A novel hierarchical graph model is developed to analyzed interrelated conflicts nested at three levels. This research is published as a journal article in IEEE Transactions on Systems, Man, and Cybernetics: Systems (IEEE SMC Trans) in March 2019. IEEE SMC Trans, the high-ranking journal in the field of systems engineering, brings together research regarding the formulation, analysis, decision making, and simulation of complex systems throughout the entire lifecycles.
As the contribution of the paper, this novel methodology extends the structure of the existing hierarchical graph models into having three levels. An illustrative example of carbon mitigation disputes in China is provided to give meaningful insights for respective decision makers as their guidance of actions. The original abstract is attached below.
A novel hierarchical graph model is developed to analyze conflicts interrelated on three levels. As an extension of the two-level hierarchical graph model, this new structure contains several smaller graph models, called local graphs, nested at three levels. Decision makers (DMs), states, moves, and preference relations in the three-level hierarchical graph model (3LHGM) are defined. The interrelationships between stabilities in local graph models and the overall graph model are investigated and utilized in developing algorithms to calculate stabilities in the hierarchical graph model. This novel methodology is then illustrated using a generic model of hierarchical climate change governance disputes. Stability calculations can uncover profitable courses of action. The 3LHGM aims to provide insightful resolutions for DMs with a broader vision of the hierarchical conflict they are participating in.
A representative figure is provided below to demonstrate the carbon mitigation disputes at three levels.
 

Fig. 6 Structure of the carbon mitigation disputes

Please cite this article as:

Shawei He, D. Marc Kilgour , Keith W. Hipel (2019). “A Three-Level Hierarchical Graph Model for Conflict Resolution”, IEEE Transactions on Systems, Man, and Cybernetics: Systems, DOI: 10.1109/TSMC.2019.2897176 (Published Online March 2019). 

A full version of this paper could be viewed at: https://ieeexplore.ieee.org/document/8657362