About the Center
The Mediation and Dialogue Research Center (MDRC) at the National University of Kyiv-Mohyla Academy is a research-based think tank. We generate high-quality academic and policy research that shapes conflict transformation efforts in Ukraine and the broader region. The MDRC connects international organizations, diplomats, academics and civil society by creating space for academic research and practitioner experience to inform, challenge and transform each other.
Founded in 2017, the MDRC researches topics related to Russian aggression against Ukraine before and after the full-scale invasion of 2022, including but not limited to:
- Approaches to peacebuilding within interstate wars of aggression;
- Mediation and dialogue as conflict transformation tools;
- Track-two dialogue;
- Multi-track approaches to mediation and peace processes;
- Art and peacebuilding;
- Civil society inclusion in peace negotiations;
- Mapping Ukrainian civil society contributions to peacebuilding;
- Evaluating dialogue impact;
- Methodologies of conflict-analysis and conflict-sensitivity analysis.
In addition to conducting research, MDRC members teach conflict resolution, mediation and negotiation courses at the National University of Kyiv-Mohyla Academy as well as other Ukrainian and European universities.
Since 2022, the Center has partnered with the Ukrainian Community of Dialogue Practitioners (UCoDP) and is a member of the international Mediation Support Network.
News
Yuna Potomkina’s article for the Atlantic Council, “Exploring the secrets of Ukraine’s successful wartime diplomacy,” highlights Ukraine’s role not only on the battlefield but also in successful international negotiations with its allies.
articlе
Tetiana Kyselova has published a research article, “Including Civil Society in Peace Negotiations: The War in the Ukraine Donbas Region (2014–21),” in the 𝗝𝗼𝘂𝗿𝗻𝗮𝗹 𝗼𝗳 𝗜𝗻𝘁𝗲𝗿𝘃𝗲𝗻𝘁𝗶𝗼𝗻 𝗮𝗻𝗱 𝗦𝘁𝗮𝘁𝗲𝗯𝘂𝗶𝗹𝗱𝗶𝗻𝗴, 2025 Special Issue on Patchworked Peacemaking. Drawing on the experience of the Minsk process in the context of Russia’s aggression against Ukraine, the article highlights key nuances and potential pitfalls associated with civil society inclusion in peace negotiations.
academic articlе
Tetiana Kyselova and Yuna Potomkina have published their analysis on the lessons of the Minsk process and their implications for the current negotiations in Foreign Affairs, 1 March 2025 : “How not to End the War in Ukraine”.
policy
Tetiana Kyselova and Dana Landau have co-edited the Special Issue of the International Negotiation Journal “Rethinking Peace and Victory in Light of Russian Aggression in Ukraine.” This is the result of an almost two-year process with a stellar group of scholars and practitioners from Ukraine and beyond grappling with the challenges that the Russian war of aggression against Ukraine presents for the field of peace and conflict studies.
special issue
Tetiana Kyselova and Dana Landau published a research article, “Ukrainian Visions of Peace: (Re-)Shaping Peace through Victory,” in the International Negotiation Journal 2025 as the first academic attempt at re-conceptualizing approaches to peace in the interstate wars of aggression through local ownership lenses.
academic articlе