26-08-2016, 09:47 AM
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In crisis situations, the pace of the conflict accelerates dramatically. This means that the parties have to react very quickly to changing conditions or risk having their ability to protect their interests substantially reduced. Crises are likely to be further complicated by the increased levels of fear, anger, and hostility which are likely to be present. Often in crises, communication gets distorted or cut off entirely. As a result, rumors often supplant real facts, and worst-case assumptions drive the escalation spiral. In addition, parties often try to keep their real interests, strategies, and tactics secret, and use deceptive strategies to try to increase their relative power.
In these difficult situations, the parties' ability to make rapid and sound decisions is largely dependent on their ability to quickly obtain reliable information. Thus, communication needs to be increased during crises, not cut off. To prevent uncontrolled escalation, disputants must be able to effectively communicate with adversaries, intermediaries, and other parties effectively, even under urgent and highly emotional conditions. In the most serious situations, crisis communication involves efforts to prevent or halt violent confrontations. "Hotlines," rumor control teams, and crisis control centers all offer related approaches for dealing with this problem.