The Roberta Buffett Institute's 2024–25 international diplomacy series culminated in our spring quarter symposium, Negotiating Peace in a Multipolar World: Lessons Learned, organized with Fundación Acordemos. This two-day event brought together diplomats, negotiators, and academics to discuss the high-profile peace processes of recent decades. Our aim was to draw lessons for future negotiations in a world confronting a crisis of multilateralism.
Although peace negotiations are often greeted with relief, they also represent a fork in the road. A badly-crafted agreement may be worse than no agreement at all. Rushed peace deals store up trouble for the future, fueling more intense and widening conflicts.
This symposium examined the successes and failures of past processes, analyzed key principles and strategies, and discussed the roles of various actors in achieving lasting and implementable peace agreements. The opening plenary session included: