International Multiparty Mediation: Prospects for a Coordinated Effort
| DOI | http://doi.org/10.1111/1758-5899.12698 |
| Date | 01 June 2019 |
| Published date | 01 June 2019 |
| Author | Siniša Vuković |
International Multiparty Mediation: Prospects
for a Coordinated Effort
Sini
sa Vukovi
c
School of Advanced International Studies, Johns Hopkins University
Abstract
The field of international peace mediation has become increasingly complex. Proliferation of actors that are able and willing
to mediate has made multiparty mediation a standard format through which conflicts get managed. Due to their ad hoc nat-
ure, multiparty mediation efforts require specific mechanisms that will provide sufficient clarity and direction for the mediators
involved. This paper departs by differentiating three distinct, yet highly interrelated, fundamental aspects that contribute to
the overall success in multiparty mediation: cooperation, coordination and leadership. Treating coordination as a subset ele-
ment of wider cooperation, this paper addresses the main challenges of achieving effective coordination in a given context.
The paper highlights the relevance of information carrying capacity and premediated appointment of a leader when develop-
ing particular coordination mechanisms.
The state of the field
In recent years, the field of international peace mediation has
undergone an irresistible expansion.The lack of an overarching
authority and an effective enforcement mechanism on the glo-
bal level have prompteda wide range of international actors to
lead, join, or complement efforts intended to curb escalating
conflicts. Comparedto other conflict management approaches,
which either preclude obligatory solutions (arbitration and
adjudication), or primarily rely on constraint and force (sanc-
tions, peacekeeping, and military interventions), mediation has
proven to be a particularly attractive option due to its ad hoc,
voluntary, legally non-binding and non-coercive nature
(Vukovi
c, 2014). On one hand, conflicting parties endorse a
mediated process as it allows them to maintain a significant
degree of autonomy over their decision-making. On the other,
it represents one of the most cost-efficient foreign policy tools
that can be used to promote and protect certaininterests with-
out inciting any significant resistance on the international level
(Butler, 2018; Touval, 2003). As a consequence, peace media-
tion is no longer a process reserved for state actors. Depending
on their particular impetus and relative capabilities, envoys of
international and regional organizations, non-governmental
entities and illustrious individuals, may assume specificrolesat
different stages of the peacemaking cycle and fundamentally
contribute to an effective process (Crocker et al., 2001). In gen-
eral, success in peace mediation is contingent upon a media-
tor’s ability and willingness to facilitate communication
between the parties, assist them in exploring and formulating
creative solutions to their dispute, and if needed, incentivize
them to accept solutions that are outside conflicting parties’
original purviews. Such activities are intended to reduce the
appeal of a prolonged conflict, while at the same time increas-
ing the attractiveness of a negotiated (i.e. mediated) solution
(Beardsley et al., 2006; Bercovitch et al., 1991; Tou val and Zart-
man, 1985). The increasing complexity of contemporary con-
flicts (stemming from conflicting parties’propensity to
fragment, coupled with an expanding range of issues that now
fall within the ambit of security concerns) makes mediation an
increasingly tenuous task for a single mediator. As such, inter-
national conflicts are frequently managed by multiple media-
tors, who may workat the same time or sequentially, through a
process commonly defined as multiparty mediation (Crocker
et al., 1999; Hansen,2012).
Benefits and liabilities of multiparty mediation
The complexities pertinent to international conflicts have
made it nearly impossible for a single actor to retain the
aptitude and disposition to commit themselves and their
material and non-material resources in order to manage a
conflict. As a consequence, multiparty mediation has
become an attractive option that allows mediators to pool
in their resources in order to create tailor-made incentive
structures for the conflicting parties, share the sunk costs of
peacemaking, as well as assume and allocate specific tasks
and roles throughout the process (Beber, 2010; Crocker
et al., 2015). Such activities may expedite the process of
ripening the conflict for a peaceful settlement, as each third
party may use its leverage to increase the costs of an ongo-
ing conflict while simultaneously increasing the appeal of a
mediated solution. Moreover, the conflicting parties may
welcome the inclusion of different third parties, as this may
increase the overall international legitimacy of the process
(Duursma, 2017). This in turn may contribute to the percep-
tion of a more balanced process, as competing interests and
biases that mediators bring with them may level out (Svens-
son, 2011). Finally, the enlargement of the mediating team
©2019 University of Durham and John Wiley & Sons, Ltd. Global Policy (2019) 10:Suppl.2 doi: 10.1111/1758-5899.12698
Global Policy Volume 10 . Issue Supplement 2 . June 2019
76
Special Issue Article
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