Which types of conflicts did earlier societies bring before a court? Which did they resolve elsewhere? How and why is this decision taken today? Europe, the United States, Latin America and Asia: the comparative basic research carried out in the LOEWE research cluster focuses on conflicts and how they have been regulated in different historical periods and in different cultures. From legal, historical and cultural perspectives, the researchers seek to identify forms and patterns of dealing with conflicts, pursuing to that end a diachronic, intercultural and interdisciplinary approach. Their aim is to lay the foundation for a sound theory of conflict resolution. In its first three years the project has successfully strengthened Frankfurt as a hub for research on dispute resolution. It has also contributed to the transfer of knowledge between scholarship, politics and society, not least through an expert council that comprises practitioners of judicial/extrajudicial conflict resolution. An ambitious guest researcher programme guarantees international visibility.