Engineering Peace: Achieving the Promise of Mediation in the World’s Most Difficult Conflicts
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This is the third in a series of four postings written by Irena Vanenkova, Tina Monberg, Nadja Alexander and Michael Leathes. The previous posts appeared on the 17th and 20th August on the Kluwer Mediation Blog. Previously we noted that the UN and world political leaders increasingly perceive mediation as vital for avoiding and resolving conflict at all levels in society. Yet mediation has not taken off in the practice of peace. In this posting we begin a discussion on changing mindsets.
Changing Mindsets
Three fundamental factors are critical to bridge the gap between the strong collective policy demand for peace mediation on behalf of almost every country and the systematic implementation of mediation in the real world at an early stage.
1. The enhancement of convening skills to bring parties to the negotiating table.
2. A real understanding of what mediation is and how and why it works.
3. Widespread confidence in the quality of mediators and provide the tools to select the right mediators given – as the Group of Friends of Mediation has put it – mediation’s diverse and crowded field.
1. Convening the Parties
Getting conflicting parties to the negotiating table in the right frame of mind – convening them – requires the intervention of a third party having position, strength, humility and persuasion ability. It is an important professional skill that is frequently overlooked in mediation education and training.
Often, people locked in conflict situations are not on speaking terms, or if they are, there are unspoken limits on what might be proposed. Each side becomes obsessed with their own tactics and goals and the weaknesses of their opponent. In this game of pretence, bluff, tactics, positioning, demands and threats, to propose negotiation is to blink. Blinking suggests weakness and uncertainty. In a Mexican stand-off, nobody dares do it first. Parties then plough on regardless, unable to stop pouring more oil on already troubled waters. Ultimately, the eventual winner often ends up a joint loser, nursing a Pyrrhic victory. As Professor Friedrich Glasl expresses it in his nine-step conflict escalation ladder, “Do you have a conflict, or does the conflict have you” .
Read original articleTags: Irena Vanenkova, Kluwer Mediation Blog, Michael Leathes, Nadja Alexander, Tina Monberg
