Mediation, Negotiation & Dialogue
At the core of the U.S. Institute of Peace’s work are mediation, negotiation and dialogue—each a means of moving parties in conflict toward a mutually acceptable outcome. Dialogues in areas affected by conflict are ways of bridging divides and bringing communities together to heal divisions. Negotiation is a fundamental skill that is at the heart of most of USIP’s conflict resolution training. The Institute provides education and training on mediation, negotiation and dialogue for a range of stakeholders including civil society organizations, youth and others key actors in conflict settings.
Featured Publications
Thomas Hill on Libya Peace Talks in Berlin
At the Berlin Conference last weekend, participants reached a “gentlemen’s agreement” to halt the influx of arms from international actors into Libya’s conflict. USIP’s Thomas Hill says that while “th...
After Berlin, Will Foreign Actors Back Out of Libya’s Civil War?
Tags: Dialogue, Mediation & Negotiation Published: January 21, 2020 / By: Nate Wilson; Thomas M. Hill More than eight years since the death of Col. Muammar al-Qaddafi, Libya remains in state of protracted conflict with rival governments in Tripoli and Tobruk. Backed by the U.N., the Tripoli-based government has been at a stalemate with the eastern-based Libya Arab Armed Forces (LAAF) led Field Marshall Khalifa Haftar, who launched an assault on Tripoli in April. Foreign backers have flooded into the country to advance their own interests—but this has only exacerbated the conflict. Over the weekend, a long-delayed conference in Berlin aimed to put Libya on a path to peace and end foreign interference. USIP’s Nate Wilson and Tom Hill explain what happened at the conference, how the U.S. fits into this picture and where Libya’s conflict goes from here.
Frank Aum on the Year in North Korea Diplomacy
With North Korea’s self-imposed, year-end deadline for a nuclear deal looming, USIP’s Frank Aum says that while complete denuclearization isn’t likely in the near term, “all of the components of a good-enough interim nuclear deal are there, but both sides need to be flexible on some of the harder issues.”
Current Projects
Synergizing Nonviolent Action and Peacebuilding
The impetus behind SNAP comes from case study research that highlights how grassroots activists, organizers, and peacebuilders engaged in nonviolent action and peacebuilding can use approaches from both fields together to strategically plan and more effectively prevent violence, address grievances, and advance justice. While scholars such as Adam Curle, John Paul Lederach, Lisa Schirch, Veronique Dudouet, and Anthony Wanis-St. John have explored synergies between the two fields for decades, the SNAP guide is one of the first to offer practical modules and exercises meant to help practitioners operationalize the combined approach at the grassroots
Colombia Peace Forum
Established with the peace talks in 2012, the USIP-based Colombia Peace Forum produces creative analysis of Colombia’s internal armed conflict and peace initiatives that informs the thinking of policymakers and opinion leaders in the United States and Colombia. The forum convenes academics, Colombia specialists, government officials and others to provide a platform where a variety of voices, including historically marginalized groups (human rights defenders, women, ethnic minorities, etc.), c...
Mediation in Colombia
The Mediation in Colombia project is designed to generate discussion about Colombia’s past efforts to resolve its longstanding internal armed conflict.