Defining Mediation
"Mediation is best thought of as a mode of negotiation in which a third party helps the parties find a solution which they cannot find by themselves."(Zartman & Touval, 1996, p. 446--reserve reading).

Key Features of International Mediation

Third parties mediate based on their own self-interest

Nation-States (i.e., a country)

• States are motivated to mediate by both defensive and offensive interests.
• Defensive interests include promoting international stability, and protecting the mediating nation's foreign interests.
• A nation may mediate a conflict in order to prevent rival powers from intervening and expanding their influence.
• A nation may be concerned about being drawn into an escalating conflict, and therefore seeks to mediate it.
• A nation may mediate in order to gain international prestige.
• Nations as mediators often have preferences for particular outcomes.   In other words, they are not likely neutral or impartial about the issues and the situation.

• NGOs are often motivated to mediate by a desire for peace.  Peacekeeping may be part of their mission.
• NGOs may also be motivated by an interest in maintaining opr enhancing their reputations.
• An NGO may be viewed by disputants as an advocacy organization.

• IGOs are influenced by the policies and interests of their member states.
• An IGO generally mediates between itsd organizational members.
• Mediation may be writen into the charter and by-laws of the IGO.

• Mediators assist communication between the parties by carrying messages and helping the parties to understand the messages conveyed, particularly in the dispute's early stages.
• Mediators can act as formulators. Parties may turn to the mediator to provide a formula for negotiations, that is, a "common understanding of the problem and its solution or a shared notion of justice to govern an outcome" (p. 454).  This formula may appear as a single negotiating text.
• Mediators may manipulate the parties by using leverage to bring them to an agreement.

• Persuasion, the ability to revise parties perceptions of the risks and costs of conflict and the feasibility and desirability of settlement.
• The ability to extract an attractive proposal out of each side in negotiations.
• A threat to withdraw from negotiations. Such threats assume that the parties still believe that mediated negotiations offer the best likelihood of the most favorable outcome.
• Sanctions may be imposed to worsen one or both parties' situation, thereby increasing their motivation to settle.
• Incentives to settle may be presented to one or more partiers (rewards) if  relevant resources are available.

NGOs typically provide relief and development services.
NGOs may be able foster peace through conflict prevention
NGOs can assess situations and provide early warnings of possible conflicts.
NGOs can offer conflict resolution training and capacity building.

According to Aall (1996, reserve reasing packet), NGOs should consider engaging more directly in conflict resolution activities when four conditions are met.

• The NGO must be very familiar with the country, issues, and participants in the conflict.
• The NGO should have indigenous partners.
• The NGO staff must be well grounded in conflict resolution skills and knowledge.
• NGO workers must understand and accept the personal risk they run in attempting to intervene directly in the conflict.