DEPARTMENT OF POLITICAL SCIENCE AND INTERNATIONAL RELATIONS

MA Programme

Academic Year 2020/2021, Spring Semester

INTL551
Negotiation and Mediation: Theory and Practice
Session 13
(Monday, June 7, 2021)

Mediation. Theory and Practice

‘The part of the mediator consists in reconciling the opposing claims and appeasing the feelings
of resentment which may have arisen between the States at variance’(Article 4 of the 1907
Convention for the Pacific Settlement of International Disputes).
When the parties to an international dispute are unable to resolve it by negotiations, the
intervention of a third party is a possible means of breaking the impasse and producing an
acceptable solution. Such intervention may take the form of mediation. Mediation has a long and
extensive record in the history of diplomacy.

Reading:
G.R. Berridge, Diplomacy. Theory and Practice:
o Mediation - chapter 17
R.P. Barston (2013) Modern Diplomacy:
o Diplomacy and Mediation - chapter 14

Roger Seaman (2016) Explorative Mediation at Work,

o Introduction - chapter 1
o Conclusion - chapter 8
Catriona Standfield, “Caught between Art and Science: the Women, Peace and Security Agenda
in United Nations Mediation Narratives, International Feminist Journal of Politics
https://doi.org/10.1080/14616742.2020.1716632
Samuel Atuobi, “ECOWAS and Mediation in West Africa. Towards an Enhanced Capacity”,
Harvard Africa Policy Journal, Vol. 7, 2010-2011, pp. 29-40.

Jacob Bercovitch and Richard Jackson (2001): “Current Developments in International Conflict
Management: Assessing the Relevance of Negotiation and Mediation”, Cambridge Review of
International Affairs, Vol. 14, No. 2, pp. 13-38.