Conflict and the Challenge of Mediation in Southeast Asia

IPA welcomed Surin Pitsuwan and Martin Griffiths who discussed emerging approaches to conflict mediation in Southeast Asia.

At present, there are no formal regional mechanisms to resolve conflicts in the region and no consensus on external involvement in conflict mediation. Principles of state sovereignty and non-interference are largely held to be absolute. The ASEAN Regional Forum (ARF) could be seen as a potential mechanism for conflict mediation, but there seems, at present, little support for the ARF to play a more active conflict prevention or mediation role. At the same time, there are important lessons to be learned, both from recent and successful conflict resolution in Southeast Asia and from ongoing challenges.

We were lucky to have not only Surin Pitsuwan, the former Foreign Minister of Thailand, and Martin Griffiths, Director, Centre for Humanitarian Dialogue, but also Thant Myint-U, Visitng Senior Fellow, International Peace Academy on our panel. Terje Rød-Larsen, IPA’s President, served as Chair.