Listen to the Why: What Conflict Mediation Teaches Us About Every Hard Conversation
A story about stepping into rooms full of hatred, asking for weapons to be left at the door, and what 25 years of peacemaking reveals about the conversations we have every day.
Violent conflict is at its highest point in decades. Antje has spent more than two decades facilitating dialogue between adversaries in Tunisia, the DRC, Ukraine, Yemen, the Caucasus, Indonesia, and beyond — working alongside the EU and the UN. Her research focuses on the blind spots in conflict work: what gets overlooked precisely when the stakes are highest.
At its heart, mediation is an act of intercultural dialogue — the art of speaking and listening across the deepest human differences. True intercultural dialogue doesn't begin with technique; it begins with the willingness to be changed by what you hear. Antje has spent her career in that space, and what she's learned there applies far beyond the negotiation room.
She shares what it took to ask armed men to leave their weapons at the door. She talks about the early mistake of trying to take emotion out of a room — and what she learned when nobody called her back. And she maps three blind spots in peace work: the illusion of neutrality, the obsession with process over relationship, and the pressure to reach a solution before the dialogue has done its work.
Her two drops for the rest of us: peace doesn't start in a negotiation room — it starts in how we show up. And the next time someone says something that stings, ask not what they said, but why.
🔗 LINKS & RESOURCES Antje's podcast:
👤 ABOUT THE GUEST Antje Herrberg has spent over 25 years at the intersection of conflict mediation and political transition, facilitating dialogue between adversaries in some of the world's most complex conflicts. She has worked within and alongside the European Union and the United Nations, and her research focuses on the blind spots in conflict work — what gets overlooked in moments of tension and decision. She shares these insights through writing and her podcast, Masterpiece.
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The Hummingbird Collective is co-produced by the Caux Initiatives of Change Foundation, supported through Sarah Noble's participation in the Youth for Peace: UNESCO Intercultural Leadership Programme (2025–2026). Guests speak from their own experience and perspective, which may not reflect the views of the show or its partners.
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