Columbia International Affairs Online: Working Papers

CIAO DATE: 11/2012

A Good Office? Twenty Years of UN Mediation in Myanmar

Anna Magnusson, Morten B. Pedersen

November 2012

International Peace Institute

Abstract

This 100+-page report tells the story of UN mediation efforts in Myanmar through the lens of four special envoys: Alvaro de Soto, Razali Ismail, Ibrahim Gambari, and Vijay Nambiar. It examines the various strategies and achievements over the past 20 years and provides lessons for Myanmar and, more broadly, for the Secretary-General’s good offices in other regions of the world. The report argues that the conditions for success or failure lie in the readiness of the parties for conflict resolution, the scope of the mandate, the clarity of objectives, the impartiality of the mediator, and the presence or absence of strong leadership from the Secretary-General himself.