Pérez de Cuéllar and Rafeeuddin Ahmed: two UN diplomats amongst many international players, who worked on the Cambodia peace process for a decade in the distant 1980s. They toiled on different diplomatic formulas, including one that culminated in success in Paris in 1991. A 🧵
In writing my paper: "When Great Powers Behave: Mediation Lessons from the Cambodia Peace Process" - thanks @hdcentre + @nupinytt - I wanted to examine a complex, multi-actor and -phased peace process, grounded in some form of the practice of applied history.
Most of all I wanted to look at it from today's vantage point. The soi-disant Cold War (never cold for many but regulated perhaps) is over. The post-Cold War era of ambition, hubris and intervention is also over. We have today a frightening mix of the previous two eras and more.
Cambodia was the battleground of the Great Powers - in different ways. But as the tectonic plates shifted in the 1980s, with the USSR, China and US deciding to pursue their state interests differently, there was much activity - and conferencing - at the UN.
The International Conference on Kampuchea of the 80s, the Jakarta Informal Meetings (initially dubbed the "cocktail party") of the later 80s, and the 1st Paris Peace Conference (1989) were ultimately useful affairs, even when deemed frustrating.
#diplomacy
The UN, ASEAN, OIC, NAM served as venues for diplomatic jostling as the war, genocide, invasion, occupation and war hit Cambodia. But times were changing - and the UN SG tried to get into the action, to paraphrase the words of a young Hédi Annabi, an assistant to Ahmed.
The 1st Paris Peace Conference of 1989, a solid effort of French diplomacy under François Mitterand and the dexterous Claude Martin, got all the Cambodian parties to the table but failed. Nonetheless all the ideas - as happens at failed conferences and in mediation - were there.
With glasnost, perestroika and talk of a new era in the air, the US + USSR confer. As do China and Vietnam, secretly. An overall deal on Cambodia emerges (but requires commitments on other files, like Afghanistan). The P5 help - with meetings in 1990-1 alternately in NYC + Paris.
From the P5, ably supported by a small UN team led by Ahmed and with the guidance of Perez de Cuéllar, emerges the deal that turns into the Paris Peace Accords on Cambodia of 1991.
The role of Indonesia's Ali Alatas, with ASEAN, was critical. Indonesia kept the process known as the Jakarta informal talks (JIM) going and gave an Asian steer and role steer to the process. Ideas from Australia (Gareth Evans) were critical too.
Success has many fathers. In the Cambodia peace process, and for mediators today, there is much to mine. A messy, complex, often stalemated process produced results - mainly because the Cold War was dying. But the lessons of history are still salient for mediation today. 👇
In short (you'll have to read the paper to get more):
First, the international community and great powers can find unity and agreement despite and sometimes because of divergent interests.
Second, the absence of a lead mediator is not necessarily a problem + can be an advantage.
Third, a formal mandate for a mediator is not necessarily an advantage. Political space and distance from the power games and deals of others can be a necessity or a rare luxury.
Fourth, quite, patient planning and preparation away from the spotlight helps.
Fifth, the way linkages between countries and conflicts are handled matters.
Sixth, mediators as well as their skill and resources matter.
Seventh, small is beautiful - in mediation teams.
Last but not least, human rights are and must be central to mediation and peace agreements.
A note on inclusion. As the photos show, it was all men, elite men at that, running the process. It is not hard to imagine that implementation of the Accords would have gone differently and probably better had the process been more inclusive.
Photo credits:
1. Nationaal Archief & Spaarnestad Photo
2./3./5. UN Photo
4. VOA
6. Getty Images
7. AFP/APA Picture desk
8./11. Phnom Penh Post
9. Unknown
10. Sydney Morning Herald
END/.
Share this Scrolly Tale with your friends.
A Scrolly Tale is a new way to read Twitter threads with a more visually immersive experience.
Discover more beautiful Scrolly Tales like this.