who has made notable contributions to the integration of theory and practice in the field of conflict resolution. Work Since the early 1980s his interest has shifted to political psychology. First, he was interested in shared beliefs in groups and societies, in general studying their formation, function and change. Later he directed most of his attention to the study of the socio-psychological foundations of intractable conflicts and peace building, including reconciliation. Socio-psychological infrastructure in times of intractable conflict In the latter area, he studied how socio-psychological infrastructure evolve in times of intractable conflict. This infrastructure was found to consist of shared societal beliefs of the ethos of the conflict, collective memory, and emotional collective orientations. Bar-Tal has examined the contents, acquisition, functions, of societal mechanisms, as well as their contribution to the crystallization of social identity and development of the culture of a society in conflict during the conflict. Socio-psychological barriers to peacemaking Bar-Tal has also studied socio-psychological barriers to peacemaking and ways to overcome them. He also examined the required changes in this socio-psychological repertoire for conflict resolution and reconciliation. Specifically, he proposed a conceptual framework allowing for reconciliation, peace education and eventually peace culture to evolve. In addition, in order to understand maintenance of conflicts Bar-Tal studied acquisition of the conflict repertoire of children and adolescents. Bar-Tal developed with his collaborators theoretical frameworks for concepts like siege mentality, intractable conflict, security, patriotism, delegitimization, ethos of conflict, changing collective memory, collective emotional orientation, socio-psychological infrastructure, culture of conflict, coping psychologically with occupation, acquisition of intergroup psychological repertoire, political socialization of young children in intractable conflict, transitional context, collective identity, process of peace building, reconciliation, ethos of peace, culture of peace, barriers to peace making and ways to overcome them, peace education, struggle of narratives, routinization and self-censorship. Research of conflicts and their resolution In 1999 Bar-Tal has founded a learning community dedicated to the research of conflicts and their resolution. The community consists of ten to fifteen graduate and post-graduate students, mostly for doctoral degree, who have excelled in their studies. The students, arrive from leading universities in and outside Israel and study for various related degrees, carry their studies regarding conflicts and their resolution. The learning community serves as a framework for learning, reflecting, debating, and developing; carrying conceptual and empirical studies; socialization for academic career and societal involvement; and for social support. Selected publications Bar-Tal has published