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INTRODUCTION

Mediator is an individuals or states that conduct negotiation among the group or country
who involved in the conflicts. Mediator is needed in the process of mediation. Mediation is a
process in which third-party neutral assist a dispute between two or more parties. Mediator
usually plays a role to facilitate communication between the parties, assist them the disputants to
develop their own solutions. Mediation process is quite different with arbitration process, where
the intermediary listens to the argument of the disputants and makes a decision for them.
Although mediators sometimes provide ideas, suggestion, or even a formal proposal for
the settlements, mediators always is a process person, helping the disputants to define their
agenda, reframe the issues, communicate more effectively, find areas of common ground,
negotiate fairly and hopefully to reach an agreement. A successful mediation effort has an
outcome that is accepted and owned by the parties themselves.
Mediation widely used in all sorts of conflict resolving. For example like divorces, civil
lawsuit, complex public policy problem and also international conflicts. Many conflicts that have
not responded to an initial attempt at negotiation phase can still be settled down through
mediation. Even when the conflicts are too complex, they sometimes yield to mediation.
Mediation is particular play a major role in long-running, deep-rooted conflicts, as this
type of conflict is rarely resolved without such outside assistance. Even if the full range of
grievances cannot be resolved, mediation is often useful for dealing with particular limited
aspects of wider conflict.

1.0 Types of Mediator


In this global world as interconnected and interdependent as it today, as it today, peaceful
conflict management is one of the great contemporary challenges, especially if one
considers that in the present international legal order, the use of weapons by a State or a
group of States is allowed for self-defence. Also, in event of a threat to international peace
and security in accordance with UN charter, the Security Council can impose sanctions,
which may range from military to economic and diplomatic. In recent years, the methods of
peaceful settlements established in the Charter of the UN have been directed towards
mediation.
This mediation process needed a mediator which consist of an individuals, states also
institutions and organizations. This is given by the complexity of intractable conflicts, the
level of violence associated with them, and the dangers they pose, it is remarkable that so
many political actors are prepared to intervene in these conflicts to transform them, settle
them or simply try to ensure they do not become more dangerous and harmful.
Individuals is the traditional image of mediation, one nurtured by the media and popular
accounts, is that of a single, usually high-ranking, individuals, shuttling from one place to
another, trying to search for understanding, restore the communication, or help to settle the
conflict. This image is partly accurate. In many issues, a mediator is an individual who does
not have an official role, or who does not represent his/ her country in any capacity. People
such as Roger Fisher, Adam Curle ,Herb Kelman , Leonard Doob, Jimmy Carter, and other
members of the international negotiation network at the Carter Center intervene in conflicts
in different parts of the world as respected persons with a strong commitment to conflict
resolutions. They do not do as government officials.
Individual mediators may have different beliefs, values, and attitudes, and their mediation
strategies may encourage greater flexibility than official state mediators. All of them have a
knowledge, experience, and commitment to peaceful conflict resolution. This kind of
mediation who involved individuals mediator is normally carried on without the glare of
publicity, and permits the parties to engage in some meaningful dialogue should they choose
to. As individuals, mediators do not possess significant resource and their behavior is of
necessity limited only to communication and facilitation strategies.
States also act as mediator for a states disputes in international level. Today there are
196 sovereign and legally equal states, but with different capabilities, regime- structures,
and interest, which interact on the international arena. They often find themselves having to

mediate an intractable conflict that may otherwise threaten their own interest. States, both
large and small frequently have a reason or motive to mediate in conflicts, especially when
these are in their region or where they may have some interest to promoted and protect.
States have a high capability to conduct mediation and act as a good mediator because
states have considerable tangible resources, means of mobilizing them, and leaders with a
mandate to use these resources. States that become engaged as mediators in an intractable
conflict may find that they have to use all their resources in order to facilitate agreement.
Institutions and organizations act as mediator based on complexity of intractable
conflicts is such that states can no longer meet all the mediation requirement, nor facilitate a
settlement when conflicts are conflicts are long, drawn out and intense. Other bodies and
organizations are coming in to offer and deliver different mediation services. We have
witnessed a phenomenal growth in the number of international, transnational and other nonstate actors as mediators in the last decade or so. These functional actors, many of them
failing under the multi-track diplomacy or track two diplomacy, have become an
indispensable adjunct to traditional mediation by individuals and states.
In this category, two kinds of actors are important here. They are specialized nongovernmental actors committed to conflict resolution for example Amnesty International,
International Alert, the Carter Center also a wide variety of religious, civic and humanitarian
organizations like the international Committee of the Red Cross and Center for
Humanitarian Mediation whose main concern is to heal, to deal with some basic issues in
conflict, and achieve reconciliation, and changed attitudes, not just settlement of a conflict.
This type of mediators has an ability to operate informally and secretly, thus the parties
need fear no loss of face. They offer services that other mediators cannot offer, and they may
find it easier to gain access to the parties where formal diplomats may be viewed with
suspicion. Such actors can be less inhibited in their approach to a conflict and can appealing
to the disputants by promising them to work on all the levels of their conflicts and tried to
achieved a long lasting solutions to their problems.

2.0 Criteria of Mediators


Wher (1979) , mediator must comply a criteria of great mediator by having a knowledge
about conflict situations, ability to understand the positions of the disputants, ability to
engage in active listening, a sense of timing, good communication skills , procedural skills
and crisis management ability.

Mediator must know very well the conflict that they involved. Lack of understanding will
lead the biggest problem in the mediation process. Mediator must do a research about the
disputants background and also the reasons of the conflict happened. This will help the
mediator to find good solutions towards the resolutions of the conflict. Mediator should not
ignore the importance of great understanding of the conflict to avoid any problem in the
mediation between the disputants.
Ability to understand the positions of disputants also criteria that is needed for make a
good mediator. Mediator should understand the situation in both parties to ensure they know
what both parties want from the mediation process. This is needed for mediator to frame the
solutions that fit with the situations. The failure of mediator to understand the positions of
disputants may lead the mediation process to be worse, because it will cause a bias in the
mediation process.
Mediator must have an ability to engage in active listening because mediation process is
about listen to the problem of the disputants. Mediators who failed to listen from the both
sides wont be able to find good solutions of the conflict. They need to understand the
problem of the disputants in prior to understand the situations and also help the mediators to
make a right judgment in the mediation process.
A sense of timing also must be in mediator criteria, because a long mediation process just
makes the situation become worse. Mediator should set the limit of time for any discussion
to ensure the problem could be resolved as soon as possible. Mediators also need to find a
perfect time for the both parties to having a discussion about the conflict. A right time of
discussion can improve the mood of the mediation process.
Mediator must have good communication skills to interact with the disputants.
Mediator is a middle person that will communicate with the both parties to give suggestion
for the conflict solutions. Mediator that has good communication skills can help to boost the
mediation process to achieve an agreement towards the conflict. Good communication skills
involved an ability to transfer information and analyze any possibilities of the mediation
process to be success.
Mediator also must have the ability for procedural skills like chairing a meeting. They
must choose a perfect time and place to hold the meeting. This skill will determine the
environment of the mediation process physically. The procedure of mediation process
should be done very carefully to ensure the process will going smoothly. Mediator must
have this kind of ability to handle the discussion among the disputants.

Crisis management ability also needed by the good mediator to handle the disputants who
start to be aggressive in the discussion. In every mediation process will be a side who will
totally opposed the point of other side because they feel threaten. This will cause the
mediation process turn as a fight if both sides stubbornly ignore each other opinion.
Mediator must neutral the situation by applying their crisis management ability.
Other main criteria are the impartiality and degree of the legitimacy by the mediator.
Impartiality explained by Young (1967;81) is a high score in such areas as impartiality
would seem to be at the heart of successful intervention in many situations. His opinions
are support by Jackson (1952) as well as Northedge and Donelen (1971) that believes,
parties will have confidence in a mediator only if he or she, and is perceived as impartial.
Legitimacy is the strong and effective resources that mediator can possess. Leader of
states and high-level officials, such as foreign ministers or prime ministers, have legitimacy
and can bring it to bear together with their status and respect. Under the right auspicious and
sponsorship of high-ranking mediators, an environment of credibility and trust is may be
established. Leaders and representative of large governments, with more resources on their
behalf, will be more like to be successful mediators than other actors.
A great mediator must possessed a strong criteria like legitimacy, impartiality, good
communication skills, deep knowledge about the conflict, ability to understand the positions
of the disputants, ability to engage in active listening, a sense of timing, good
communication skills , procedural skills and crisis management ability. These kind criteria
will make a good mediator to handle the mediation process.

3.0 Roles of Mediator


3.1 Before Mediations
Mediator plays important roles towards the successful mediation process. Mediators play
their roles before mediation, during mediation. On this two stage of mediation, mediators play a
different roles based on the situation.
Roles of mediator before negotiations in this stage can be divided into four main task. First,
mediators must build credibility with the disputants. The parties must have confidence in the
mediator personally, the mediators parent organization and in the mediation process itself.

Second, the mediator must create a relatively close, comfortable relationship with the parties.
Third, the parties must be educated about the mediation process, since it is ultimately the parties
themselves who must resolve their dispute. This education also helps to build the confidence in
the mediation process. Finally, after these steps have been taken, the mediator must secure the
parties commitment to mediation.
After the mediator has entered the dispute, the mediator and the parties must work together
to decide what mediation strategy is best suited to their situation. There a six ways in which
mediator may assist the parties in choosing a mediation strategy. First, the mediator can help the
parties to identify the interest at stake in the conflict, and to clarify their respective goals. Second
they can help the parties explore the range of possible and acceptable outcomes. Outcomes may
benefit both parties, cost both parties, or benefit one the others expense.
Third, the mediator should describe the basic types of strategies for resolving disputes. The
basic strategies are competition, avoidance, accommodation, negotiated, compromise, and
interest-based negotiation. Fourth, the mediator can help the parties to clarify the criteria that will
guide their choices of strategies. Fifth, the mediators can assist the parties in weighing their
options and reaching a decision. Finally, mediators can help the parties to coordinating their
strategies into the dispute.

3.2 During Mediation


The most critical task for disputants on this stage is to maximize accurate information
exchange. It is a part of mediator task to facilitate this exchange by using a number of
communication tools. These tools include active listening, paraphrasing and restatement,
summarization, and clarifying questions. The mediators help the parties to expand upon their
message, to structure their thoughts, to group and order similar ideas and to separate the complex
issues.
Mediators act to maintain a positive emotional climate because a positive emotional climate
contributes to efficient communication. The mediators must controlling or diffusing negative

emotions or attacks, enforcing behavioral ground rules and keeping parties focused on the issues.
This is important to ensure the process will not cause any problem that worsens the conflict.
Disputants is very rarely able to give a clear or complete statement if their interest. Hence
one of the mediators important tasks is to uncover and clarify the parties hidden interest. The
disputants may be unclear about their interest. Mediators should help to cultivate a positive
attitude toward interest discovery among the disputants.
Two types of procedures for discovering interest; indirect and direct. Indirect procedures
include testing and hypothetical modeling. Mediators test for interest by listening to a partys
statements, tentatively identifying the interest expressed, and then expressing that interest back to
the party for further feedback. Direct methods include questioning the parties, and brainstorming.
Parties may try to bluff or misrepresent their interest. Mediators must aware for such bluffs.
Mediators may use persuasions or rationalization to induce a party to abandon their bluff and
present more accurate picture of their interest. Mediators must also encourage each side in the
dispute to acknowledge the other sides interest, even if they do not agree with those interests.
Finally the mediator should incorporate both parties interest into a joint problem statement.

3.3 Others Roles


Mediators also must address the issues of impartiality by ensure and seek to demonstrate
that the process and the treatment of the parties is fair and balanced, including through an
effective communications strategy. They also must be transparent with the conflicts parties
regarding the laws and norms that guide their involvement. Mediators cannot accept conditions
for support from external actors that would affect the impartiality of the process. Avoid
association with punitive measures against conflict parties by other actors and minimize public
criticism of the parties as much as possible, while maintaining frank exchanges in private.
Handover to another mediator, or mediating entity, if they feel unable to maintain a balanced
impartial approach.

Deadlines can play crucial roles in bringing the end of mediation process , Deadlines may be
internally or externally imposed, actual or artificial, rigid or flexible, with or without
consequences, explicit or vague. Mediators can help make the parties aware of exixting
deadlines, or help the parties to establish deadlines as needed. Mediators can also help the parties
avoid harmful uses of deadlines, such as using the deadlines as threats or allowing deadlines to
generate false agreement motivation. Cultural attitudes toward time affect the use of deadlines.
Some cultures view time as a valuable and limited resource, while others have much more
leisurely attitude toward time.

4.0 Examples of Mediation Process


4.1 Arab-Israeli War
Ever since the first Arab-Israeli war of 1948, dozens of third parties have offered their
services to the disputants, in the hope of bringing a successful resolution to arguably the most
protracted conflict in contemporary history. These third parties have entered the conflict at its
various stages, implementing a wide range of mediation expertise and capabilities. Some sought
to achieve a lasting comprehensive peace between Israel and its
Arab neighbors , while others concentrated their efforts on more limited objectives, such as
the disengagement of forces or interim political agreements. If success is judged by the longevity
of the agreement, then this record stands at just five long-term successes: Ralph Bunches
mediation of the 1949 armistice agreements which delineated the conflicts borders (the Green

Line) and remains a reference point to this day; Henry Kissingers separation of Egyptian and
Israeli forces in the immediate aftermath of the 1973 October War, and further disengagement
between Israeli, Egyptian and Syrian forces in 1974-5; Jimmy Carters mediation at Camp David
which led to the 1979 Egyptian-Israeli peace treaty; and the secret Oslo channel which produced
a historic and irreversible agreement between Israel and the Palestine Liberation Organization
(PLO), which, despite subsequent failures of implementation of some of its terms remains the
cornerstone of two decades of Israeli Palestinian dialogue (Siniver, 2006).
However, if we accept that mediation success is to be measured simply by the mutual and
formal signing of an agreement, rather than by the ability of the disputants and external actors to
maintain it over a long period of time, then we can add four more cases of successful mediation
in the Arab-Israeli conflict. These include the 1970 Rogers plan, the 1983 Israel-Lebanon peace
treaty, and the 1997 Hebron agreement and the 1998 Wye River memorandum between Israel
and the PLO.

4.2 Tanjikistan Conflict (Civil War)


Between 1992 and 1997, the newly independent Republic of Tajikistan was embroiled in
a bloody civil war that killed 50,000-100,000 people, created 1.2 million refugees, and left the
economy, infrastructure, and government in complete disarray. Evidence of ethnic cleansing
exists, as well. The war was extremely violent, with both sides receiving aid from external
sources in the traditional proxy fashion, and peace was not achieved for years until the efforts of
international mediators finally resulted in an accord. This paper seeks to give an overview of the
conflict, and then examine the role of the United Nations as a third-party mediator in the civil
war in Tajikistan, as well as evaluate its efficacy and methods based on I. William Zartman and
Saadia Touvals prescriptions for international mediation.
In the case of Tajikistan, mediators seem to have found a dual path of pursuing both goals
at the same time. As UN military observers and envoys worked to create and maintain ceasefires

between the combatants, the above-mentioned Track II diplomacy represented by the Inter-Tajik
Dialogue laid the groundwork for more permanent solutions based on power-sharing and
problem-solving. By keeping continually pressure on the peace process, many casualties were
avoidedindeed, most commentators estimate that about 50,000 were killed between May and
December 1992, but 50,000-100,000 lives were lost in total over the course of the five-year
conflict (Akiner and Barnes). The fact that the conflict de-escalated quickly was very important,
even though fighting continued at a lower level for several years. Simultaneously, progress was
being made on long-term diplomacy in the background.
This is another reason that the UN mediation in the civil war has been judged to be so
effectivefor the most part, they managed to avoid this common predicament. There are many
reasons behind the general consensus that international mediation in Tajikistan was an effective
response and solution to the conflict. In addition to those listed above, it has also been noted that
a high level of coordination between diplomatic efforts and humanitarian aid was maintained,
and that observer countries were very supportive of the peace process (Goryayev). Overall, the
UN did remarkably well in containing the conflict after it got involved, and stopping the
bloodshed from spiraling any further out of control. Their methods were effective and acceptable
to all parties, in a definite contrast to the much more interventionist mediation often carried out
by superpowers like the United States. For this reason, the civil war in Tajikistan remains an
excellent example of proper third-party mediation. Unfortunately, many thousands lost their lives
before the conflict was ended, but this case study can serve as a model for future conflict
management efforts by it or any other body.

CONCLUSION
Mediation is a broad and rapidly growing field and there are now many professional
mediation associations, focusing on areas ranging from domestic to international mediation.
Even the most accomplished peacemaker is unlikely to achieve anything if the parties to a
national conflict reject negotiations or are unwilling to forge a settlement, yet mediators can have
a significant impact on the conflict.

Mediators do their part in conflict management and mediation process can effectively
resolve conflicts and disputes, reduce hostilities and generally enable countries, organizations or
individuals to address their differences peacefully, and even constructively. They play the crucial
roles to ensure the conflict can be resolved within the peace way and ended the conflict as soon
as possible by suggesting the disputants the way out to the conflict. Even mediators cannot force
the disputants to achieve an agreement about the conflict, but they manage to make the both
parties to negotiate with each other and at least try to reduce the level of conflict like having a
cease arms.
As a conclusion, mediators are an actor that act as third party that help to resolve conflict
between two parties that struggling with conflict and cannot sit together alone to discuss the
problem. Mediators must possess a great skill of listening and communication skills to handle the
disputants. Impartiality and legitimacy is the main component for mediators to get the disputants
trust. Because mediators should be neutral in the conflict to avoid any uneasiness of the
disputants during the process.

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http://dx.doi.org/10.1002/sres.2103
The Role of Mediation in the Pacific Settlement of International Disputes (Ph.D). (2016).
Honeyman, C. & Yawanarajah, N. (2016). International Mediation and Intractable
Conflict | Beyond Intractability. Beyondintractability.org. Retrieved 8 June 2016, from

http://www.beyondintractability.org/essay/med-intractable-conflict
Conflict Prevention Mechanisms: Mediation and Preventive Diplomacy. (2011).
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