Star Wars and Conflict Resolution: There Are Alternatives To Fighting

Star Wars like you’ve never seen it before

You know Star Wars is about the epic battle between good and evil…but did you know that Star Wars also teaches us how to negotiate deals, handle conflicts, and improve relationships?

Conflict is everywhere—at home, on the job, and certainly in our politics and international affairs. Resolving such conflicts is an invaluable skill. Can we do it without a lightsaber?

Maybe Yoda or Obi-Wan Kenobi or even Emperor Palpatine have some answers. George Lucas’s Star Wars films are a master class in conflict and conflict resolution, from galactic disputes—Empire vs. Rebellion, Death Star vs. X-wing—to interpersonal conflicts, as between Princess Leia and Han Solo, R2-D2 and C-3PO, or Masters and Padawans. Start to finish, the saga is one wild podrace ride between aggressive negotiations and diplomatic solutions.

This book brings together experts in negotiation, law, business, psychology, mediation, management, and communication to dissect some of the movies’ most fascinating conflicts, like:

• Was Anakin Skywalker’s transformation into Darth Vader inevitable?
• Who’s better at managing conflict: Jedi or Sith?
• How did Luke Skywalker negotiate his way away from the dark side?
• What makes Rey, Jyn Erso, and Padmé such good negotiators?

Fans of Star Wars will appreciate the book’s new perspective along with the practical negotiation and conflict resolution skills that can restore peace and justice to a relationship, a workplace, a community, or even a galaxy.

Noam Ebner is a professor of negotiation and conflict resolution at Creighton University. As a professional negotiator and mediator, he has facilitated deals and resolved conflicts across various industries and four children. Long before any of that, though, he was a kid in a movie theater watching a ship getting pulled in with a tractor beam.

Jen Reynolds is a law professor and associate dean at the University of Oregon. She specializes in negotiation, mediation, and dispute systems design, and she incorporates popular culture - especially Star Wars - into her teaching and scholarship far more often than necessary.