Important Stuff to Know About - The Diplomatic Toolkit: Mediation

A Steady State Firepit Discussion Publication | by Charles A. Ray

How Not to Do Diplomacy: A Manual for a Muddled Mediator

If you represent a powerful country, one of the things you’ll frequently be called upon to do is mediate disputes between or among other, often weaker countries. Just in case you haven’t been listening, mediation is a voluntary, confidential process where a neutral third party helps conflicting parties communicate and reach a mutually acceptable agreement. That, at least, is how the namby-pamby types who are all about feelings define it. A better definition for all you budding non-diplomatic diplomats is that it’s a process where a strong third party inserts itself into a dispute and twists arms until an agreement that it desires is reached.

In our world of transactional, big-stick, loud-talk diplomacy, the following are essential traits for those who wish to succeed.

• Show strength. When the parties to a mediation show up, show them right away that you’re in charge, and they will do things your way, or they can hit the bricks.

• The boundaries of your behavior are for you to decide. Your opinion is actually the only thing that matters.

• If things don’t go the way you want right away, pull out.

• Figure out who has the best case and throw your support to them in the mediation process.

• If the side you support presents a weak case, dump them. This is a good way to keep all sides on their toes. The same thing goes when you’ve gotten what you want from the mediation.

• Tell everyone up front what you want to see happen in the mediation. This puts all parties on notice as to what your position is.

If you can’t avoid being assigned to do a mediation, these traits should help to reach a speedy conclusion. However, if things drag on or go off the rails despite your best efforts, find some other issue that is more media-worthy to divert the public’s attention. If all that fails, well, you can at least say you gave it your best effort.

Charles A. Ray spent 20 years in the U.S. Army with two tours in Vietnam. He retired as a senior US diplomat, serving 30 years in the U.S. Foreign Service, with assignments as ambassador to the Kingdom of Cambodia and the Republic of Zimbabwe, and was the first American consul general in Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam. He also served in senior positions with the Department of Defense and is a member of The Steady State.

Founded in 2016, The Steady State is a nonpartisan, nonprofit 501(c)(4) organization of more than 290 former senior national security professionals. Our membership includes former officials from the CIA, FBI, Department of State, Department of Defense, and Department of Homeland Security. Drawing on deep expertise across national security disciplines, including intelligence, diplomacy, military affairs, and law, we advocate for constitutional democracy, the rule of law, and the preservation of America’s national security institutions.