Today, a radical shift has occurred; European and Western actors are increasingly marginalised, while mediators are emerging from the Middle East, Asia and the Global South

Throughout significant portions of the 20th century, peace processes and conflict resolutions across the globe were generally understood to occur within European contexts or mediated by Western actors. Significant examples are the Geneva Accords (1988) over Afghanistan and the Oslo Accords (1993) between Israel and the PLO that involved top-secret but protracted negotiations hosted by Norway. These exemplified the role of small, neutral European countries in negotiating some of the most intractable conflicts.

Switzerland was an ever-present presence in formal engagement, as it has a long tradition of neutrality and ha

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