Negotiating with the devil. Mediation in armed conflits
Pierre Hazan
We were pleased to welcome Pierre Hazan, author of the book Négocier avec le diable. La médiation dans les conflits armés "Negotiating with the devil. Mediation in armed conflits" for a conference and debate on Thursday December 15th, 2022. This meeting was prepared and moderated by Rony Brauman.
The actions of mediators and that of humanitarian workers in armed conflicts apparently have little in common, apart from the desire to be useful. However, when looked at more closely, the central features of their work share notable common points. The relationship of trust that we, as well as they, need to create with the belligerents is tricky in that the line between reasonable compromise and selling out is always uncertain and insidious. Like humanitarian workers, mediators can only find their space in so far as the belligerents find it interesting for them to be there.
We, as well as they, seek to establish and maintain links with actors labelled as terrorists – a single term covering multiple realities – and more broadly, with various perpetrators of violence. This leads to potentially conflicting relations with international justice and the proponents of the fight against impunity.
Pierre Hazan is a mediator and a senior advisor for the Centre for Humanitarian Dialogue, one of the main organizations dealing with mediation in armed conflicts. He has extensive field experience in this area and has written numerous books and articles on transitional justice. In September, he published "Négocier avec le diable. La médiation dans les conflits armés" (with Editions Textuel) and shared his reflections during this conference and debate.
To cite this content :
Pierre Hazan, “Negotiating with the devil. Mediation in armed conflits”, 15 décembre 2022, URL : https://msf-crash.org/en/conferences-debates/negotiating-devil-mediation-armed-conflits
If you would like to comment on this article, you can find us on social media or contact us here:
ContributePast events
Conference
Reconstructing Lives
02/17/2022 - 06:30 PM 08:30 PMThe members of the Crash team were happy to welcome you all to an conference-debate with anthropologist Vanja Kovačič, on Thursday 17th of February. The author introduced her recently-published book "Reconstructing lives Victims of war in the Middle East and Médecins Sans Frontières" (Manchester University Press, translated in French and Arabic). This event, prepared with Jean-Hervé Bradol, was moderated by Michaël Neuman.
Conference
Another approach to well-being at work
12/09/2021 - 06:30 PM 08:30 PMThe members of the Crash were very happy to welcome you all to this conference-debate with occupational psychologists Yves Clot and Jean-Yves Bonnefond, two of the authors of “Le prix du travail bien fait – La coopération conflictuelle dans les organisations” (Paris, La Découverte, 2021 ; co-written with Antoine Bonnemain and Mylène Zittoun). This event, prepared with Judith Soussan, was moderated by Clément Perrin.
msf
Conference
Book launch event - Violences extrêmes. Enquêter, secourir, juger République démocratique du Congo, Rwanda, Syrie
11/17/2021 - 06:30 PM 08:30 PMWe were happy to welcome Claudine Vidal, sociologist (CNRS) and Crash scientific committee member, and Jean-Hervé Bradol, doctor, former President of the French section of MSF and current director studies at the Crash, for the launching event of the newly-published book “Violences extrêmes. Enquêter, secourir, juger République démocratique du Congo, Rwanda, Syrie” (Éditions de la Maison des sciences de l’homme, Paris 2021). The event was hosted by Rony Brauman.
Conference
Round Table - 50 years of Doctors without borders (Médecins sans frontières)
11/03/2021 - 07:30 PM 09:00 PMMédecins Sans Frontières celebrated its 50th anniversary. On this occasion and in the framework of the International Humanitarian Studies Association (IHSA) conference, the Crash organized a Round Table on the history of the organization, the myths surrounding it, and its recent evolution. This meeting, prepared with Elba Rahmouni, was moderated by Bertrand Taithe.
Conference
Asylum and exile. A history of the distinction between migrants / refugees
04/12/2021 - 06:30 PM 08:30 PMOn April 12 2021, we were delighted to welcome Karen Akoka, political scientist and sociologist, fresh from her publication in November of “Asylum and Exile. A History of the Refugee/Migrant Distinction" (La Découverte, 2020). The author described and analyzed the trajectory of OFPRA, the French institution founded in 1952 and responsible for granting refugee status; she provided an insight into how the history of the distinction between migrants and refugees was established in France. This conference was prepared and moderated by Michaël Neuman.
Conference
The quantification of needs
12/10/2020 - 06:00 PM 08:00 PMCombining historical research and ethnographic investigations, the Africanist historian Joël Glasman plunges us into the factory of the homo humanitarianus, the average individual, on the basis of which "needs" and aid projects today are assessed. This conversation took place on December 10th 2020, during a conference-debate at Crash prepared and moderated by Michaël Neuman.