Party A takes action to feel safe, which Party B perceives as a threat. B responds, making A feel even more threatened, leading to a "spiral" of increasing hostility.

The deep-rooted drivers and immediate "triggers" that set the conflict in motion.

Modifying the system's boundaries, incentives, or feedback loops to prevent the conflict from recurring.

In a systems-thinking context, conflict is not viewed as a simple disagreement between parties, but as a dynamic interaction within a complex web of interconnected parts. A occurs when the goals, behaviors, or structures of different subsystems clash, often due to misaligned incentives or circular feedback loops. 1. The Core Definition

For more specific tools, you can use frameworks like the Conflict Wheel or Conflict Tree to map out these complex relationships.

Systems thinkers often use Archetypes to identify the "DNA" of a conflict: