<h3 class="post-title subpt">Martti Ahtisaari discusses his life and work as a global peacemaker and the challenges that face peace negotiators in today’s conflict zones.</h3>

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<p><a href="http://theelders.org/martti-ahtisaari"><strong>Martti Ahtisaari</strong></a> discussed his life and work as a conflict mediator, in front of a live audience at London’s School of Oriental and African Studies (SOAS) on Wednesday 9 September to mark the publication in English of a new biography, <em>The Mediator</em>.</p>

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<p>“We need to find room for some decent place for refugees to live. We should have concentrated on a political solution… I still believe that has to be done.”</p>
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<p>Throughout his career he has helped resolve conflicts in Namibia, Aceh province in Indonesia, Kosovo and Northern Ireland. In 2000 he formed the <a href="http://www.cmi.fi/en/"><strong>Crisis Management Initiative</strong></a> (CMI) which continues his work and specialises in global conflict resolution and development issues.</p>

<p>The discussion was led by<a href="http://www.inter-mediate.org/jonathan_powell.html"><strong&gt; Jonathan Powell</strong></a>, Chief of Staff for Tony Blair from 1997-2007, chief negotiator in the Northern Irish peace talks and author of the recent book “Talking to Terrorists”. Jonathan Powell introduced Martti Ahtisaari as a “personal hero” and “a patient negotiator but one who takes the initiative.”</p>
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<em>Martti Ahtisaari and Jonathan Powell</em></p>

<p>Martti Ahtisaari started by talking about his own childhood experiences of being a refugee when his region of Finland was attacked by the Soviet Union in 1939.</p>

<p><em>“I very soon realised I would become an eternally displaced person because I could never return to where I was born because it was not part of my country. I have sympathy for those who have the same fate and in much more difficult circumstances,”</em> he said.</p>

<p><em>“It definitely influenced me because I thought we had suffered something wrong. If I could be of any use, I would try to use my own experience”</em> to promote compassion for refugees.</p>

<p>On the international and EU response, or lack thereof, in tackling the root causes of the current refugee crisis:</p>

<p><em>"We need to find room for some decent place for refugees to live. We should have concentrated on a political solution… I still believe that has to be done,”</em> he said.</p>

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<p>“I have to talk to those who have power and can make a difference. Those who can make peace”</p>
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<p>In his long career, Martti Ahtisaari has seen many instances of the international community and specifically leaders in Washington and Moscow putting aside their differences to achieve peace – notably in Namibia in the late 1980s and Kosovo in 1999 – and urged a similar striving now for consensus among all of the permanent members of the UN Security Council to bring peace to Syria.</p>

<p>Taking an overview, Martti Ahtisaari said that the key to being a successful mediator was not neutrality but being seen an “honest broker… both sides need to know what I stand for.”</p>
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<p>Asked whether this approach to mediation is possible in the age of ISIS and other violent extremists, he asserted:</p>

<p><em>“I have to talk to those who have power and can make a difference. Those who can make peace.”</em></p>

<p>Tackling ISIS means tackling their sources of funding and talking to any and all interlocutors in the region who could exert influence – especially Muslims who reject the fundamentalist distortion of their beliefs.</p>

<p><em>“The whole world is against [ISIS]. They are not representatives of the Muslim world.”</em></p>

<p>Martti Ahtisaari’s work in conflict mediation, peacebuilding and “speaking truth to power” has continued with The Elders, with whom he has visited <a href="http://theelders.org/article/elders-iran-encouraging-openness-and-trust…;, <a href="http://theelders.org/article/encouraging-progress-towards-peace-and-inc…; and <a href="http://theelders.org/article/encouraging-path-peace-sudan-and-south-sud… Sudan</strong></a> among other countries. The Elders were founded in 2007 by Nelson Mandela, hailed by Martti Ahtisaari as an enduring inspiration:</p>

<p><em>“Mandela was a special personality. He is one of the few individuals I have admired without any reservations.”</em></p>