Peace Through Dialogue

During our second presidency at the UN Security Council in its 2022-2023 mandate, Brazil organized a high-level debate on the experiences of prevention, mediation, and confidence-building developed by regional, sub-regional, and bilateral arrangements. Those experiences can inspire and create a positive feedback loop for improving the effectiveness of the Security Council. Examining the efforts at peaceful settlement of disputes that have been successful at the regional level can help the Council rediscover its own toolkit. The book you hold is both the result of this initiative and the beginning of a longer-term discussion on rethinking the Council’s role. We came to the end of our 2022-2023 mandate confident that what the Council needs is more diplomacy, not less. We also came away encouraged that there are many who share this view, as you will read in the pages of this book. And that there are many good examples and successful experiences to share and promote. We hope it will be valuable both to the Council in its current form and to efforts aimed at shaping a reformed Security Council capable of preventing the outbreak of wars, de-escalating ongoing conflicts, and fostering lasting political solutions that underscore the importance of diplomacy.