ABSTRACT
Conflicts are interactions in which two or more actors see their goals as being mutually incompatible. Verbal actions represent the most passive form of conflict management and can be observed in various statements issued by third parties in which they urge the belligerents to end violence and resort to peaceful means in order to settle their dispute. The popularity of mediation as a method of conflict management can be traced back to its definitional characteristics. Mediation represents a form of ‘assisted negotiation,’ in which an external actor enters the peacemaking process in order to influence and alter the character of previous relations between the conflicting sides. Insights derived from domestic mediation are still fundamental to our understanding of international mediation and there is a great deal of overlap in the theoretical understanding of both dynamics. Mediators might also have close personal, political or economic relations with one of the disputants.
