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Mediation, in the etymological sense, is constituted by a space, a time, an object, a language, or an intermediary person who opposes the dangers of immediacy – which might lead to overreaction and spiraling confrontation. Historically, mediation holds two distinct meanings, the second of which forms the subject of this book:

 An intercession, or intervention in favor of another whom we represent. This is the case, for instance, when a single real estate agency acts as the mediator between the seller of a home and potential buyers. The word retains the meaning of a “reciprocal” intercession for all parties.

 An impartial external intervention, offered to (and/or requested by) conflicting parties, to organize exchanges with a view to building mutually acceptable solutions.

Mediators, moderators, facilitators, neutrals, go‐betweens, third parties, ombuds: there are many terms, but they refer to the same situation: the presence of an intermediary – a person or a group of people – who intervenes between two or more parties in conflict, seeking to facilitate negotiation between them with a view to arriving at a peaceful solution agreed by them. For Wicquefort, “the word mediator fairly well expresses [the] function: it consists properly in putting oneself in the middle to bring together the parts that have moved away.” To designate the act of mediation itself, the verb “to mediate” is commonplace in English, while the French modern equivalent – médier – remains seldom used.