Samoa Meeting Conflict: How to Resolve Conflicts Between Meetings

Interaction between the two leadership groups 

This is a meeting that brought together American representatives and together with the Samoan leaders being led by Mono. From the movie ‘Paradise Lost?’ we can watch the bond of contention that is going on between the two parties in the meeting. From the way that the leaders from both sides are talking, we can say that the meeting was tense. There is considerable suspicion and distrust from all the leaders as we can see. The room is quiet with some mumbling on various occasions especially after every representative is done with his speech. The argument that the meeting is tense is justified by the faces and the body language of the parties. Everyone in the room has put on a pale face and no one seems to be happy as the arguments go on. The Samoan chiefs all seem to be sad and the representatives are also not happy. The speeches given are very strong and come with emotions that can be felt with anyone watching the movie. The Samoan high chief talks very deeply with skepticism about the plans that Americans have for the people of Samoa ( Fossen, 2017) . From his speech, we can say that he is not sure and does not trust the plans that Americans have for Samoan people such as the provision of more education especially on English, teaching the youth about marketing skills and the developments for the country. 

We know very well that the high chief got his education at the University of Hawaii in the USA and that he has more knowledge and ability to tell more about the Americans. Maybe this is the reason why he may be in a position to know the exact intentions of the Americans with the favors they are claiming they want to offer the Samoans. He explains that what they have as Samoans is the sea and that his people should be educated about deep sea fishing so that they can replace the Asians such as Chinese, Japanese, and Koreans who are fishing in their deep-sea territories. To add, this meeting brings a clear variation on the civilization of the two forms of leadership, the Samoan and American leadership. We can see that the Americans were in charge of the bigger part of the country but the Samoans leaders ruled a small region made of the Samoan community. Lastly, the Americans also talk in a manner that shows they are more educated as compared to the Samoan people. This is shown by the figurative speech given by the American government representatives. 

American behaviors that could create conflict 

In any form of a meeting, conflict might occur at different instances. For example, this may happen when a party feels that they are not being respected or their opinions not being taken into consideration. From the movie, all the arguments from both the parties can be clearly heard and from this, the Americans took a direction that could create conflict. When talking, the American representatives talked in a manner that was offensive to the Samoans. The first conflict came from the claim that the Americans had on education and their intentions. The American representatives suggested bringing educational televisions so that they could be used by children in Samoa to learn English fast. A conflict came on the objectives of the Americans by education that they were providing to the Samoans. The education that was proposed by the American representatives emphasized the independent thinking and cultural values. On the other hand, the objective of the Samoan which they fought for was education that could be more insistent on obedience to authority, community, and family ( Levine, 2016) .The behavior and manner in which the Americans insisted on their points about education televisions and did not want to listen to the Samoan chiefs could lead to conflict. The other behavior that the American representatives did that could lead to the conflict was called the Samoan people's children. One American representative stood and said that the Samoan people are like kids who have to take processes before they walk and finally run. The Samoan people were referred to as children who have to learn to walk and run. This is an abusive language and will automatically cause conflict in a meeting. The other abusive language the American representatives used is by saying that the Samoans are not hard-working like the Asians who are doing deep-sea fishing and that they instead prefer sleeping at night. These are speeches that could easily cause conflicts between the parties. 

Similarities of the meeting with the Blue Horizon Cruise meeting 

From the manner in which the meeting was conducted between the American representatives and the Samoan Chiefs, we can say that it was similar to the Blue Horizon Cruise simulation meeting in some aspects. The first similarity is in the promises that were proposed in the meeting. In the Blue Horizon Cruise's meeting, the government had the intention of bringing change in the community ( Iati, 2019) . They saw this as something that would bring more benefits and developments to the people in the village. This is the same in the meeting by the Samoan chiefs and the American representatives where there was also an intention of bringing change. Again in the Blue Horizon Cruise meeting, the concern of the chiefs was brought. The chiefs were more concerned about the erosion of their culture ( Tuimalealiʻifano, 2006) . More importantly, they were also concerned about their political strength that was declining with time. All these are things that we can see the Samoan chiefs concerned about in the meeting. 

How I would have conducted the meeting as the American government 

This is a meeting that needed so much patience and tolerance. The fact in this meeting is that the Americans were trying to introduce a new culture to the people of Samoa. As an American governor, I could have remembered that the people of Samoa also have their own cultures that they have been practicing for a long time; I would have been more persuasive and understanding in this meeting. In any traditional setting, the leaders are the eyes of the society and they are usually given the responsibility to take care of different families that they lead ( Tuimalealiʻifano, 2006) . This means that there is nothing that can either come in or go out of the traditional communities when the leaders have not accepted. Therefore, I could have gone slow by the Samoan chiefs and persuaded them to accept the proposed activities. When doing this, I could have shown the highest level of respect and discipline to show that what I am proposing is something that is worth it. 

How power influences the interaction of stakeholders in a conflict situation 

In a potential conflict situation, the interaction of stakeholders can be influenced in various ways. This can be analyzed in power, both formal and informal. In most cases, those that hold the informal powers act as an interface between the society and the state ( Tuimalealiʻifano, 2006) . From this action, they will be viewed by the stakeholders with formal power as people who are undermining their forms of government thus acting in a manner to spoil the process of conflict resolution. Those who hold informal powers should, therefore, know that conflict resolution is carried out to acquire certain rights and does not endorse them in any way ( Levine, 2016) . However, both formal and informal powers are attributed to the possession of personal attraction and expert knowledge. Therefore, they can all influence the interaction of stakeholders in a potential conflict situation. 

References

I, I. (2019). Peace and Conflict in Samoa: The Role of Tradition and Traditional Institutions. In  Peacebuilding in the Asia-Pacific  (pp. 161-183). Palgrave Macmillan, Cham. https://link.springer.com/chapter/10.1007/978-3-319-78595-0_8 

Levine, S. (Ed.). (2016).  Pacific ways: Government and politics in the Pacific islands . Victoria University Press. 

Samoa Meeting Video: ‘Paradise Lost?’ Link https://cdnapisec.kaltura.com/index.php/extwidget/preview/partner_id/1700302/uiconf_id/25562362/entry_id/0_j9ng72lp/embed/dynamic 

Tuimalealiʻifano, M. A. (2006).  O Tama a ʻĀiga: The politics of succession to Sāmoa's paramount titles . editorips@ usp. ac. fj. https://books.google.co.ke/books?hl=en&lr=&id=uzuEU21y9zsC&oi=fnd&pg=PR7&dq=samoa+traditional+politics&ots=1XHtQUaj1j&sig=t7waVYPXsb5sVfrq9plH5DQuz3k&redir_esc=y#v=onepage&q=samoa%20traditional%20politics&f=false 

Van Fossen, A. (2017). Pacific ways, government and politics in the Pacific Islands [Book Review].  Journal of the Polynesian Society, The ,  126 (1), 127.