Tribune News Network
Doha
High-stakes international conflicts don’t just get resolved on their own – most are settled through a grueling process of give-and-take, usually behind closed doors. On the second season of the podcast ‘The Negotiators’, which launched on September 27, Qatar Foundation’s Doha Debates once again teams up with global affairs publication Foreign Policy to put listeners inside the high-stakes negotiation room.
Hosted by Foreign Policy Deputy Editor Jenn Williams, formerly Senior Foreign Editor at Vox, each episode will feature a mediator, diplomat or troubleshooter describing one dramatic negotiation.
During the second season of ‘The Negotiators’, listeners will hear about a nuclear arms deal with Russia, reparations for Indigenous communities in Canada, a hostage release negotiated by the hostage himself, and much more: successes and failures that shaped people’s lives.
The season begins with a two-part episode featuring Mickey Bergman, Vice President and Executive Director of the Richardson Center for Global Engagement, who describes the turbulent negotiation to release American journalist Danny Fenster from Myanmar in November 2021.
Working alongside former governor of New Mexico Bill Richardson, Bergman was able to negotiate beyond the boundaries of state and government capacity and authority. He was part of the team that helped to free Fenster, who became a pawn in the difficult relationship between Myanmar generals and the Biden administration in the US.
Other episodes in the new season of ‘The Negotiators’ will take a look at a new program in Burkina Faso that supports local communities engaged in reconciliation talks with jihadists, and peace talks in Norway about the Libyan conflict, with original reporting on the ground.
Amjad Atallah, managing director of Doha Debates, said: “Doha Debates is honoured to partner once again with Foreign Policy to share incredible conversations with expert negotiators who navigated high-stakes situations where lives, human rights, and national interests hung in the balance. Amid the global rise in political and social polarization, we can learn from these problem-solvers who, often in secret and under immense pressure, were able to deftly bridge divides and resolve conflicts.”
Listen to “The Negotiators” at DohaDebates.com/podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts.
