Sir John Holmes is a former senior British diplomat who served as ambassador in Portugal and France, UN Under-Secretary-General for Humanitarian Affairs, and Director of the UK’s Ditchley Foundation. In this podcast he discusses the role of empathy in foreign policy-making, and explores the major challenges in putting empathy into practice. Sir John’s remarks were made at… Read more »
Matt Waldman
Claire Yorke is a non-resident Senior Fellow at the Atlantic Council and Doctoral Researcher at the Department of War Studies, King’s College London. In this podcast she discusses the concept of empathy and the diverse ways in which it features in theory. Her remarks were made at a CEIA expert consultation on empathy in foreign affairs… Read more »
Sir Sherard Cowper-Coles is a distinguished British diplomat who served as the UK’s ambassador in Israel, Saudi Arabia and Afghanistan. In this podcast he talks about the crucial role of empathy in diplomacy and how it could be institutionalised. His remarks were made at a CEIA expert consultation on empathy in foreign affairs hosted by… Read more »
John Alderdice is a member of the House of Lords and a Senior Fellow of Harris Manchester College, Oxford University. In this podcast he speaks about the role of psychology in conflict resolution, drawing on his first hand experience of the Northern Ireland peace process. Lord Alderdice made his remarks at a CEIA expert consultation on… Read more »
Chris Kolenda is a Senior Military Fellow at King’s College London and adjunct fellow at the Center for New American Security. In this podcast he explores the consequences of a lack of strategic empathy in the post-2001 intervention in Afghanistan. Chris made his remarks at a CEIA expert consultation on empathy in foreign affairs hosted by… Read more »
CEIA Associate Ellie Geranmayeh is an expert on Iran and Policy Fellow at European Council on Foreign Relations. In this podcast she explores the role of empathy in the relationship between key United States and Iranian officials. Her remarks were made at a CEIA expert consultation on empathy in foreign affairs hosted by Chatham House… Read more »
Professor Sir Lawrence Freedman discusses the relevance of empathy in understanding relations between the West and Russia regarding Ukraine.
Nawal Musleh-Motut is in the School of Communication at Simon Fraser University, Canada. In this Insight she describes her work on ‘witnessing’ between Israelis and Palestinians in relation to their respective national traumas, and argues empathy is a necessary but not sufficient element of this process.
Jonathan Steele is a former Chief Foreign Correspondent for the Guardian and the author of several books on international relations, including Iraq. In this Insight, he argues that if western officials had empathized with Iraqis they might have been able to anticipate many of the disastrous consequences of the 2003 intervention, govern far more effectively and avoid unnecessary bloodshed.
In collaboration with the United States Institute of Peace (USIP), CEIA held a consultation with 15 academics, experts and mediators in Washington DC on 14 March 2016. The critical role of empathy in resolving conflict was discussed, including the constraints and risks. Cases considered include Colombia, the Caucuses and the Israeli-Palestinian conflict. Views and insights are captured in our briefing paper: Empathy in Conflict Resolution: If, How and When.