The Mother of All Mediations

Thomas Friedman, the New York Times columnist, recently opined that what Iraq needs, now that U.S. and coalition forces are finally scheduled to pull out, is a “big, tough mediator” to help its various religious and ethnic groups live together without blowing each other up. (See article.) It might actually take a platoon of big tough mediators, but it is nice to see such a vote of confidence for the Mediation profession from a Pulitzer Prize-winning author and journalist.  There are organizations devoted to providing mediators for governments, businesses and non-governmental organizations around the world. For example, see IMI.  Regardless of who provides the mediators, they certainly have their work cut out for them. But it seems to be a worthwhile endeavor.  The Mother of All Mediations sounds much more civilized than the Mother of All Battles.