An article by Laurie Nathan and Joel Devonshire on "emotions in international mediation" has been accepted for publication in the International Journal of Conflict Management. Nathan is director of the Kroc Institute's mediation program, and Devonshire is a doctoral student of peace studies and psychology at the Kroc Institute and department of psychology.
The article critiques the rationalist theoretical framework of international mediation, which ignores emotions in analyzing the decision by conflict parties to pursue a negotiated settlement or continue fighting. Drawing on psychology research on emotions and conflict, the article presents an alternative framework that integrates emotions. It demonstrates the framework’s validity and value through a case study of the 2000 Camp David mediation to resolve the Israel-Palestine conflict. The framework highlights the challenge of designing and conducting mediation in a way that cultivates emotions favorable to a negotiated settlement and lessens emotions unfavorable to a settlement.
A seminar version of the article is available here.