Negotiating with the Devil:  Inside the World of Armed Conflict Mediation
A Conversation with Pierre Hazan and Jean-Marie Guéhenno

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After many years in the little-known world of back-channel mediation, helping sworn adversaries to prevent, manage or resolve conflict, Pierre Hazan reexamines in his book the practical and ethical dilemmas that affected his work in Bosnia, Ukraine, the Sahel and the Central African Republic, and reflects more generally on the evolving conditions affecting mediation and conflict resolution. Should governments talk to terrorists? Should war criminals be included in dialogue? When trying to bring peace, should we “negotiate with the devil”? In this discussion Hazan will also consider how mediation needs to adapt to new forms of war (cyber), new technologies (AI), and a new geopolitical environment, characterized by more conflicts, less multilateralism, less of a role played by the UN, and less adherence to International Humanitarian Law?

Jean-Marie Guéhenno joins Pierre Hazan in reflecting on his own experiences in peacekeeping and conflict resolution. Guéhenno served as UN Under-Secretary-General for Peacekeeping Operations from 2000 to 2008 and later as Deputy Joint Special Envoy of the United Nations and the League of Arab States on Syria, among other roles. He was named president and CEO of the International Crisis Group in 2014. He is currently Arnold A. Saltzman Professor of Practice in International and Public Affairs at Columbia’s School of International and Public Affairs and Director of SIPA’s Kent Global Leadership Program on Conflict Resolution.