Spain

When they met during their fellowships at the United States Institute of Peace (USIP) in 2005, a lasting friendship was born. But as Pierre Hazan, a Swiss political scientist and former journalist, got to know Gorka Espiau Idoiaga, a peace activist from the Basque country of Spain, they had no idea that their friendship would bring them back together years later to help foster a breakthrough for peace in Western Europe’s last guerrilla conflict.

Senior Training Officer Ted Feifer provided two days of training in communication, negotiation and mediation in cross-cultural and emotional situations to 18 participants in a month-long course conducted by the Spanish non-governmental organization Helsinki Espana.