Mediation – Its Potential and Its Limits: Developing an Effective Discourse on the Research and Practice of Peacemaking

This article looks at the various contributions to this issue of the Penn State Journal of Law & International Affairs. The contributors have analyzed the potential and limits of mediation, but have focused on a number of different aspects of that process. The analytic research relevant to conflict situations will be most useful, however, if the recommendations offered for how to bring conflicts to an end can actually be of use to practitioners in the field. The approach of this article is therefore to consider how policymakers might employ these recommendations as they pursue the goal of peace.

It also discusses how even defining who a policymaker is can be complicated. And it concludes by arguing for a more robust dialogue between academic experts and those who might benefit from putting their advice into practice.