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What happens behind closed doors when peace agreements are negotiated? The Mediator’s Studio gives you a glimpse into the normally hidden world of peace diplomacy. Host Adam Cooper brings you first-hand stories from mediators, armed groups and governments on what it takes to end wars. The Mediator’s Studio is a podcast from the Oslo Forum, the world’s leading mediation retreat. It’s brought to you by the Norwegian Ministry of Foreign Affairs and the Centre for Humanitarian Dialogue.
39 Episodes
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As a Peruvian diplomat with a 25-year career at the United Nations, Alvaro de Soto has dedicated fifty years of his life to diplomacy and conflict resolution across the globe. From negotiations with Hamas and the Quartet on the Middle East to shuttling between the FMLN and the El Salvador government, Alvaro de Soto shares a tour de force account that offers crucial insights into the craft of mediation. His first-hand narrative reveals lessons learned from his experiences and mentors, highlighting the significance of temperament over technique and effective ways to publicly spotlight agreements for ensuring accountability in their implementation.We value your opinion! Please take a moment to share your feedback by participating in our 1 minute listener survey.https://0lotay3liy7.typeform.com/to/BszSNdLfFind out more about the Oslo Forum’s journey over the past two decades.https://hdcentre.org/insights/the-oslo-forum-at-20-a-visual-journey-of-mediation-and-peacemaking/
South Africa’s first female deputy president, Phumzile Mlambo-Ngcuka, reflects on her journey as a member of the high-level African Union panel that facilitated the Pretoria agreement between the Ethiopian government and the Tigray People's Liberation Front. Beyond this process, she shares her experiences as the executive director of UN Women from 2013-2021, discusses her role as a female mediator, and reflects on the challenges associated with ensuring the engagement of women in peace processes in Colombia, Sudan, and South Sudan. Tracing her path as a student activist during the Apartheid era, she shares her story of finding courage and emphasises the need for perseverance to keep moving forward.We value your opinion! Please take a moment to share your feedback by participating in our 1 minute listener survey.https://0lotay3liy7.typeform.com/to/BszSNdLfFind out more about the Oslo Forum’s journey over the past two decades.https://hdcentre.org/insights/the-oslo-forum-at-20-a-visual-journey-of-mediation-and-peacemaking/
Veteran Lebanese intelligence chief Abbas Ibrahim takes us behind the scenes of some of his most sensitive negotiations. He recalls a secret mission to a Palestinian refugee camp in the hope of diffusing tensions, and the painstaking shuttle diplomacy that eventually led to a border agreement between Lebanon and Israel. He also reveals his political aspirations, and explains why he is trusted to broker deals to free Western detainees in Syria and Iran.We value your opinion! Please take a moment to share your feedback by participating in our 1 minute listener survey.https://0lotay3liy7.typeform.com/to/BszSNdLfFind out more about the Oslo Forum’s journey over the past two decades.https://hdcentre.org/insights/the-oslo-forum-at-20-a-visual-journey-of-mediation-and-peacemaking/
Climate mediator Nisreen Elsaim joins Adam Cooper to explore the intersection of activism and peacemaking. She recounts her role in the student uprisings that preceded the 2019 revolution in Sudan and reflects on how a shooting on campus changed her life. Now a self-confessed “climatolic,” she argues that climate mediation is crucial for conflict prevention, and looks ahead to a time when future generations won’t have to worry about climate change.We value your opinion! Please take a moment to share your feedback by participating in our 1 minute listener survey.https://0lotay3liy7.typeform.com/to/BszSNdLfFind out more about the Oslo Forum’s journey over the past two decades.https://hdcentre.org/insights/the-oslo-forum-at-20-a-visual-journey-of-mediation-and-peacemaking/
Karim A. A. Khan KC, Prosecutor of the International Criminal Court (ICC), reflects on his path leading to joining the International Criminal Tribunal for the former Yugoslavia (ICTY) in 1997 and, more recently the ICC. He shares the intricacies and dilemmas faced by the ICC in grappling with the scope of international law. He articulates his vision for the future of the ICC as an institution capable of effectively contributing to global justice.We value your opinion! Please take a moment to share your feedback by participating in our 1 minute listener survey.https://0lotay3liy7.typeform.com/to/BszSNdLfFind out more about the Oslo Forum’s journey over the past two decades.https://hdcentre.org/insights/the-oslo-forum-at-20-a-visual-journey-of-mediation-and-peacemaking/
Monica Juma, National Security Advisor to the President of Kenya, reflects on her extensive career in government and shares the lessons she has learned about peacemaking. She explains the challenges that the conflict in Sudan presents to mediators. She also discusses Kenya’s role in ending the Tigray crisis in Ethiopia. Additionally, she reflects on how meeting victims of the 2013 Westgate Mall attack in Nairobi affirmed the values she brings to her work.We value your opinion! Please take a moment to share your feedback by participating in our 1 minute listener survey.https://0lotay3liy7.typeform.com/to/BszSNdLfFind out more about the Oslo Forum’s journey over the past two decades.https://hdcentre.org/insights/the-oslo-forum-at-20-a-visual-journey-of-mediation-and-peacemaking/
Senior Qatari diplomat Mutlaq Al-Qahtani recalls his role in the 2020 Doha Agreement between the US and the Taliban, leading to the US withdrawal from Afghanistan. He reflects on his visit to Kabul in 2021 as the Taliban closed in on the city, sharing insights into his involvement in evacuating people and narrowly avoiding a bomb blast at the Kabul airport. Al Qahtani sheds light on his motivations to address the root causes of conflict.We value your opinion! Please take a moment to share your feedback by participating in our 1 minute listener survey.https://0lotay3liy7.typeform.com/to/BszSNdLfFind out more about the Oslo Forum’s journey over the past two decades.https://hdcentre.org/insights/the-oslo-forum-at-20-a-visual-journey-of-mediation-and-peacemaking/
Welcome to Season 5 of The Mediator's Studio podcast.This special season marks the 20th anniversary of the Oslo Forum in 2023 – and its importance as the place where peacemakers meet.Over seven episodes – most of them recorded at this year’s Oslo Forum retreat – we delve into deep conversations with prominent mediators on what it takes to make peace.Because we sat down in June 2023, the interviews were done before the conflict in Gaza began. While some episodes reflect events predating the war, we are sure the insights are as relevant as ever about seeking peace in the region.
Journalist Ghaith Abdul Ahad reflects on 20 years of reporting from conflict areas including Yemen and Afghanistan. Recalling the 2003 US invasion of Iraq that made him leave his former career as an architect, he reveals how he once talked his way into Saddam Hussein’s palace and what it’s like to sit across the table from people who committed atrocities. He also reflects on the challenges of mediation – arguing that people are often less concerned with ideological narratives than sheer survival and how armoured convoys and green zones can get in the way of real connection with people on the ground.
EU Special Representative for the Horn of Africa, Annette Weber, provides us with a front-row perspective on her decades-long work in the region, beginning with her time as a young researcher writing about female combatants in South Sudan and Eritrea. She reveals why she still gets goose bumps when thinking about the recent revolution in Sudan, and discusses what it’s like to sit down in the evenings with people who have been fighting each other during the day.
Former President of Mozambique Joaquim Chissano charts his journey from freedom fighter to head of state. He discusses his role in securing Mozambique’s independence from colonial rule and reveals why he did not want to become president after his predecessor’s sudden death in 1986. As a peacemaker, he reflects on how he convinced the Mozambican people to reconcile with former RENAMO fighters after the country’s civil war. He also shares why he introduced transcendental meditation to the military and what it’s like to be friends with Nelson Mandela.
1Former UN Deputy Special Envoy for Syria, Khawla Mattar, charts her path from covering the Lebanese civil war as a young journalist to her long career in the multilateral system. Starting out as the “joke of the UN” - an Arab Muslim woman not expected to succeed in negotiating with extremists - she quickly proved doubters wrong by crossing into ISIL and al-Nusra territory and successfully negotiating local ceasefires. Her first-hand account of wartime Syria not only reveals the horrors and desperation of war, but also her admiration for the resilience of young Syrians and her unwavering hope for a rebuilt country.
Kenya’s Ambassador and Permanent Representative to the UN, Martin Kimani, reflects on his nation’s role as a “clear voice for Africa” on the Security Council, and stresses the importance of calling out hypocrisy and colonial nostalgia on the global stage. Taking us behind the scenes of the UN’s vote on Ukraine, he argues that Western countries should not have framed it as a matter of “East versus West”. He also discusses the challenges of nation building and explains why he would bet that African officials are some of the most advanced political engineers in the world.
Peace negotiator and former President of the Afghan Red Crescent Society, Fatima Gailani, shares behind-the-scenes moments from her long career in Afghan politics – from the 1980s, when she became a spokesperson for the Mujahideen, to 2021, when she came out of retirement to take part in negotiations with the Taliban. She recalls childhood memories of Afghanistan’s “Golden Era” and the subsequent shock of seeing a country scarred by civil war when she returned from exile many years later. Her first-hand account reveals what it is like to be a woman in the predominantly male realm of Afghan politics, and why she continues to hope for a truly inclusive peace.
Special Envoy of President Zelensky, Rustem Umerov, takes us back to the day of the Russian invasion of Ukraine, recalling nightly conversations with the presidential office and the first attempts at negotiation only days after the war had begun.Serving as one of Ukraine’s negotiators, Umerov’s first-hand account of the past months offers unique insights into the dynamics of an ongoing armed conflict. He also shares his personal motivations for going into human rights work, and for choosing to negotiate at a time when war rages at home.If you are interested in learning more about the Oslo Forum, you can find this year's report here.
Welcome back to the fourth season of The Mediator's Studio, bringing you stories from behind the scenes! The new season, recorded at the Oslo Forum 2022, brings you conversations with a freedom fighter turned president, a journalist reporting from the frontlines of conflict as well as mediators and negotiators working in a range of contexts including the Horn of Africa, Syria and Mozambique. Here's a sneak peek of what you can listen to in the next few weeks.
Director of the Policy and Mediation Division at the UN Department of Political and Peacebuilding Affairs, Teresa Whitfield, takes us through the highlights and challenges of her career in conflict mediation – starting with a chance encounter at the Havana Film Festival that led her to El Salvador in the middle of a civil war. She talks about her transition from journalism to peacemaking and the evolution of mediation support, including the deployment of digital technologies in Libya. And she explains why, despite geopolitical tensions making wars increasingly difficult to resolve, the values and principles of the UN remain a beacon of hope.
Former Special Representative of the UN Secretary-General for West Africa and the Sahel, Mohamed Ibn Chambas, offers insights from decades mediating conflicts across Africa, from Liberia to Sudan. He takes us behind the scenes of some of the most tense moments of his career – including when he found out about protestors setting the Burkina Faso parliament ablaze while in the middle of delivering an important speech. He also recalls the harrowing experience of coming under mortar fire on a naval ship in Liberia, and how this brought home the brutal reality of war and the importance of seeking peace.
Yemeni activist and international peace advocate, Muna Luqman, reflects on her efforts to reduce suffering in her country’s deadly war – from helping open humanitarian corridors across battlefields to negotiating safe passage for those at risk. Through stories from the frontlines, she illustrates the creativity and courage of local peacemakers, whether using social media to get army tanks removed from the streets or de-escalating tensions around access to water. She also recalls how women have put their lives at risk time and again, and how they have refused to be defeated in their fight for space at the negotiating table.
Former freedom fighter turned UN diplomat, Haile Menkerios, recounts his role in Eritrea’s war of independence and the devastation of being exiled from the country he had fought to create. Reflecting on how his approach as a mediator in Sudan, South Sudan and beyond was shaped by his own experience of war, he stresses the importance of talking to everyone and urges us to “never stop believing in a better future”.
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