The most common and most likely answer to this crossword clue is the 10 letter word DIVERGENCE
I've seen this crossword clue in The Daily Telegraph
D
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Buddy explains!
The straight part
We know that "Conflict" is the straight/definition part of the clue. The straight part is often a synonym or definition, in this case conflict = divergence.The cryptic/wordplay part
In cryptic crossword there's often an wordplay/cryptic part as well.This part involves a more complex hint, such as an anagram, homophone, hidden word, etc.
Sadly, We don't have an explanation for this specific crossword clue yet.
What does DIVERGENCE mean?
DIVERGENCE noun- The degree to which two or more things diverge.
- The operator which maps a function F=(F1, ... Fn) from a n-dimensional vector space to itself to the number \sum_{i=1}^n \frac{\partial F_i}{\partial x_i}
- Disagreement; difference
- The process in which two or more populations accumulate genetic changes (mutations) through time.