When to Negotiate
Joe Markowitz
Anyone who has still been following budget negotiations in Congress has no doubt noticed that they have reached another interesting stage. Recall that last summer Congress struck a deal in which Republicans agreed to go along with raising the debt ceiling, in exchange for appointing a super committee to come up with additional debt reduction measures.

Effective Use of Civil and Commercial Mediation in Poland: Part 2
Sylwester Pieckowski
Poland was one of the first EU Member States to enact a detailed and complete legislation on mediation in civil and commercial matters (“Polish Mediation Law”). The Law entered into force on December 10, 2005. This article discusses Polish mediation in civil matters.

Mic Check
Bill Withers
What if those who would change the world engaged in a conversation about what will replace whatever we want to tear down? What if protest included conversation? What if people who read this bravely begin talking to me and to others about it?

Ray Shonholtz: The Passing of a Community Mediation Visionary
Justin Corbett
It is with great sadness that we announce the loss of our friend and colleague Raymond Shonholtz. Ray was a visionary within community mediation from its earliest days.

Effective Use of Civil and Commercial Mediation in Poland: Part 1
Sylwester Pieckowski
This article is part one in a two-part series about effectively using mediation in civil and commercial disputes in Poland. This discusses the present laws and norms in mediation and what are the plans for the future.

The View from the Group: A Collectivist’s Perspective on Conflict Management in Organizations
Christine Tsai
Most research on organizational conflict presents a Western slant on conflict management at work. Expanding research to include non-Western cultures provides a more comprehensive sense of how conflict is managed in organizational settings worldwide.

The Mediator's Toolkit: Cultural Competence - Transcending Culture Differences in Mediation
Dave Aschaiek
This article considers different definitions of culture, how culture has been seen to influence communication and the concept of cultural competence as it relates to facilitating intercultural communication. This article further examines the concept of cultural competence as it relates to mediation and more specifically the Mediator's role.   1 Comment

Mediation in Italy
Alessandro Bruni
Alessandro Bruno begins a series of articles describing the development of mediation in Italy and typical processes and approaches.   2 Comments

New Frontiers in Cross Border Family Mediation
Sabine Walsh
Front my point of view as a mediator and as a participant in the training programme, I can see only enormous benefits for bi-national families in using mediation to resolve, and even prevent the crises that can result in children being taken from their home country and the fallout that ensues.

UN Member Countries Promote Use of Mediation to Peacefully Resolve Conflict
Chris Poole
The General Assembly resolution marks mediation’s rise to prominence on the international stage and lays a foundation for its expanded use in peacefully resolving conflict.

Conflict and Conversational Practice-- Article 3 of 3
Milan Slama
During the last couple of decades, different approaches have been developed and applied by many professionals who practice in the arena of conflict and dispute resolution. Many of us have heard about evaluative, facilitative, transformative, and narrative approaches to mediation. All of these approaches offer several valuable features and all have something in common.

Would You Like Fries With That?
Mitch Chyette
An examination of how the various negotiating traps illustrated by the debt-ceiling negotiations and how we can avoid them.   1 Comment

Leading from the Back of the Room
Jan Frankel Schau
Today I read about a Business leader who spoke of "leading from the back of the room" and I was struck by the notion that I had risen to the position of leadership where I take a seat which is not rightfully my own.

Judging Before You Listen
Diane Cohen
This morning I watched a Ted Talk by Evelyn Glennie about how to listen (See below). I found it fascinating for a few reasons.

Understanding the Incomprehensible: Identity, Security and Terrorism (Updated)
Camilo Azcarate
Understanding the Incomprehensible: Identity, Security and Terrorism was written ten years ago to understand international conflict. This article has now been written to examine the state of international affairs in the last decade.   1 Comment

Revolution: Traditional Conflicts and Digital Conversations
Inessa Colaiacovo
As social networks connect more and more people, what impact do they have on geopolitical conflict?

The Palestinian Non-Governmental Organization Network: Mediating in the Midst of Conflict
Husam El-NouNou, Amjad Shawa, Donald Mellman
This article focuses on two particular conflicts involving Fateh and Hamas which will show the goals of such mediations to be on the parallel tracks of 1) the Palestinian state and 2) the Palestinians as a united group of individuals.

Gov. Cuomo’s Excellent Negotiation: A Lesson from the Real World
Robert Benjamin
While most of the attention on the recent passage of the New York Marriage Equality Act is understandably on the legal, political, social policy, and civil rights implications, the opportunity to study the negotiation process marshaled by Governor Andrew Cuomo should not be missed, especially by those who study and practice negotiation, mediation and conflict management. Cuomo’s negotiation success was less the result of reasoned persuasion and more about his strategic, flexible and effective management of people and circumstance, many of which were unexpected and predictably irrational.

The Overlapping of Self-Other: Creating Cooperation and Understanding
Steffi Berkowitz, Rori Baron
Mr. Spock called it a mind meld, his ability to harness the energies of others and hook up to their minds.  It turns out that this mind meld concept, referred to by TV series Star Trek writers, applies to more than intergalactic beings.   1 Comment

A Passing of the Mediate.com Editorial Torch
James Melamed
After a decade of exemplary service, John Ford, Managing Editor of Mediate.com, is passing the Mediate.com editorial torch to Clare Fowler effective March 1, 2011.   3 Comments

The Poetic Unfolding of the Human Spirit
John Paul Lederach
What does it mean in this day and age to explore a global dream? John Paul Lederach writes a rare travelogue of a spirit fully engaged in the world he has been born to, fully engaged in the soul he has been given, and fully engaged in the mysterious world of spirit that touches us all. His ideas are twined from threads of muscle and blood. The travelogue carries within it many touchstones that will open your heart and mind.

Sign Peace Alliance Petition - Save US Institute of Peace - House Votes to Cut All Funding!
Peace Alliance
Recently, the US House voted to cut all of the United States Institute of Peace’s funding. All of it! This is a stunning development that could prove to be a serious setback for the work of peacebuilding around the world and a blow to the growing movement we've been seeing for peacebuilding investment in our government.   1 Comment

Starting a Career Building Peace
David Smith
The January tragedy in Tucson, Arizona involving Congresswoman Gabrielle Giffords and a number of her constituents has raised a national call for civil discourse and reminds us of the need for professionals dedicated to helping societies and individuals prone to violence. There is a vast range of careers that can play intervening roles for troubled individuals, including mental health professionals, social workers, police, and educators. Many professions work to prevent and resolve violence, as well as build peace

Conflict, Climate Change And Environmental Catastrophe
Kenneth Cloke
The recent oil spill by British Petroleum in the Gulf of Mexico highlights an escalating set of difficulties in our responses to environmental catastrophes, with echoes that resonate and reverberate with experiences responding to Hurricane Katrina in New Orleans, earthquakes in Haiti and Peru, firestorms in Russia, flooding in Pakistan, the tsunami in Indonesia, and others.   1 Comment

Leadership, Conflict And Problem-Solving
F. Peter Phillips
The New York Times’ November 18, 2010 edition featured a letter by Carl Schiffman of Queens, NY, that brought out concerns that many of us in the problem-solving profession have entertained, concerning the limitations of the mediator’s role.