I think the starting point has to be mutual self-interest. Once people can ignore their hatred to trade and make money or solve security problems, then with a bit of time it can open up opportunities to create understanding. With understanding can come love, but it might take a long time !
If there is no intention on both sides, it is difficult to bring about any change.
Sometimes it needs a mediator, someone not involved in the original dispute, to help both find enough common ground. but the mediator needs to be truly neutral, not someone with their own agenda.
Yeah. However, the ideal scenario is where they do not need to be used.
That's an interesting way to look at it. You're suggesting that practical cooperation comes before emotional change. Maybe people don't need to like each other first
Exactly ! Pragmatism and self-interest are powerful drivers of human behaviour. You don't have to like someone to do business or come to an agreement with them. But hatred usually relies on dehumanising the other party, and once you're interacting with them regularly it gets harder to do that, and you find more things you have in common. Even if it is only a shared sense of humour !
Regular interaction has a way of breaking stereotypes because it's harder to hate someone you've come to know as a person. Maybe that's why genuine relationships often succeed where arguments fail? Cos I watched a movie that brought about that question
They just need a reason to keep showing up until their assumptions begin to change. However do you think understanding can still happen if that mutual benefit disappears?