In this episode, Robert Watkins speaks with mediation specialist Matt Waldman about what could be done to increase the effectiveness of international mediation efforts to resolve or prevent armed conflict. Drawing on Waldman’s recent study based on interviews with leading mediation practitioners and specialists, as well as ten expert colloquia convened through institutions including the University of Oxford and the United States Institute of Peace, the conversation examines why mediation efforts are falling short.
About the People
Guest: Matt Waldman
Matt Waldman specialises in the mediation of armed conflict. He is currently a Senior Adviser at the European Institute of Peace, Associate of the Department of Politics and International Relations at Oxford University, and Expert Adviser and Facilitator at the European Leadership Network. Matt has served as a special adviser to UN envoys: the UN Special Envoy for Yemen (2019-2020), the UN Special Representative for Somalia (2016-2018), the UN Special Envoy for Syria (2014-2015), and the UN Special Representative for Afghanistan (2011-2012). He has undertaken mediation work in the Middle East and Africa as a Senior Adviser at the European Institute of Peace and Special Adviser to Inter Mediate. Matt was also a Senior Mediation Adviser at the United States Institute of Peace.
Host: Robert Watkins, Research Associate, CCDP
Robert Watkins joined the CCDP after a 35-year career working for international organisations in political, humanitarian, development and post-conflict recovery areas in some 13 different countries, principally in the Middle East, Central, and South Asia. He served for the United Nations as Deputy Special Representative of the Secretary General in Lebanon (2011-2014) and Afghanistan (2009-2011) at the level of Assistant Secretary General, as well as UN Resident and Humanitarian Coordinator in Bangladesh (2015-17), Djibouti (2014), and Georgia (2006-2009). Since retiring from the UN at the end of 2017, he has taught as a Practitioner at the Graduate Institute and at the Geneva Centre for Security Policy, and presented papers on Conflict Prevention at AUB, Lebanon, and the University of Tianjin, China.
Producer: Jennifer Thornquest, Research Associate, CCDP
Jennifer (Gigi) Thornquest is a social science researcher whose current research focuses on participatory arts and peacebuilding at the intersection of migration and education. With a background in communication, she explores the role of language and storytelling in shaping public discourse. She is a research associate at the CCDP and producer of the Spotlight Podcast.
The CCDP Spotlight Podcast is a production of the Geneva Graduate Institute’s Centre on Conflict, Development, and Peacebuilding (CCDP).
Related Resources:
🔗 Learn more about Matt Waldman's new study Peacemaking in Trouble https://www.belfercenter.org/sites/default/files/2024-10/peacemaking-in-trouble-waldman.pdf
Production Credits
The CCDP Spotlight Podcast is produced by the Geneva Graduate Institute’s Centre on Conflict, Development and Peacebuilding (CCDP).
🔗 Learn more about CCDP: https://www.graduateinstitute.ch/ccdp