# Defusing a war

There are a few ways to avoid or stall a large-scale conflict. Occasionally, these tactics can be used *within* a large-scale conflict as well.

## Appeasement

By trying to satisfy another group's desires, a group hopes the other group will stop [wanting](purpose.md) a conflict.

If both sides are willing to appease, they can settle it with a [negotiation](people-conflicts-negotiation.md). However, leaders with [evil](morality-evil.md) intent will often [lie](people-lying.md) to benefit more than their opponent from an agreement.

However, if one side doesn't want to relent, the other side's reconciliation only trades time until the inevitable conflict while giving their opponent more [power](power.md).

Very often, people will behave as if they don't [understand](understanding.md) the other side. Understanding *sometimes* resolves [conflicts](people-conflicts-why.md), but those people are often trying to [distort how things look](people-image-distortion.md) to take advantage of others' grace.

As an appeased group gains more [power](power.md), they'll make increasingly more unreasonable demands over time. Often, because the appeasing leaders are [fearful](mind-feelings-fear.md) and have made a [habit](habits.md) of [compromising boundaries](people-boundaries-why.md), they'll keep conceding indefinitely, all the way until the demanding group gives an impossible request.

APPLICATION: When making concessions, closely observe the [attitude](purpose.md) of the requesting party. If they don't concede [in kind](morality-justice.md) for your group, prepare for a direct conflict.

## Converging

Creating an alliance, merger, union, or truce can prevent conflicts by making multiple smaller groups under threat into a *larger* group. However, because of the [inner conflicts](people-conflicts-inner.md) present in all of humanity, people need a shared opposition or they start fighting amongst themselves.

### Subversion

Destroying key components of a larger group can delay or nullify that group's [purposes](purpose.md), typically by making them [ineffective](mgmt-badsystems.md). This can create [power](power.md) vacuums the subverting group can then fill:

- [Destroy that group's image](people-image-distortion.md) to make the people fight with each other or destroy their reputation outside the group. The easiest way is to draw extra attention to one of that group's past [decisions](people-decisions.md), which often includes [starting](trends.md) a protest.
- Sabotage resources or the means to acquire resources, usually by attacking the weakest points (which is often their [communications](people-conversation.md) [technology](technology.md)).
- Redirect and reroute resources toward the subverting group's [purposes](purpose.md). This can involve redirecting physical things (e.g., raw materials) or mental things (e.g., information).
- Building [trust](understanding-certainty.md) with that group to do one of the above a later time, but by hiding [power](power.md) or having a key [decision-making](people-decisions.md) ability.

If enough people already agreed with the minority group, the idea was already waiting to happen and simply needed [brave enough](mind-feelings-fear.md) people who were willing to take the [risk](socialrisk.md) against their [authorities](power.md) to start the [trend](trends.md).

## Demonstrating

By using demonstrations of [power](power.md), a group can [imply](people-image-why.md) they're comparably stronger than their opponents. The message they're trying to communicate is that they're bigger than they may seem and not worth contending with.

This bluff only works if the other group doesn't want to risk the resources to test that impression, for one of two reasons:

- The other group has a scarcity of resources.
- The bluffing group is relatively unimportant to the other group.

Often, these demonstrations of power can involving partnering with other groups to give a shared [image](people-image-why.md) that implies the separate groups are one group more than [reality](reality.md).

If multiple groups demonstrate at the same time to outperform each other, they're engaged in a cold war. A cold war can persist as long as both sides have enough [ego](humanity.md) to persist demonstrating, but they're both [afraid](mind-feelings-fear.md) to start an engagement.

## Divestment

By separating *all* resource usage from another group (e.g., sanctions), that group may be severely weakened from the lack of something they may need.

This only works if that group is heavily reliant on something. If they don't need any outside help, or can make it themselves, the strategy will only harm the defending group.

Of course, that group will always [seek](purpose.md) another source for it, and the entire endeavor can backfire spectacularly: the opponent has another source for what they need, and they're not happy that they had the inconvenience of having to find it.