| After many years in the little-known world of back- channel mediation, helping sworn adversaries to prevent, manage or resolve conflict, Pierre Hazan felt compelled to re-examine the acute practical and ethical dilemmas that affected his work in Bosnia, Ukraine, the Sahel and the Central African Republic. What is the mediators responsibility when two belligerents conclude a peace agreement to the detriment of a third? Should mediators never be party to ethnic cleansing, even if it saves lives? Is a fragile peace worth sacrificing justice foror will that sacrifice fuel another cycle of violence?In an increasingly dystopian world, Negotiating with the Devil offers both practical guidelines and a moral compass for mediators whose field of action has transformed dramatically. We have gone from soft to hard power, from peace dividends to war in Europe, from the end of one Cold War to a new EastWest confrontation in Ukraine, from Pax Americana to a multipolar world, from the dream of an all-powerful UN to the organisations marginalisation. Against this tapestry, Hazan sheds light on the complex work of those steering peace negotiations, blending vivid first-hand observation with sharp insights into the psychology of compromise as a first step towards peace. |
