Sneak Peek: The Mediator’s Studio – Season 7

Recorded mostly at the Oslo Forum in June 2025, Season 7 of The Mediator’s Studio offers a rare window into the inner lives of those working to defuse some of the world’s most complex and protracted conflicts. Across five compelling episodes, mediators, diplomats, and envoys reflect on the delicate craft of dialogue—from backchannel negotiations to public diplomacy.This season features conversations with a novelist-turned-mediator who works behind the scenes in crises from Myanmar and Afghanistan to gang-controlled Haiti; the UN’s envoy to Yemen revealing the emotional toll of high-stakes negotiations; and a former head of state who believes real breakthroughs can happen over coffee breaks. Listeners will also hear from South Korea’s first female Foreign Minister on inter-Korean diplomacy and an Egyptian ambassador navigating tensions from Beirut to Moscow.These stories offer an unfiltered look at the challenges, humanity, and hope at the heart of mediation.

British negotiator turned mediator Jonathan Powell reveals the ebb and flow of the world’s major peace processes. He takes us through secret negotiations that led to the Good Friday Agreement in Northern Ireland and the following decade of talks on its implementation. He drew on this experience to support the dialogue with ETA in Spain, as well as the negotiation between the Colombian government and the FARC to end Latin America’s longest civil war. Jonathan Powell shares insights from meeting conflict parties in their hideouts, as well as the lessons learned from advising leaders in Afghanistan and Myanmar.We value your opinion! Please take a moment to share your feedback by participating in our 1-minute listener survey.https://0lotay3liy7.typeform.com/to/BszSNdLf

Former International President of Médecins Sans Frontières (MSF) and current Chair of HD’s Board, Joanne Liu provides her humanitarian insights to better inform the practice of mediation. Inspired by an MSF doctor's book she read as a teenager, she has worked as a humanitarian paediatrician in conflict zones for 30 years. Joanne Liu recounts her negotiations for humanitarian access in Yemen, her advocacy at the UN for an emergency response to Ebola, and how she stood up to the US administration after the bombing of an MSF hospital in Afghanistan. She also shares what helps her to keep faith in humanity in the face of devastating crises.We value your opinion! Please take a moment to share your feedback by participating in our 1-minute listener survey. https://0lotay3liy7.typeform.com/to/BszSNdLf

Senior US diplomat Molly Phee reflects on her mediation and negotiation experience in the last three decades. She recalls leveraging her influence to drive parties to a peace agreement in South Sudan and takes us behind the scenes of intense negotiations with the Taliban in Afghanistan from 2018 to 2020. As the current US Assistant Secretary of State for African Affairs, she discusses her approach to addressing the aftermaths of military coups in the Sahel, supporting talks in Sudan, and using creative approaches to defuse tensions in the Great Lakes region. We value your opinion! Please take a moment to share your feedback by participating in our 1-minute listener survey. https://0lotay3liy7.typeform.com/to/BszSNdLf

Indonesia’s Foreign Minister takes stock of her country’s peacemaking initiatives over the past decade. In this episode, recorded at the Oslo Forum in June 2024, she explains how Indonesia is trying to make a difference in thorny conflicts, from Afghanistan to the Middle East and Myanmar. As the first female foreign minister of the world’s largest Muslim country, Retno Marsudi fervently advocates for the inclusion of women in diplomacy and peace processes. She shares her experience of overcoming frustration and not giving up, especially in mediating protracted conflicts.We value your opinion! Please take a moment to share your feedback by participating in our 1-minute listener survey. https://0lotay3liy7.typeform.com/to/BszSNdLf

In his first-ever podcast, veteran mediator and head of the UN Mission in South Sudan Nicholas Haysom retraces three decades of peacemaking in Sudan, South Sudan, and Afghanistan. He recalls how his activism against Apartheid led him to become Nelson Mandela’s Chief Legal Adviser and launched his career in mediation. He reflects on why the time when peacemakers chose to talk to some and not to others has long passed. While drawing lessons that can be applied to current peace efforts, he explains how the internationalisation of intra-state conflicts has complicated conflict resolution processes.We value your opinion! Please take a moment to share your feedback by participating in our 1-minute listener survey.https://0lotay3liy7.typeform.com/to/BszSNdLf

Recorded in June 2024 at the Oslo Forum, season 6 takes you behind the scenes of negotiations to end some of the most violent conflicts of our time. Over five episodes, prominent voices share their insights on their ways to engage with conflict parties. Guests in this season include state diplomats who navigate geopolitics in support of peace, a humanitarian paediatrician who stood up to the Obama administration, a government negotiator turned private mediator, and a veteran UN peacemaker who has gone through the thick and thin of major mediation processes.

As a Peruvian diplomat with a 25-year career at the United Nations, Alvaro de Soto has dedicated fifty years of his life to diplomacy and conflict resolution across the globe. From negotiations with Hamas and the Quartet on the Middle East to shuttling between the FMLN and the El Salvador government, Alvaro de Soto shares a tour de force account that offers crucial insights into the craft of mediation. His first-hand narrative reveals lessons learned from his experiences and mentors, highlighting the significance of temperament over technique and effective ways to publicly spotlight agreements for ensuring accountability in their implementation.We value your opinion! Please take a moment to share your feedback by participating in our 1 minute listener survey.https://0lotay3liy7.typeform.com/to/BszSNdLfFind out more about the Oslo Forum’s journey over the past two decades.https://hdcentre.org/insights/the-oslo-forum-at-20-a-visual-journey-of-mediation-and-peacemaking/

South Africa’s first female deputy president, Phumzile Mlambo-Ngcuka, reflects on her journey as a member of the high-level African Union panel that facilitated the Pretoria agreement between the Ethiopian government and the Tigray People's Liberation Front. Beyond this process, she shares her experiences as the executive director of UN Women from 2013-2021, discusses her role as a female mediator, and reflects on the challenges associated with ensuring the engagement of women in peace processes in Colombia, Sudan, and South Sudan. Tracing her path as a student activist during the Apartheid era, she shares her story of finding courage and emphasises the need for perseverance to keep moving forward.We value your opinion! Please take a moment to share your feedback by participating in our 1 minute listener survey.https://0lotay3liy7.typeform.com/to/BszSNdLfFind out more about the Oslo Forum’s journey over the past two decades.https://hdcentre.org/insights/the-oslo-forum-at-20-a-visual-journey-of-mediation-and-peacemaking/

Veteran Lebanese intelligence chief Abbas Ibrahim takes us behind the scenes of some of his most sensitive negotiations. He recalls a secret mission to a Palestinian refugee camp in the hope of diffusing tensions, and the painstaking shuttle diplomacy that eventually led to a border agreement between Lebanon and Israel. He also reveals his political aspirations, and explains why he is trusted to broker deals to free Western detainees in Syria and Iran.We value your opinion! Please take a moment to share your feedback by participating in our 1 minute listener survey.https://0lotay3liy7.typeform.com/to/BszSNdLfFind out more about the Oslo Forum’s journey over the past two decades.https://hdcentre.org/insights/the-oslo-forum-at-20-a-visual-journey-of-mediation-and-peacemaking/