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DTSTART;VALUE=DATE:20250611
DTEND;VALUE=DATE:20250613
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UID:20003-1749600000-1749772799@www.confluxcenter.org
SUMMARY:“Negotiating in the Middle East” Advanced Virtual Training
DESCRIPTION:Two-Day Advanced Virtual Training with Alastair Crooke and Miloš Strugar\nNegotiating in the Middle East is challenging as it inevitably involves issues of culture\, identity and power. While only a small segment of dynamics are visible on the surface\, the powerful core of meaning lies in the depths of the collective psyche. From these depths comes perceptions of ourselves\, themselves and the other\, our and their moral and world views\, beliefs\, judgements and relationships. \nThis advanced virtual training course with Alastair Crooke and Miloš Strugar will cover suggested skills and techniques to better engage and negotiate in the Middle East. The training will consist of talks and facilitated discussions\, where they will share various styles\, cases and methods to approach topics and overcome difficulties in communicating with and understanding dynamics facing interlocutors based on their considerable experience with negotiating and facilitating dialogue and peace-building in diverse cultural settings in the Middle East. \n  \nAlastair Crooke is the Director of Conflicts Forum\, a geo-political and geo-financial consultancy\, and adviser to a number of large geo-financial entities. He was formerly advisor on Middle East issues to Javier Solana\, the EU Foreign Policy Chief. He was also a staff member of Senator George Mitchell’s Fact-Finding Committee that inquired into the causes of the second Intifada (2000-2001)\, and an adviser to the International Middle East Quartet. Mr. Crooke initiated a number of ceasefires in the Occupied Territories on behalf of the European Union\, and has 35 years of experience in working with Islamist movements in the Middle East\, Afghanistan and Pakistan. He is a regular media commentator on politics and geo-financial issues. Mr. Crooke is a member of Energy Intelligence’s Advisory Board\, and was formerly a member of UN Alliance of Civilizations Global Experts. \nMiloš Strugar is the Director of Conflux Center and UN Senior Mediation Adviser. He spent over twenty years as a high-ranking political officer with the United Nations in various peacekeeping and political missions in Africa\, Asia\, and the Middle East. He held positions of Senior Political Advisor in UNTSO (Jerusalem) for 5 years\, as well as Deputy Head of Mission and Director of Political and Civil Affairs in UNIFIL (Lebanon)\, for 11 years. Mr. Strugar has recently been assisting UN Special Envoys on the ceasefire agreement in Syria\, and leading the UN expert delegation at the Astana talks on the conflict in Syria. He has considerable experience with ceasefire and cessation of hostilities issues\, including facilitating discreet and open dialogue with non-state armed groups. He played a critical role in mediating cessation of hostilities between the Israeli Army and Hezballah in Southern Lebanon on many occasions\, as well as in establishing the tripartite forum comprised of UN\, Lebanese and Israeli Army. \n  \nThe virtual training will look into ways of approaching cross-cultural negotiations with a focus on the Middle East\, identifying suggested approaches for political negotiations and exploring various methods for addressing cross-cultural conflicts through dialogue and negotiations. \nThe participants will learn:\n\nSuggested ways to negotiate in Middle East cultural and political settings\nAn understanding of the role of local culture and values when interpreting behavior and actions\, and in meaning-making\nTo differentiate culture-driven negotiation styles and skills\nTo apply suggested communication skills and techniques in cross-cultural communication\nSuggested ways on how to open channels and create safe spaces for talks\nTo deal with obstacles\, sensitive points of controversy and difficult counterparts\nTo address political\, moral & legal challenges related to sanctions lists and regimes\, terrorist designations\, and anti-terrorism measures\n\n  \nThe program is designed for senior level United Nations staff\, diplomats\, those working in regional organizations such as the EU\, governments and non–governmental organizations\, as well as professionals in the private sector who are exploring opportunities to work with or in the Middle East. \n  \nThe training will take place from the 11th – 12th of June 2025\, from 09:00 – 12:30\, with two 15-minutes coffee breaks. \nThe specified times are in accordance with CEST (Central European Summer Time) / UTC+2 (Coordinated Universal Time) time zone. \nThe training will take place via the online platform Zoom. \nThe entire training will be held under the Chatham House rule\, and participants can request the right to remain anonymous during sessions. \nRecording of sessions is strictly prohibited. \nThe number of participants is limited. \nThe course will be conducted in English and translation is not provided. \n  \nRegistration is open until the 7th of June. \nThe course fee is 1\,000 USD. \nAPPLY NOW
URL:https://www.confluxcenter.org/event/negotiating-in-the-middle-east-advanced-virtual-training/
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DTSTART;VALUE=DATE:20260922
DTEND;VALUE=DATE:20260925
DTSTAMP:20260915T191149Z
CREATED:20260820T093839Z
LAST-MODIFIED:20260915T191149Z
UID:20151-1790035200-1790294399@www.confluxcenter.org
SUMMARY:“AI as a Tool in Conflict Resolution: Opportunities\, Risks\, & Lessons from Practice” Virtual Training Course
DESCRIPTION:“AI as a Tool in Conflict Resolution: Opportunities\, Risks\, and Lessons from Practice”\nVirtual Training Course\n1-2 hours per day from 22-24 September 2026\n  \nOrganizers:  \nConflux Center for Intercultural Dialogue and Mediation  \nin partnership with The Open Knowledge Foundation \n  \nIs AI an effective tool\, a security risk\, or a flawed advisor? With greater understanding of the inner workings of AI\, peace negotiators and political stability workers can assess when and how to use tools that include chatbots\, translation tools\, predictive analytics\, and more.  \nAI is impacting information ecosystems everywhere—including for information warfare—but it is far less obvious how it affects political and diplomatic dialogue\, and de-escalation and conflict resolution processes behind the scenes. \nThis course presents an opportunity to discuss the use of AI in a private setting\, supported by interdisciplinary experts from diverse cultural and professional backgrounds.  \n  \nThe objective is to enhance knowledge and skills to critically and responsibly use AI in support of conflict analysis\, prevention and resolution\, while centering human judgment\, cultural sensitivity\, analytical rigor\, and safeguards. \n  \nParticipants will understand more about how AI is built\, by whom\, and will gain practical skills on how to use it in the context of peace mediation and multistakeholder processes.  \nWe will explore how to critically assess AI-generated outputs\, recognize risks such as bias\, misinformation\, cultural misinterpretation\, and over-reliance on automated analysis. We also will discuss how to apply human judgment to ensure that AI is used responsibly. \n  \nThis program is designed for senior and mid-level staff members working in international organizations headquarters and field operations (UN\, AU\, OSCE\, EU\, etc.)\, and those working in governments\, non-governmental organizations and academic institutions. \n  \nBy the end of the course\, participants will be able to: \n\nIdentify practical opportunities and benefits for using AI tools to support conflict prevention and resolution.\n Critically assess AI-assisted tools and applications\, considering their reliability\, limitations\, and suitability for case specific contexts.\nIdentify key risks associated with AI use\, including bias\, misinformation\, hallucinations\, incomplete or distorted data\, privacy and security concerns\, and cultural and contextual misinterpretation.\nApply human judgment and critical thinking to question\, validate\, contextualize\, and\, where necessary\, discard AI-generated analysis.\nApply AI-assisted approaches to conflict analysis and stakeholder mapping\, while recognizing where AI-generated findings require verification\, contextualization\, and human interpretation.\nUse open-source information and AI-assisted analysis critically to examine political claims\, narratives\, and other conflict-relevant information.\nRecognize cultural\, political\, and contextual sensitivities that may not be adequately captured by AI systems.\nDevelop practical good practices for responsible AI use in the field\, including appropriate verification\, documentation\, source assessment\, confidentiality considerations\, and escalation when AI outputs may create significant risks.\nReflect on lessons from practice and identify appropriate ways to integrate AI into existing analytical and decision-making workflows without replacing professional expertise and accountability.\n\n  \nWe will meet for one short session daily over three days.  \nParticipants must be available to attend on all days: \nSept 22 | Tuesday\, 11:00–13:00 CEST/UTC+2  (2 hours) \nSept 23 | Wednesday\, 11:00–12:30 CEST/UTC+2  (1.5 hours) \nSept 24 | Thursday\, 11:00–12:30 CEST/UTC+2  (1.5 hours) \n  \nThe course is free of charge for all participants. \nThe courses will be conducted in English\, and will be held and recorded virtually via the Zoom software. \nParticipants are responsible for ensuring they are in possession of the basic necessary hardware\, software and connectivity to engage in online training activities.  \nNo coding or specialized technical knowledge is required for the course.  \nUpon completion of the course\, certificates of participation in PDF will be issued jointly by Conflux Center and The Open Knowledge Foundation. \n  \nNumber of participants is limited. \nRegistration is closed as of 15 September 2026. \n  \nFor further information about the course\, please contact us at: \noffice@confluxcenter.org  or  +381 63 7797498
URL:https://www.confluxcenter.org/event/ai-as-a-tool-in-conflict-resolution-opportunities-risks-lessons-from-practice-virtual-training-course/
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