Befriending the Enemy

For four years, researchers Juliana Schroeder and Jane Risen (University of Chicago) studied Seeds of Peace, a summer camp for teenagers from areas of conflict. 

Seeds of Peace is a program that every year brings together several hundred teenagers from conflict regions such as Israel and the Palestinian territories for a three week summer camp in Maine. The teenagers sleep, eat and play games together, and engage in daily sessions to talk about the conflict between their groups and their own experiences with it. 

Schroeder discussed her study and considered what is essential for Seeds of Peace and similar programs to succeed in aiding conflict resolution. Robert Banks, Professor of Public Diplomacy at the USC Annenberg School for Communication & Journalism and former U.S. Foreign Service Officer moderated this conversation.