The Mediator's Studio

Staffan de Mistura, veteran UN diplomat and currently the UN Secretary-General’s Personal Envoy for Western Sahara, shares insights from a career spanning more than fifty years, twenty-one missions, and service under four UN Secretaries-General. From humanitarian beginnings to senior political roles in Lebanon, Iraq, Afghanistan, and Syria, de Mistura has been at the heart of some of the world’s m...

Recorded in November 2025, Dr Majed Mohammed Al-Ansari, advisor to the Prime Minister of Qatar and spokesperson for the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, shares first-hand experience from the front lines of mediating today’s most brutal and entrenched conflicts. From Gaza to the Democratic Republic of Congo and the Russia–Ukraine war, Qatar has found itself at the table in crises where dialogue can fee...

The fourth President of Kenya, Uhuru Kenyatta, shares his unique perspectives on mediation efforts both during his tenure as head of state and within regional peace initiatives, including in Eastern DRC and Ethiopia’s Tigray region. He highlights the challenges posed by frequent changes in mediators and the importance of collaboration to build on prior progress and address root causes. As the son...

Born to a Palestinian father and a Jewish mother, Clare Hajaj grew up with an intimate understanding of how deeply divided narratives can shape lives—and conflicts. Now Executive Director of Inter Mediate, she works behind the scenes to support dialogue in some of the world’s most protracted crises. She explains how each negotiation builds on past failures and shares insights from working with pol...

Egyptian diplomat Nazih Elnaggary shares hard-won lessons from a career bridging fault lines across the Middle East—and now between Russia and the West. He recounts brokering compromises among Syrian opposition groups in Cairo during the early years of Syria’s civil war, and mediating political tensions in Lebanon to help form a government. Now Egypt’s Ambassador to Russia, Elnaggary explains how...

Former South Korean Foreign Minister Kyung-wha Kang reflects on the power of diplomacy in efforts toward peace on the Korean Peninsula. From her early days as a translator for President Kim Dae-jung to leading inter-Korean talks as Foreign Minister, she shares rare insights into moments of breakthrough—and breakdown. She recalls the emotional highs of North and South marching under one flag at the...

UN Special Envoy for Yemen, Hans Grundberg pulls back the curtain on high-stakes mediation efforts in Yemen. He takes us inside tense negotiations in a frosty castle near Stockholm, recounts how he juggles the competing interests of international players at the UN Security Council, and explains how he steers through mounting regional crises. Grundberg also underscores the strength of behind-the-sc...

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 conversati...

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 a...

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 a...

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...

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...

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 oth...

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...

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 media...

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...

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 b...

Climate mediator Nisreen Elsaim joins Adam Cooper to explore the intersection of activism and peacemaking. She recounts her role in the student uprisings that preceded the 2019 revolution in Sudan and reflects on how a shooting on campus changed her life. Now a self-confessed “climatolic,” she argues that climate mediation is crucial for conflict prevention, and looks ahead to a time when future g...

Karim A. A. Khan KC, Prosecutor of the International Criminal Court (ICC), reflects on his path leading to joining the International Criminal Tribunal for the former Yugoslavia (ICTY) in 1997 and, more recently the ICC. He shares the intricacies and dilemmas faced by the ICC in grappling with the scope of international law. He articulates his vision for the future of the ICC as an institution capa...

Monica Juma, National Security Advisor to the President of Kenya, reflects on her extensive career in government and shares the lessons she has learned about peacemaking. She explains the challenges that the conflict in Sudan presents to mediators. She also discusses Kenya’s role in ending the Tigray crisis in Ethiopia. Additionally, she reflects on how meeting victims of the 2013 Westgate Mall at...

Senior Qatari diplomat Mutlaq Al-Qahtani recalls his role in the 2020 Doha Agreement between the US and the Taliban, leading to the US withdrawal from Afghanistan. He reflects on his visit to Kabul in 2021 as the Taliban closed in on the city, sharing insights into his involvement in evacuating people and narrowly avoiding a bomb blast at the Kabul airport. Al Qahtani sheds light on his motiv...

Welcome to Season 5 of The Mediator's Studio podcast. This special season marks the 20th anniversary of the Oslo Forum in 2023 – and its importance as the place where peacemakers meet. Over seven episodes – most of them recorded at this year’s Oslo Forum retreat – we delve into deep conversations with prominent mediators on what it takes to make peace. Because we sat down in June 2023, the intervi...

Journalist Ghaith Abdul Ahad reflects on 20 years of reporting from conflict areas including Yemen and Afghanistan. Recalling the 2003 US invasion of Iraq that made him leave his former career as an architect, he reveals how he once talked his way into Saddam Hussein’s palace and what it’s like to sit across the table from people who committed atrocities. He also reflects on the challenges of medi...

EU Special Representative for the Horn of Africa, Annette Weber, provides us with a front-row perspective on her decades-long work in the region, beginning with her time as a young researcher writing about female combatants in South Sudan and Eritrea. She reveals why she still gets goose bumps when thinking about the recent revolution in Sudan, and discusses what it’s like to sit down in the eveni...

Former President of Mozambique Joaquim Chissano charts his journey from freedom fighter to head of state. He discusses his role in securing Mozambique’s independence from colonial rule and reveals why he did not want to become president after his predecessor’s sudden death in 1986. As a peacemaker, he reflects on how he convinced the Mozambican people to reconcile with former RENAMO fighters after...