A superhero or an incompetent? Representations of international mediators in local cultural products

How are international mediators depicted in the local cultural products of the parties to a conflict? Over the years, scholars have examined the question of parties’ attitudes toward mediators and the resulting impact on the effectiveness of mediation efforts. This article extends that inquiry, proposing an approach that uses the local cultural context as a prism by which to study how international mediators are represented in local cultural products of the parties in a conflict zone, such as plays, songs, and television shows. The study analyzes representations of international mediators in Israeli cultural products in the context of the Israeli–Arab and Israeli–Palestinian conflicts, and identifies four main narrative themes: (1) the mediator as useless and incompetent; (2) the mediator as arrogant and self-interested; (3) the mediator as a superhero; and (4) the mediator as the only “responsible adult” taking on a thankless mission. In addition, it examines how varying conditions can shape different cultural images of mediators in various cases. The research contributes to the literature on international mediation, and the intersection of International Relations and popular culture, and particularly the cultural reflection and images of conflicts and peacemaking.