Raymond Saner, Lichia Yiu; (2002) External Stakeholder Impacts on Official and Non-Official Third-Party Interventions to Resolve Malignant Conflicts: The case of a failed intervention in Cyprus; CSEND, Geneva and shorter version in International Negotiations”, 6,3, 2001 ed. William Zartman

This paper focuses on the potentially positive and negative impact which multiple and competing external stakeholders (influential foreign powers, supranational institutions, intergovernmental organizations and NGOs from various countries) can have on official and non-official third-party peace building initiatives. The example selected in this article describes a Swiss NGO initiated inter-communal project on Cyprus. It analyzes the causes, primarily by external and to a lesser degree by internal stakeholders, which have negatively impacted this confidence-building project. The article is descriptive and narrative due to the fact that access to confidential information of key stakeholder governments and institutions remains limited. The aim of the authors is to use field experience to further develop theory and practice of official and non-official third-party intervention in a context of a persistent and malignant conflict characterized by multi-external stakeholder interferences, as is the case with the long-lasting conflict on Cyprus.

Saner, R; “ Science Diplomacy to support global implementation of the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs)”. Policy Brief written for the first edition of the Global Sustainable Development Report of the UN-DESA, page 39.

Trade in education is debated between market liberalizers and protectionists and is played out within countries and their different stakeholders, for example between government ministries (e.g. ministry of trade versus ministry of education) and between government and the private sector (privately owned schools versus publically run schools). A balance needs to be struck between consumer protection and the rights of governments to pursue high quality education without falling into the trap of closing market access to foreign education service providers.

As nuclear negotiations conclude and an opening to Iran’s market looms, Western companies with interests in investing in Iran need to prepare their entry strategies carefully. Beyond normal business considerations, Western companies may face challenges with obstacles emanating from outside of their direct sphere of control. To plan beyond “business as usual,” this article proposes that they consider applying thecompetencies of Business Diplomacy Management. After so many years of strained international relations, foreign companies  need to understand that Iran comes with a history fraught with political tensions that may impede business as usual. A British and American backed coup forcefully removed the democratically elected Mossadegh in 1953 to reinstall the Pahlavi Shah, who was himself subsequently removed in the Islamic revolution in 1979. Since then relations between the new Islamic Republic of Iran and Western countries have been frosty. The recent JCPOA agreement must be understood within this context.