Mediation

In 2017, United Nations (UN) Secretary-General António Guterres recognized mediation as "essential, flexible and effective tool which is utilized for conflict prevention, management and resolution by the United Nations and a wide range of other organizations and actors" (UN Secretary-General 2017, p. 6). Mediation is defined as "a process of conflict management, related to but distinct from the parties' own negotiations, where those in conflict seek the assistance of, or accept an offer of help from, an outsider [...] without resorting to physical force or invoking the authority of law" (Bercovitch 2009, p. 343). Thus, mediation, at a minimum, denotes the assistance by a third party to a negotiation between two or more conflict parties to find a peaceful agreement (see also "Negotiation," "Peace Agreements"). It has become a standard international response to armed conflicts since the end of the Cold War (Gowan and Stedman 2018; Greig and Diehl 2012). This is reflected in research, which has produced relevant knowledge on how to render mediation more effective. It has thereby strongly relied on positivist approaches with rationalist conceptual frameworks and quantitative methodologies. While producing important findings, it has left three main gaps, calling for more disaggregated findings, a stronger focus on ideational aspects, and awareness of changing macrolevel factors in the broader world political context of mediation