Negotiating with the Devil w/ Pierre Hazan

To mark the publication of his book Negotiating with the Devil, Pierre Hazan will be joined by a panel of experts at KCL to discuss the ethical and legal quandaries involved in peace negotiations, and the changing role of such mediations in a constantly shifting world order.

Hazan will be joined on the panel by Anthony Dworkin, Professor Ruti Teitel and Marika Theros. The panel will be chaired by Dr Maria Varaki. This event is taking place in partnership with the European Council on Foreign Relations.

This event is taking place in partnership with the European Council on Foreign Relations.

About the book

After many years in the little-known world of back-channel mediation, helping sworn adversaries to prevent, manage or resolve conflict, Pierre Hazan felt compelled to re-examine the acute practical and ethical dilemmas that affected his work in Bosnia, Ukraine, the Sahel and the Central African Republic. What is the mediator’s responsibility when two belligerents conclude a peace agreement to the detriment of a third? Should mediators never be party to ‘ethnic cleansing’, even if it saves lives? Is a fragile peace worth sacrificing justice for—or will that sacrifice fuel another cycle of violence?

In an increasingly dystopian world, Negotiating with the Devil offers both practical guidelines and a moral compass for mediators whose field of action has transformed dramatically. We have gone from soft to hard power; from ‘peace dividends’ to war in Europe; from the end of one Cold War to a new East–West confrontation in Ukraine; from Pax Americana to a multipolar world; from the dream of an all-powerful UN to the organisation’s marginalisation.

Against this tapestry, Hazan sheds light on the complex work of those steering peace negotiations, blending vivid first-hand observation with sharp insights into the psychology of compromise as a first step towards peace.

About the speakers

Pierre Hazan

Pierre Hazan is a senior advisor with the Centre for Humanitarian Dialogue. Formerly a Harvard Law School fellow, United States Institute of Peace fellow and Libération diplomatic correspondent, he has advised NGOs, governments and armed groups on justice, amnesty, reparation, truth commissions, forced disappearances, international humanitarian law and human rights.

Anthony Dworkin

Anthony Dworkin is a senior policy fellow at the European Council on Foreign Relations, working on human rights, democracy, and international order. He has written on multilateralism in an era ofstrategic competition, the relationship of peace and justice, and legal policy questions in countering overseas terrorist groups. He has also closely followed developments in North Africa since 2011. He is a visiting lecturer in the programme on human rights and humanitarian affairs at the Paris School of International Affairs at Sciences Po, and was formerly executive director of the Crimes of War Project.

Professor Ruti Teitel

Professor Ruti Teitel is Ernst C. Stiefel Professor of Comparative Law at New York Law School, where she is also Director of the Institute for Global Law, Justice, and Policy, and co-Director of the Centre for International Law. She has written widely on international law, transitional justice and human rights, including numerous books such as ‘Transitional Justice’ (2000), ‘Humanity’s Law’ (2012), and ‘Globalizing Transitional Justice’ (2014). She is a life member of the Council of Foreign Relations.

Marika Theros

Marika Theros, PhD is a policy fellow at LSE IDEAS conflict and civicness research group where she led their comparative work on local peace agreements across six conflict-affected countries and co-directed the Afghanistan Research Network. She is the director of the Civic Engagement Project (CEP) and a non-resident fellow at the Atlantic Council South Asia Center. She is also the co-founder of the Civic Ecosystems Initiative, a platform that explore the phenomenon of ‘civic ecosystems’ and their role in social innovation.

Chair Dr Maria Varaki

Dr Maria Varaki is a Lecturer in International Law at the War Studies Department, King’s College London, and co-director of the War Crimes Research Group. Before moving to London, she has held posts at the Erik Castren Institute of International Law and Human Rights in Helsinki, Kadir Has University in Istanbul, the Hebrew University in Jerusalem, and the iCourts Centre at the University of Copenhagen. Additionally, she has worked for the OHCHR in Geneva, the UNHCR in New York and the Legal Advisory section of the Office of the Prosecutor of the International Criminal Court in the Hague. Since November 2017, she is a member of the ILA Committee on Human Rights in times of emergency.