Alumni Exclusive: Mediating Complex Actors – Strategies for Navigating High-Stakes Mediation

Ian joined the British Army in 1980 and spent 37 years in uniform, retiring in 2017. He spent most of his service in the Brigade of Gurkhas, including Commanding a Gurkha Infantry Battalion, as well as in operational staff roles at every level of Command, National, Coalition and Multinational. He has served on operations on the Hong Kong-Sino Border, the Falkland Islands (post-conflict), Northern Ireland, Belize, Bosnia, Afghanistan and Iraq.

He was the Regional Security Sector Advisor for the Centre for Humanitarian Dialogue Asia Regional Office and Myanmar Team from 10 July 2017 to 1st April 2022 working on the Myanmar Peace Process, engaging with multiple actors. He then became the Regional Advisor for HD Asia-Pacific, coordinating, mediating and facilitating specific projects on Humanitarian access and human security (particularly Myanmar), but also supporting HD’s wider efforts in South East Asia, including Thailand, Bangladesh and the Philippines, as well as providing security sector advice to HD’s team globally as required. He has taught mediation and negotiation and facilitated multiple dialogues during the last 7 years plus to many conflict parties throughout South East Asia and further afield, with another 15 years negotiation and mediation practical and teaching experience in the UK Armed Forces prior to that.

He holds Master’s Degrees in Defence Studies from King’s College, London (1995), and Strategic Studies from the US Army War College (2008). He is a member, facilitator and mentor for the Centre of Competence for Humanitarian Negotiation (CCHN), which is based in Geneva. He is also a Fellow of the Royal Geographical Society.