(Originally posted at the Crisis Negotiator Blog)

Crisis and hostage negotiator's are involved in situations that are tense, stressful, and anxiety-filled.  In order to try to reduce the overwhelming emotions being experienced by the person they are trying to help, the negotiator's tone of voice is an important tool that can help move the conversation toward a…

(From Time.com) Robin Dreeke is head of the FBI’s Counterintelligence Behavioral Analysis Program.

In his book It’s Not All About “Me”: The Top Ten Techniques for…

From Mediate.com

by Giuseppe de Palo, Christian Radu Chereji, Constantin-Adi Gavrila

The above three authors recently wrote a fairly in-depth response to Adi Gavrila's article titled "What Went Wrong With Mediation." …

I recently gave a presentation at Columbia University Conference on 10 Mistakes Law Enforcement Hostage and Crisis Negotiators Have Made & How You Can Avoid Them.

Grounded in research, the presentation also offers methods these negotiators…

Originally posted at the Crisis Negotiator Blog

Former U.S. Ambassador to the United Nations Bill Richardson has quite the reputation for brokering deals with thugs. Here's how he does it.…

Build a golden-what?



What does a bridge, no less a 'golden' one, have to do with mediation and negotiation? Well, the term is from William Ury's book, Getting Past No [here at Amazon and many others].…

Watch this TEDx Boston event featuring peace and conflict resolution promoter, Farah Pandith.  She is also the first ever US Department of State Special Representative to Muslim Communities. She talks about the global Muslim youth community, perspectives, and particularly the diversity of what it means to be Muslim. 

She mentions where do you young people (young Muslims in the examples she provides) go for answers? Often, it is the Internet and it provides an opportunity for…

First, before anyone goes on the attack against me, this is not my title or my article. I came across it at USnews.com.  Have a read of the snippet below.  Thoughts?

No man would ever say – at least in print or mixed company – that women are bad at negotiating for money and power…

"...Public diplomacy is critical in extending civilian-military power. It combines soft and hard power to make the kind of “smart power” that is necessary to succeed." 

-Tara Sonenshine, U.S. Under Secretary for Public Diplomacy…

Mediation and nonverbal communication are two terms, and those who know me can vouch for it, that I have been using non-stop for the past two years as both are the core focus areas of my PhD research topic at Griffith University Law School. 

Empathy is the Secret Weapon



Having the ability to combat hate requires skills that are also necessary of mediators and other conflict professionals.  One such skill is…

To all of the mediators who believe in transparency, take a look at this short clip and let me know if being transparent is always good.  Enjoy  :)

Did you know the UN has a site dedicated to peacemaking?

They also have a mediation response team always on standby ready and able to help when called upon.  

From the site:

STANDBY TEAM

Established in 2008, the Standby Team is a group of full-time mediation experts that can be rapidly deployed to provide technical advice to United Nation’s officials and others leading mediation and conflict…

It was very interesting to see Edinburgh, Scotland is trying to market itself as the global location for people to visit to resolve their conflicts.  Sure, one might think of New York City, Paris, or Geneva, but why not?

from the article:

KEY players from opposing sides in conflicts around the world would be brought together in Edinburgh under a plan to make the Capital a location of choice for peace talks.

Caucus Saves The NHL Season!

The value of caucusing was on full display as it played a critical role in resolving the NHL…