Sérgio Vieira de Mello

AbstractSérgio Vieira de Mello (1948–2003) was a legendary United Nations diplomat and quintessential negotiator. Throughout his career he served in a variety of hotspots where he rubbed shoulders with some of the world’s most objectionable characters, including génocidaires, mass murderers, and war criminals. His friends joked that his memoirs should be entitled My Friends: The War Criminals, while some individuals were deeply uncomfortable with Vieira de Mello’s undertakings. This chapter focuses on some of Vieira de Mello’s ventures in Cambodia and the former Yugoslavia. It is argued that he left behind important lessons as to why, if, and how one should bargain with the devil.