"Working in the Middle East conflict teaches humility above all."
The German Ambassador to Israel, Steffen Seibert, in conversation with Prof. Dr. Lars Kirchhoff
On the occasion of the awarding of the Socrates and Science Prize by Otto-Schmidt Verlag, the team of the Institute for Conflict Management at Viadrina dedicated a series of interviews to the topic of turning points and mediation. The talks focused on the impacts of various transformation processes – Russia's war of aggression, climate change and the paradigm shift in artificial intelligence – on the field of mediation. Guests included Steffen Seibert (German Ambassador to Israel), Dr. Martin Wählisch (Head of the Innovation Team at the UN Department of Political Affairs and Peacebuilding (UN DPPA) in New York), Prof. Dr. Stephan Breidenbach and Lea Nesselhauf (German Zero) as well as Dr. Antje Herrberg (Chief of Staff of an EU anti-terrorism mission in the Sahel).
In his conversation with Lars Kirchhoff from the Institute for Conflict Management at the Viadrina, Steffen Seibert classifies the term "Zeitenwende" in the category of German words that are also known and used in other languages. The new security policy paradigm in Germany is often used abroad with a certain undertone, implying Germany has finally arrived in the same reality as others. The cut that this concept marks is drastic – on a personal level all the way up to the international peace order. The emphasis on the military is a considerable internal change for the Germans, but necessary regarding the preservation of Ukraine's sovereignty. At the same time, Germany needs and wants to remain a peace power. Humanitarian aid and the reception of refugees should therefore be carried out with the same commitment as military support. At present, Steffen Seibert said, it is not foreseeable when mediation might take place – under no circumstances should mediation ignore the question of guilt, which in this constellation is as clear as it rarely is in international conflicts.
As a participant in the UN High Level Mediation course and various coaching sessions on mediation methodology by the Federal Foreign Office, Seibert is intimately familiar with the topic of mediation. When asked to what extent this knowledge is integrated into his everyday life as ambassador in Tel Aviv he smiles: "Well, there's a world of difference between the UN seminar on mediation [...] and my everyday life as an ambassador here." Particularly relevant, though, is the concept of a "mutually hurting stalemate”. Although there is a stalemate in which the conflict has been for some time, he perceives the majority of people on the Israeli side feeling that the conflict is bearable and seeing no option beyond achieving the current status quo with the Palestinian side. Israeli youth in particular, who have grown up in this conflict, see it as a given reality and feel no urgency for a real peace process.
In the interview, Seibert then analyzes a current, comprehensive approach to the settlement of the Middle East conflict – the Holy Land Confederation published in March 2023 – as an important and good impulse. Seibert, however, calls for realism: "I don't want to be too negative, but at least I don't see where that would be tied to currently influential political actors." Currently, there are no political supporters for an active approach to the problem of the Middle East conflict. Rather, it is possible to talk with a modest technical objective and work on clearly defined topics and issues. The explicit exclusion of major political issues surrounding the conflict enables progress to be made in defined thematic contexts – e.g. an improvement in the occupational health and safety of Palestinian construction workers, which had been discussed between Israeli and Palestinian trade unionists in the German embassy. All this underlines the fact that modesty and pragmatism are currently at the center of the work, rather than the search for the big hit.
The twelve-minute German-speaking interview with Steffen Seibert can be watched here:
On the occasion of the awarding of the Socrates and Science Prize by Otto-Schmidt Verlag, the team of the Institute for Conflict Management at Viadrina dedicated a series of interviews to the topic of turning points and mediation. The talks focused on the impacts of various transformation processes – Russia's war of aggression, climate change and the paradigm shift in artificial intelligence – on the field of mediation. Guests included Steffen Seibert (German Ambassador to Israel), Dr. Martin Wählisch (Head of the Innovation Team at the UN Department of Political Affairs and Peacebuilding (UN DPPA) in New York), Prof. Dr. Stephan Breidenbach and Lea Nesselhauf (German Zero) as well as Dr. Antje Herrberg (Chief of Staff of an EU anti-terrorism mission in the Sahel).
In his conversation with Lars Kirchhoff from the Institute for Conflict Management at the Viadrina, Steffen Seibert classifies the term "Zeitenwende" in the category of German words that are also known and used in other languages. The new security policy paradigm in Germany is often used abroad with a certain undertone, implying Germany has finally arrived in the same reality as others. The cut that this concept marks is drastic – on a personal level all the way up to the international peace order. The emphasis on the military is a considerable internal change for the Germans, but necessary regarding the preservation of Ukraine's sovereignty. At the same time, Germany needs and wants to remain a peace power. Humanitarian aid and the reception of refugees should therefore be carried out with the same commitment as military support. At present, Steffen Seibert said, it is not foreseeable when mediation might take place – under no circumstances should mediation ignore the question of guilt, which in this constellation is as clear as it rarely is in international conflicts.
As a participant in the UN High Level Mediation course and various coaching sessions on mediation methodology by the Federal Foreign Office, Seibert is intimately familiar with the topic of mediation. When asked to what extent this knowledge is integrated into his everyday life as ambassador in Tel Aviv he smiles: "Well, there's a world of difference between the UN seminar on mediation [...] and my everyday life as an ambassador here." Particularly relevant, though, is the concept of a "mutually hurting stalemate”. Although there is a stalemate in which the conflict has been for some time, he perceives the majority of people on the Israeli side feeling that the conflict is bearable and seeing no option beyond achieving the current status quo with the Palestinian side. Israeli youth in particular, who have grown up in this conflict, see it as a given reality and feel no urgency for a real peace process.
In the interview, Seibert then analyzes a current, comprehensive approach to the settlement of the Middle East conflict – the Holy Land Confederation published in March 2023 – as an important and good impulse. Seibert, however, calls for realism: "I don't want to be too negative, but at least I don't see where that would be tied to currently influential political actors." Currently, there are no political supporters for an active approach to the problem of the Middle East conflict. Rather, it is possible to talk with a modest technical objective and work on clearly defined topics and issues. The explicit exclusion of major political issues surrounding the conflict enables progress to be made in defined thematic contexts – e.g. an improvement in the occupational health and safety of Palestinian construction workers, which had been discussed between Israeli and Palestinian trade unionists in the German embassy. All this underlines the fact that modesty and pragmatism are currently at the center of the work, rather than the search for the big hit.
The twelve-minute German-speaking interview with Steffen Seibert can be watched here:
