Ted Feifer and Mary Hope Schwoebel delivered two one-day workshops on negotiations and mediation in peacekeeping operations to 150 international stability police officers at the Center of Excellence for Stability Police Units (CoESPU), in Vicenza, Italy, on October 15-16, 2008.  This included 54 students in the High Level Course and 96 in the Middle Management Course.  The Center is run by the Italian Carabinieri and has a U.S. Army deputy commandant.  Workshop participants came from Cameroon, Egypt, India, Indonesia, Jordan, Kenya, Mali, Nepal, Nigeria, Pakistan, Senegal, Serbia and Ukraine. 

Workshop content included negotiation, small group analysis of conflict situations, mediation, and a practical exercise applying mediation skills in a peacekeeping environment.  CoESPU has requested that USIP return to repeat its course of instruction for every cohort that passes through the school.

Participants in the High Level Course described the training as very useful, clear, comprehensive, and interesting.  One participant noted that the course provided considerable information on negotiation and mediation in the time available.  Another described the program as very important and useful to the attendees, as it will help them tackle complicated matters in the field.  Participants in the Middle Management Course stated in their evaluations that the workshop strengthened their confidence in engaging in negotiation and mediation, would be useful in the field, and helpful in solving problems in the future.  One summed up the view of many by observing that the negotiation and mediation toolkits would be useful in many contexts.