The Middle East Peace and Security Forum and Wilton Park convened a workshop titled Prospects for Peace: Mediation, Justice & Security in the Middle East on the sidelines of the Middle East Peace and Security Forum 2024 at the American University of Kurdistan. This workshop brought together an expert cast of participants to address the paradox of peace and justice, drawing on the focus and title of the annual forum. Although justice and peace are often assumed to go hand in hand, they can also be mutually exclusive; striving for justice after a period of conflict can risk re-igniting violence as perpetrators resist accountability; promoting stability at all costs can create a “negative peace”, allowing grievances to develop and future conflicts emerge.    

This paradox could be seen in the many cyclical conflicts in the region, in which communities pursued violence out of a sense of grievance for previous injustice. Our workshop focused on the role of justice –– and justice withheld –– as a key issue affecting peace and security in the region. We examined the relationship between justice and peace, security and mediation in the region, the role of justice in peacebuilding and conflict-prevention measures, among other inter-connected thematic issues and questions.