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The eye of the storm is the calm center amidst chaos where, metaphorically speaking, mediators often begin their work. Recent research has advocated for a more holistic, relational, culturally inclusive approach to the mediation process. Such an approach requires conflict fluency as well as cultural fluency for effective mediation. This thesis explores how the intervention strategies of mediation may be enhanced through increased cultural understanding. Current theories of intercultural conflict transformation and intercultural communication are reviewed. Conflict fluency is understood through a mediation perspective. Cultural fluency is understood through cultural identity, cultural values, communication styles, and conflict styles. A case study follows the theoretical review of the literature. In this case study, a small community mediation center illustrates what is happening in the field today regarding the relationship between culture and conflict. The case study involves a 6 holistic analysis of the organization, seeking to understand intercultural competence at all levels. This includes an analysis of keystone materials, a survey of mediators, Intercultural Effectiveness Scale (IES) results, and interviews with mediators as well as organizational leadership. The thesis concludes with a list of recommendations that may be useful to this community mediation center as well as other similar organizations. Amongst these recommendations are potentially useful training items such as intercultural conflict styles, critical moment dialogues, and other intercultural tools designed to increase mediator competence in intercultural communication.

In the diploma thesis titled "Mediation in the Czech legal framework and comparative analysis with foreign legislation", the author aims to analyze how the basic principles of mediation are legislated in the legal systems of the Czech Republic, the Federal Republic of Germany and the United States of America. By applying a combination of methods of quantitative and qualitative comparative analysis, the author deals with the question of how the legal regulation of mediation affects the usage of court-ordered mediation and the success of such a mediation process. The author focused mainly on the legal grounding of the main principles of mediation, the historical and cultural context of their origin and the form of the mediation process for court-ordered mediation. The author based her work on the authentic wording of legal regulations and used officially available data for the quantitative comparative analysis, which related the usage of court-ordered mediation in the analyzed countries.