Bringing Down the Temperature During Polarizing Times

Whoever wins the U.S. presidential election in November will be confronted with a country still bitterly divided. Many feel a sense of hopelessness and fear for the future, just as they sear over past injustices. But there are glimmers of solutions that can be effected through transformational leadership. The author, who ran a program at Oxford University that assembled and built “unlikely coalitions” among more than 1,000 current and prospective public leaders from more than 100 countries, offers lessons from two efforts in Nigeria and Brazil to build bridges and reduce political tensions and violence.