where we weaken, divide, and separate. Yet these same frontiers and borders connect us and contain the forces that strengthen and bring us together; that transform us, and dissipate our differences. Conflicts probe our innermost natures, and the outermost limits of our being. They can provoke both cruelty and compassion, competition and collaboration, revenge and reconciliation. Mediation is the dangerous magic that enables us to move from one to the other.
We need to explore these evolving possibilities and limitations; the internal and external frontiers of conflict resolution; the heart-based, “spiritual,” and relational spaces where things fall apart and come together miraculously. We need to consider political conflicts, systems design, the consequences of AI, robotics, and quantum computing, the ethics and values that inform mediation, and the need for a wide-ranging, systemic, global “conflict revolution.”
with Kenneth Cloke
“By believing passionately in something that still does not exist, we create it. The non-existent is whatever we have not sufficiently desired.”
- Nikos Kazantzakis
We create our own future, but not entirely as we choose. In this sense, we can describe the future of mediation as mediated or negotiated, in part by our vision, values, attitudes, intentions, and actions; and in part by the natural, technological, and historical conditions in which we live, imagine, and act. For these reasons, it is impossible to bring about a future for which the preconditions have yet to appear; nor can we imagine a future for mediation until we have practiced and experienced it over an extended period of time and recognized its inherent limits.
Conflicts mark frontiers and borders, the places where we weaken, divide, and separate. Yet these same frontiers and borders connect us and contain the forces that strengthen and bring us together; that transform us, and dissipate our differences. Conflicts probe our innermost natures, and the outermost limits of our being. They can provoke both cruelty and compassion, competition and collaboration, revenge and reconciliation. Mediation is the dangerous magic that enables us to move from one to the other.
We need to explore these evolving possibilities and limitations; the internal and external frontiers of conflict resolution; the heart-based, “spiritual,” and relational spaces where things fall apart and come together miraculously. We need to consider political conflicts, systems design, the consequences of AI, robotics, and quantum computing, the ethics and values that inform mediation, and the need for a wide-ranging, systemic, global “conflict revolution.”
Kenneth Cloke is Director of the Center for Dispute Resolution in in Santa Monica, California. He is a mediator, arbitrator, facilitator, coach, consultant, and trainer, specializing in communication, negotiation, and resolving complex multi-party disputes, including marital, divorce, family, community, grievance and workplace disputes, collective bargaining negotiations, organizational and school conflicts, sexual harassment, discrimination, and public policy disputes; and designing preventative conflict resolution systems. His facilitation, coaching, consulting, and training practice includes work with leaders of public, private, and non-profit organizations on effective communications, dialogue, collaborative negotiation, relationship and team building, conflict resolution, leadership development, strategic planning, designing systems, culture and organizational change.
He is an internationally recognized speaker and author of Mediation: Revenge and the Magic of Forgiveness; Mediating Dangerously: The Frontiers of Conflict Resolution; The Crossroads of Conflict: A Journey into the Heart of Dispute Resolution; Conflict Revolution (1st and-2nd Editions); and The Dance of Opposites: Explorations in Mediation, Dialogue and Conflict Resolution Systems Design; Politics, Dialogue and the Evolution of Democracy; Words of Wisdom; Ordinary Ecstasy: A Meditation Home Companion; Mediation in a Time of Crisis. and The Magic in Mediation. He is co-author with Joan Goldsmith of Thank God It’s Monday! 14 Values We Need to Humanize the Way We Work; Resolving Personal and Organizational Conflict; The End of Management and the Rise of Organizational Democracy; The Art of Waking People Up: Cultivating Awareness and Authenticity at Work; Resolving Conflicts At Work: Ten Strategies For Everyone On The Job (1st-3rd Editions); and Resolving Organizational Conflicts: A Course in Mediation and Systems Design.
He served as an Administrative Law Judge for the California Agricultural Labor Relations Board and the Public Employment Relations Board, a Factfinder for the Public Employment Relations Board, and a Judge Pro Tem for the Superior Court of Los Angeles. He has been an Arbitrator and Mediator for over forty years in labor management disputes and is a member of a number of arbitration panels. He received his B.A. from the University of California, Berkeley; J.D. from U.C. Berkeley’s Boalt Law School; Ph.D. from U.C.L.A.; LLM from U.C.L.A. Law School; and did post-doctoral work at Yale University School of Law. He is a graduate of the National Judicial College and has taken graduate level courses in a variety of subjects.
His university teaching includes mediation, law, history, political science, conflict studies, urban studies, and other topics at several colleges and universities. He is or has recently been an Adjunct Professor at Pepperdine University School of Law; Southern Methodist University; University of Southern California, Global Negotiation Insight Institute at Harvard Law School; Omega Institute; Albert Einstein College of Medicine, Cape Cod Institute; University of Amsterdam ADR Institute; Saybrook University; Massey University (New Zealand). He has done conflict resolution work in Armenia, Australia, Austria, Bahamas, Brazil, Canada, China, Cuba, Denmark, England, Georgia, Greece, India, Ireland, Japan, Mexico, Netherlands, New Zealand, Nicaragua, Pakistan, Puerto Rico, Scotland, Slovenia, Spain, Switzerland, Thailand, Turkey, Ukraine, USSR, and Zimbabwe.
He is co-founder and first President of Mediators Beyond Borders.
He is an internationally recognized speaker and author of Mediation: Revenge and the Magic of Forgiveness; Mediating Dangerously: The Frontiers of Conflict Resolution; The Crossroads of Conflict: A Journey into the Heart of Dispute Resolution; Conflict Revolution (1st and-2nd Editions); and The Dance of Opposites: Explorations in Mediation, Dialogue and Conflict Resolution Systems Design; Politics, Dialogue and the Evolution of Democracy; Words of Wisdom; Ordinary Ecstasy: A Meditation Home Companion; Mediation in a Time of Crisis. and The Magic in Mediation. He is co-author with Joan Goldsmith of Thank God It’s Monday! 14 Values We Need to Humanize the Way We Work; Resolving Personal and Organizational Conflict; The End of Management and the Rise of Organizational Democracy; The Art of Waking People Up: Cultivating Awareness and Authenticity at Work; Resolving Conflicts At Work: Ten Strategies For Everyone On The Job (1st-3rd Editions); and Resolving Organizational Conflicts: A Course in Mediation and Systems Design.
He served as an Administrative Law Judge for the California Agricultural Labor Relations Board and the Public Employment Relations Board, a Factfinder for the Public Employment Relations Board, and a Judge Pro Tem for the Superior Court of Los Angeles. He has been an Arbitrator and Mediator for over forty years in labor management disputes and is a member of a number of arbitration panels. He received his B.A. from the University of California, Berkeley; J.D. from U.C. Berkeley’s Boalt Law School; Ph.D. from U.C.L.A.; LLM from U.C.L.A. Law School; and did post-doctoral work at Yale University School of Law. He is a graduate of the National Judicial College and has taken graduate level courses in a variety of subjects.
His university teaching includes mediation, law, history, political science, conflict studies, urban studies, and other topics at several colleges and universities. He is or has recently been an Adjunct Professor at Pepperdine University School of Law; Southern Methodist University; University of Southern California, Global Negotiation Insight Institute at Harvard Law School; Omega Institute; Albert Einstein College of Medicine, Cape Cod Institute; University of Amsterdam ADR Institute; Saybrook University; Massey University (New Zealand). He has done conflict resolution work in Armenia, Australia, Austria, Bahamas, Brazil, Canada, China, Cuba, Denmark, England, Georgia, Greece, India, Ireland, Japan, Mexico, Netherlands, New Zealand, Nicaragua, Pakistan, Puerto Rico, Scotland, Slovenia, Spain, Switzerland, Thailand, Turkey, Ukraine, USSR, and Zimbabwe.
He is co-founder and first President of Mediators Beyond Borders.
Please RSVP to [email protected]. This program counts toward the attendance requirement of attending at least two of the four TMTR membership meetings for this year.
Future dates for TMTR'S HOUR OF POWER TMTR Members only!
(Programs To Be Announced)
(Programs To Be Announced)
