Introduction

This volume comes at a time when the United Nations, regional organizations and their Member States are actively seeking new ways of better using mediation to sustain peace. It is also a moment where multilateralism and the principles of the rules-based international order for conflict resolution are under strain. Operational and practical challenges for mediators have multiplied in a world where the global–local nexus has become tighter and is overshadowed by growing transnational threats such as terrorism, cybercrime and climate change. Conflicts have fundamentally changed since the end of the 20th century, moving away from interstate conflicts, or conflicts between states and secessionist movements that can easily be characterized as conflicts about sovereignty, to conflicts that engage whole societies and involve multiple conflict actors with multiple competing priorities (Griffiths and Whitfield, 2010).

In this context there is renewed international attention being paid to mediation as a form of conflict resolution. The term ‘peace mediation’ is increasingly used as a catchall term to include a wide range of activities ranging from high-level diplomacy to grass roots peacebuilding, reflecting a much greater interest in the idea of multi-track diplomacy and the contribution that mediation can make at all levels of a conflicted society. In 2016 the UN General Assembly (UNGA) acknowledged that ‘effective mediation and mediation support require systematic efforts at all levels’. In a landmark resolution adopted by consensus of all Member States, UNGA underlined that ‘timely conflict analysis, development of case-specific strategic road maps for mediation drawing on best practices and lessons learned, and identification of appropriate expertise’ are vital. This turn reflects a significant evolution in dominant understandings of mediation and peace support in policy and practice that started with the shift from an exclusively state-centric approach towards a model rooted in the ‘liberal consensus’ on the value of rule of law and rights-based approaches to peacemaking (Richmond, 2018). It is a new direction from the UN within the context of its 75-year mandate for mediation and good offices.

The evolving discourse on peace mediation shows that the bar for providing assistance and support to conflicted parties is being set progressively higher, reflecting, for some, the aspirations of the international community to handle conflict more effectively and more sustainably.