Introduction
How to work with the many external actors involved in any peace process is a critical issue for peacemakers. As conflict resolution activity has surged in the years since the end of the Cold War, mediators and others have developed a wide array of new arrangements to address this challenge. Most notable among them are informal mini-coalitions of states or intergovernmental organizations that provide support for resolving conflicts and implementing peace agreements-an innovation often referred to as groups of "Friends."1
Between !990 and 2009, "Friends," "contact groups," "core groups," and other such mechanisms-many of them established to support or work alongside UN peacemaking and peace operations-mushroomed from four to more than thirty, a larger than sevenfold increase. Although some groups were formed on the initiative of mediators, others were self- selecting, or even assembled by the conflict parties themselves. They all understood that a peace process would benefit from a unified effort on its behalf. Peacemakers' experiences of these groups illustrated the elusiveness of such unity among the various external actors-neighbors, regional and more distant powers, donors, and other interested states-but also how important unity is.
With an emphasis on the small groups of states or intergovernmental organizations that are gathered as "Friends" of a mediator or a particular process (but that are not themselves leading the mediation or negotiation), this volume seeks to explore how peacemakers may most productively work with groups of Friends. It takes as a starting point that a group of Friends is an auxiliary mechanism, engaged in the service of a wider strategy for peace-not a substitute for one. As an auxiliary device, a group of Friends cannot create the conditions for peace, but it can contribute to their emergence in a variety of ways.
This handbook draws on the mixed experiences of peacemakers with groups of Friends. It cautions that Friends will not be desirable in every peace process or, necessary, in a similar form at every stage of a peace process. Friends can help marshal leverage,