What is the primary focus of the ICDDYCR-2026?

The conference focuses on exploring contemporary issues and innovative approaches in dialogue, diplomacy, and conflict resolution.

Who is the target audience for this conference?

The conference is designed for academics, researchers, and practitioners interested in international relations, peace studies, and conflict resolution.

International Conference on Dialogue, Diplomacy, and Conflict Resolution (ICDDYCR-2026)

Name: International Conference on Dialogue, Diplomacy, and Conflict Resolution (ICDDYCR-2026)
Start: 2026-08-12 00:00:00+00:00
End: 2026-08-13 00:00:00+00:00
Location: Abuja

Aug 12–13, 2026Abuja, NigeriaIn-person

Starts in 4 daysRegistration open

The International Conference on Dialogue, Diplomacy, and Conflict Resolution (ICDDYCR-2026) is set to convene in Abuja, Nigeria. This event will bring together academics, researchers, and practitioners to explore contemporary issues and innovative approaches in the fields of international relations, peace studies, and conflict resolution. The conference aims to foster a rich exchange of ideas, promoting deeper understanding and collaborative strategies for addressing global challenges. Participants will engage in discussions covering a broad spectrum of topics, from theoretical frameworks of diplomacy and dialogue to practical applications in conflict prevention and post-conflict reconstruction. The conference provides a platform for presenting research findings, sharing best practices, and networking with peers from diverse backgrounds, all contributing to the advancement of peaceful and diplomatic solutions worldwide.

Committees & topics

Topics
Dialogue as a Tool of International Relations · Diplomacy in the 21st Century · Conflict Resolution and the International System · Interdisciplinary Approaches to Peace and Security · Advancing the Sustainable Development Goals · Innovative Approaches to Dialogue in Conflict Resolution · The Role of Diplomacy in Global Conflict Management · Mediation Techniques in Complex Conflicts

Why it matters

In an increasingly interconnected and complex world, the principles of dialogue, diplomacy, and effective conflict resolution are more critical than ever. This conference offers a vital forum for dissecting the nuances of international disputes and exploring pathways to sustainable peace. The gathering in Abuja, NGA, underscores the global nature of these challenges and the necessity of inclusive, multi-perspective approaches.

The insights generated from this conference can significantly influence policy-making and practical interventions in regions affected by conflict. By bringing together diverse perspectives, the event facilitates the development of robust frameworks for understanding and mitigating tensions, ultimately contributing to global stability and cooperation. The emphasis on both theoretical rigor and practical application ensures that discussions are grounded in reality while pushing the boundaries of current understanding.

Furthermore, the conference's focus on dialogue highlights its role as a foundational element in diplomatic efforts. Effective dialogue can bridge divides, build trust, and lay the groundwork for lasting resolutions. The discussions will likely delve into various forms of dialogue, from official state-level negotiations to grassroots peacebuilding initiatives, offering a comprehensive view of its potential.

How to prepare

To maximize engagement and impact at the ICDDYCR-2026, prospective attendees should prepare by thoroughly researching the current geopolitical landscape, particularly as it pertains to the themes of dialogue, diplomacy, and conflict resolution. Understanding recent developments and ongoing challenges in various regions will allow for more informed participation in discussions and presentations.

Participants planning to present papers or lead sessions should ensure their work is rigorously researched and clearly articulates its contribution to the field. Framing research within the context of contemporary global issues will enhance its relevance and resonance with the audience. Engaging with lessons such as "Dynamic Analysis" and "Engagement Strategies" can provide a framework for developing impactful presentations and fostering meaningful dialogue with fellow participants.

Networking is a key component of such international gatherings. Attendees should be prepared to engage with a diverse group of scholars and practitioners, fostering connections that can lead to future collaborations and shared initiatives. Familiarity with the work of key figures and institutions in the field will facilitate more targeted and productive interactions.

Country perspectives

Where the most-relevant 5 countries stand on the core issues in play. Click through for the full country profile.

Nigeria

As the host nation, NGA is positioned to highlight regional conflict resolution efforts and the importance of local perspectives in global diplomatic initiatives.

Role in topic

NGA, as the host country, provides a crucial geographical context for discussions on conflict resolution, particularly given its significant role in regional peace and security efforts within Africa. Its experiences with internal and cross-border challenges offer valuable case studies for the conference's themes.

United States

The USA often emphasizes multilateral diplomacy and the role of international institutions in conflict resolution, advocating for democratic principles and human rights.

Role in topic

The USA plays a prominent role in global diplomacy and conflict resolution, often through its involvement in international organizations and its bilateral relations. Its perspective frequently centers on promoting stability, democracy, and addressing humanitarian crises, often through a combination of diplomatic pressure and aid.

China

CHN typically promotes a non-interference policy while advocating for economic development as a pathway to stability and peaceful resolution of disputes.

Role in topic

CHN's approach to diplomacy and conflict resolution often emphasizes non-interference in internal affairs and the importance of economic development as a foundation for peace. Its growing global influence means its perspectives on multilateralism and state sovereignty are key considerations.

Norway

NOR is renowned for its active role in facilitating peace talks and mediation efforts in various international conflicts, often employing 'quiet diplomacy'.

Role in topic

NOR has a long-standing reputation as a facilitator of peace processes and a proponent of 'Dag Hammarskjöld’s Quiet Diplomacy'. Its experiences in mediating complex conflicts offer practical insights into effective dialogue and negotiation strategies.

Switzerland

CHE maintains a tradition of neutrality and humanitarian diplomacy, often providing a neutral ground for peace negotiations and offering good offices.

Role in topic

CHE's historical neutrality and its role as a hub for international organizations make it a significant player in humanitarian diplomacy and conflict resolution. It often provides a neutral venue for sensitive negotiations and offers mediation services.

Topics & background

The background behind each topic and the actors that shape it.

Dialogue as a Tool of International Relations

Dialogue — the structured exchange of views between parties with differing interests — has been a foundational element of international relations since the Congress of Vienna in 1815 institutionalized regular communication between European powers. The 20th century expanded the concept beyond state-to-state contact through the League of Nations and, after 1945, the United Nations system, which embedded dialogue as a norm in Article 33 of the UN Charter. Cold War-era channels such as the Helsinki Process (1975) and the US-Soviet hotline demonstrated that even adversaries could institutionalize talking as an alternative to escalation. In the post-Cold War period, dialogue widened to include intercultural, interfaith, and Track II initiatives, with frameworks such as the UN Alliance of Civilizations (2005) and the Oslo back-channel model influencing peace processes from the Middle East to Colombia. Yet contemporary geopolitical fragmentation — including the war in Ukraine, US-China strategic competition, and breakdowns in arms control regimes — has narrowed the space for formal dialogue, even as informal and multi-stakeholder formats proliferate. Today the question is not whether dialogue matters, but how to sustain it under conditions of deep mistrust, disinformation, and domestic political pressures that punish engagement with adversaries. States are experimenting with hybrid formats that combine official diplomacy, civil society participation, and digital platforms.

Key players

Diplomacy in the 21st Century

Modern diplomacy traces its institutional form to the 1648 Peace of Westphalia and was codified in the 1961 Vienna Convention on Diplomatic Relations, which still governs the privileges, immunities, and conduct of diplomatic missions worldwide. For most of the 20th century, diplomacy was a state-monopolized practice conducted through resident embassies, multilateral organizations, and summit meetings. The end of the Cold War and the rise of globalization expanded its scope to include economic statecraft, public diplomacy, and engagement with non-state actors. The last decade has brought significant strain. The expulsion of diplomats has become a routine instrument of signaling — over 400 Russian diplomats were expelled by Western states after the 2022 invasion of Ukraine. Sanctions regimes, secondary tariffs, and export controls have blurred the line between diplomacy and coercion. Simultaneously, summit diplomacy at the G20, BRICS, and regional groupings such as ASEAN and the African Union has gained relative weight as UN Security Council deadlock persists. The contemporary debate centers on whether traditional diplomacy can adapt to digital communication, transnational threats such as cyber and climate, and a multipolar order in which middle powers play increasingly assertive roles. Reform of foreign services, protection of diplomatic premises in conflict zones, and the integrity of immunities under the Vienna Convention remain pressing concerns.

Key players

Conflict Resolution and the International System

Conflict resolution as a structured field emerged after World War II, drawing on the work of scholars such as Johan Galtung and institutions like the UN Department of Political and Peacebuilding Affairs. The UN Charter (Chapter VI) obliges parties to seek peaceful settlement through negotiation, mediation, arbitration, and judicial settlement, while Chapter VII authorizes coercive measures. Peacekeeping, though not in the Charter, evolved from the 1956 Suez Crisis into a core UN tool, with over 70 operations deployed since. The 1990s brought a surge of intrastate conflicts — the Balkans, Rwanda, Sierra Leone — and a corresponding evolution in doctrine, including the Brahimi Report (2000), Responsibility to Protect (2005), and Sustaining Peace agenda (2016). However, the 2010s saw a sharp rise in conflict numbers, with the Uppsala Conflict Data Program recording the highest level of state-based armed conflicts since 1945. Major wars in Ukraine, Sudan, Gaza, Myanmar, and the Sahel underscore the limits of existing resolution mechanisms. Key contemporary debates include UN Security Council reform, the role of regional organizations (AU, ECOWAS, ASEAN) in primary mediation, the rise of private mediators and Track 1.5 diplomacy, and how to address conflicts increasingly shaped by transnational armed groups, climate stress, and great-power competition.

Key players

Interdisciplinary Approaches to Peace and Security

The recognition that conflict and cooperation cannot be understood through any single discipline has reshaped peace and security policy since the 1990s. The UN's 1994 Human Development Report introduced 'human security,' broadening focus from state defense to economic, food, health, environmental, personal, community, and political dimensions. Subsequent frameworks — including the 2030 Agenda's SDG 16 on Peace, Justice and Strong Institutions, and the UN Secretary-General's 2023 New Agenda for Peace — explicitly tie security to development, climate, gender, and technology. Interdisciplinary practice has produced operational innovations: climate-security advisers in UN missions, public-health diplomacy during COVID-19, and the integration of behavioral science into mediation. The Women, Peace and Security agenda (UNSCR 1325, 2000) and Youth, Peace and Security (UNSCR 2250, 2015) institutionalized the participation of historically excluded groups. Yet siloed budgets, mandates, and bureaucracies continue to limit integration in practice. The central debate today is how to operationalize interdisciplinarity without diluting accountability — how, for instance, to integrate climate adaptation with disarmament, or AI governance with human rights, while keeping institutions effective and politically viable.

Key players

Advancing the Sustainable Development Goals

The Sustainable Development Goals were adopted unanimously by UN member states in September 2015 as part of the 2030 Agenda, succeeding the Millennium Development Goals. The 17 goals and 169 targets cover poverty, hunger, health, education, gender equality, climate, peace, and partnerships, and apply universally to developed and developing countries alike. Implementation is monitored through the High-Level Political Forum under ECOSOC, with Voluntary National Reviews submitted by member states. Progress has been severely disrupted. The 2023 SDG Summit acknowledged that only about 15% of targets were on track at the midpoint, with COVID-19, the war in Ukraine, debt crises, and climate shocks pushing many indicators backward. The UN estimates an annual SDG financing gap of roughly USD 4 trillion for developing economies. The 2025 Fourth International Conference on Financing for Development (FfD4) in Sevilla and the 2024 Global Digital Compact have sought to renew political momentum. Core disputes involve sovereign debt restructuring (the G20 Common Framework remains slow), reform of international financial institutions, climate finance delivery, and ensuring digital public infrastructure serves inclusion rather than entrenching divides. SDG 16 — on peace, justice, and institutions — is increasingly recognized as foundational to the others.

Key players

Innovative Approaches to Dialogue in Conflict Resolution

Traditional dialogue formats — bilateral talks, multilateral conferences, shuttle diplomacy — have struggled to keep pace with conflicts characterized by fragmented armed groups, transnational networks, and information warfare. Since the 2010s, practitioners have developed innovative approaches including digital dialogue platforms, insider mediation, scenario-based foresight workshops, and the structured inclusion of women, youth, and diaspora communities. The Berghof Foundation, HD Centre, and UN Mediation Support Unit have built libraries of practice around these tools. Technology has been a double-edged catalyst. The UN's use of digital consultations in Yemen and Libya reached tens of thousands of citizens, while AI-assisted analysis is being piloted to map narratives and detect early-warning signals. At the same time, disinformation, surveillance, and platform manipulation have eroded trust in dialogue processes. The 2022 UN report 'Digital Technologies and Mediation in Armed Conflict' provides current guidance. Debates focus on how to scale inclusion without paralyzing negotiation, how to manage the ethics of AI in mediation, and how to engage proscribed armed groups within legal constraints. Experiences in Colombia (2016), the Philippines-MILF (2014), and ongoing efforts in Sudan and Yemen offer contrasting lessons.

Key players

The Role of Diplomacy in Global Conflict Management

Diplomacy remains the principal instrument by which states manage — if not always resolve — armed conflict. Chapter VI of the UN Charter and the 1982 Manila Declaration on the Peaceful Settlement of Disputes set out the obligations of states to pursue peaceful means. In practice, conflict management diplomacy spans preventive diplomacy (as articulated in Boutros-Ghali's 1992 Agenda for Peace), crisis diplomacy, ceasefire negotiation, and post-conflict stabilization. The contemporary landscape is challenging. UN Security Council vetoes have surged on Syria, Ukraine, and Gaza, weakening the Council's role as the primary forum for conflict management. Regional organizations — the AU in Ethiopia and Sudan, ECOWAS in the Sahel, ASEAN on Myanmar — have stepped in with mixed results. Mediator diversification has accelerated, with Qatar, Türkiye, Oman, China, and Norway active across overlapping files. The Black Sea Grain Initiative (2022-2023), brokered by Türkiye and the UN, illustrated both the possibilities and fragility of issue-specific diplomacy in active wartime. Key debates include UNSC reform, the legal and political treatment of armed non-state actors, the use of sanctions as a complement or obstacle to diplomacy, and how to prevent backsliding when peace agreements are concluded but inadequately implemented.

Key players

Mediation Techniques in Complex Conflicts

Mediation — the assisted negotiation of a dispute by a third party — was codified as a tool of international peace and security in the UN Charter and elaborated through the UN Guidance for Effective Mediation (2012). What distinguishes 'complex' conflicts is the multiplicity of armed actors, overlapping internal and international dimensions, transnational drivers (illicit economies, climate, foreign fighters), and the presence of multiple, sometimes competing mediators. Mediation theory and practice have evolved significantly. Approaches now include single-text negotiation (used at Camp David in 1978), parallel and sequenced tracks (Colombia's Havana talks), pre-negotiation confidence-building (Northern Ireland), and 'mediation of mediators' to coordinate rival third parties (Libya, Sudan). The increased role of women mediators, formalized through networks such as FemWise-Africa and the Mediterranean Women Mediators Network, has expanded both legitimacy and access. Yet contemporary complex conflicts — Sudan since April 2023, Myanmar since 2021, the Sahel — have so far resisted standard techniques. Core debates concern when to prioritize inclusivity over speed, how to handle proscribed armed groups under counter-terrorism law, how to design implementation guarantees (often the weakest link), and how mediator competition can be transformed into complementary division of labor.

Key players

Resources

News, lessons, and country profiles to prep for International Conference on Dialogue, Diplomacy, and Conflict Resolution (ICDDYCR-2026).

Recent reporting to ground your prep

Foreign Minister: Bahrain’s membership in UNSC (2026 – 2027) affirms its diplomatic leadership and global role in promoting peace and sustainable development

India Rebukes Pakistan at UNSC on Kashmir

Turkish president says Ankara to gain global diplomatic prominence with NATO, Turkic summits

AAP's Internal Crisis

Lessons

Bite-sized lessons to build the basics

Dynamic Analysis

Hidden Stakeholders

Engagement Strategies

Stakeholder Mapping Workshop

Courses

Guided courses that go deeper on the topic

Conflict Resolution

Multilateral Negotiation

Crisis Management

Advanced Negotiation

Nigeria August 2026

By committee

Frequently asked questions

International Conference on Dialogue, Diplomacy, and Conflict Resolution (ICDDYCR-2026)

Aug 12–13, 2026Abuja, NigeriaIn-person

Starts in 4 daysRegistration open

Committees & topics

Topics
Dialogue as a Tool of International Relations · Diplomacy in the 21st Century · Conflict Resolution and the International System · Interdisciplinary Approaches to Peace and Security · Advancing the Sustainable Development Goals · Innovative Approaches to Dialogue in Conflict Resolution · The Role of Diplomacy in Global Conflict Management · Mediation Techniques in Complex Conflicts

Why it matters

How to prepare

Country perspectives

Where the most-relevant 5 countries stand on the core issues in play. Click through for the full country profile.

Nigeria

As the host nation, NGA is positioned to highlight regional conflict resolution efforts and the importance of local perspectives in global diplomatic initiatives.

Role in topic

United States

The USA often emphasizes multilateral diplomacy and the role of international institutions in conflict resolution, advocating for democratic principles and human rights.

Role in topic

China

CHN typically promotes a non-interference policy while advocating for economic development as a pathway to stability and peaceful resolution of disputes.

Role in topic

Norway

NOR is renowned for its active role in facilitating peace talks and mediation efforts in various international conflicts, often employing 'quiet diplomacy'.

Role in topic

Switzerland

CHE maintains a tradition of neutrality and humanitarian diplomacy, often providing a neutral ground for peace negotiations and offering good offices.

Role in topic