Papers in this special issue of "Speech Monographs" focus on the communicative aspects of conflict as an important but neglected area of research. John Waite Bowers introduces the publication with "Beyond Threats and Promises," while David W. Johnson analyzes conflict literature in the longest paper, "Communication and the Inducement of Cooperative Behavior in Conflicts: A Critical Review." Additional papers include the following: "An Analytic Model of Conflict" by Charles E. Watkins; "Conciliation and Verbal Responses as Functions of Orientation and Threat in Group Interaction" by Theodore Jon Marr; "The Effects of Substantive and Affective Conflict in Problem-Solving Groups" by Mae Arnold Bell; "Communication in Game Simulated Conflicts: Two Experiments" by Thomas M. Steinfatt, David R. Seibold, and Jerry K. Frye; "Argument in Negotiation: A Theoretical and Empirical Approach" by Nancy A. Reiches and Harriet B. Harral; "Perceiving Communication Conflict" by Thomas J. Saine; and "A Literary Analog to Conflict Theories: The Potential for Theory Construction" by Lawrence J. Chase and Charles W. Kneupper. (JM)