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'''Michael "Mickey" Bergman''' is the CEO of [https://www.reach.global/ Global Reach] and the Vice President and Executive Director of the Richardson Center for Global Engagement. He also serves as an adjunct professor at Georgetown University's [[Walsh School of Foreign Service]], where his graduate level courses focus on the art of [[emotional intelligence]] in international relations and negotiations.<ref>{{Cite web |title=Faculty |url=https://gufaculty360.georgetown.edu/s/course-catalog/a1o360000013BqCAAU/msfs73001?id=00336000014Ttj4AAC |access-date=2018-12-26 |website=gufaculty360.georgetown.edu}}</ref> Previously, he served as Executive Director of the Global Alliances Program at the [[Aspen Institute]] and founded the Solel Strategic Group (SSG).<ref>[http://www.aspeninstitute.org/people/michael-bergman Aspen Institute Official Biography of Mickey Bergman]</ref>
Bergman has advocated for numerous political prisoners and hostages, including [[Paul Whelan (security director)]], [[Brittney Griner]],<ref>{{Cite web |date=2022-12-09 |title=Griner freed: WNBA star swapped for Russian, heads home |url=https://apnews.com/article/brittney-griner-freed-viktor-bout-swap-us-russia-ee51f5c14f35dc4d4cf21224a8e44eaa |access-date=2024-06-22 |website=AP News |language=en}}</ref> [[Trevor Reed]],<ref>{{Cite web |date=2022-04-29 |title=Inside the Trevor Reed deal: From Oval Office to Moscow trip |url=https://apnews.com/article/russia-ukraine-biden-covid-health-europe-5f34f79c02af565591d3692ad21547db |access-date=2024-06-22 |website=AP News |language=en}}</ref> and Taylor Dudley<ref>{{Cite web |last=Bertrand |first=Natasha |date=2023-01-12 |title=First on CNN: US Navy veteran released from Russian custody {{!}} CNN Politics |url=https://www.cnn.com/2023/01/12/politics/taylor-dudley-navy-veteran-released-russia/index.html |access-date=2024-06-22 |website=CNN |language=en}}</ref> from Russia; [[Danny Fenster]] from Myanmar;<ref>{{Cite web |last=Rosbrow-Telem |first=Laura |date=2024-06-28 |title=Negotiating an American
For his efforts alongside [[Bill Richardson]], Bergman was nominated for the [[Nobel Peace Prize]] in 2019 and again in 2023.<ref>{{Cite web |last=Bernal |first=Rafael |date=2023-08-25 |title=Former UN Ambassador Richardson nominated for Nobel Peace Prize |url=https://thehill.com/policy/international/4171938-bill-richardson-nominated-nobel-peace-prize/ |access-date=2024-06-22 |website=The Hill |language=en-US}}</ref><ref name=":3" /> In 2023, Bergman received the [[James Foley (journalist)|James W. Foley]] Legacy Foundation American Hostage Freedom Award from the Foley Foundation.<ref>{{Cite web |last=Cunningham |first=Kurt |date=2022-12-08 |title=James W. Foley Legacy Foundation to Honor Roger Carstens, Mickey Bergman, Mouaz Moustafa, and Sean Langan at 2023 Foley Freedom Awards Dinner |url=https://jamesfoleyfoundation.org/press-releases/james-w-foley-legacy-foundation-to-honor-roger-carstens-mickey-bergman-mouaz-moustafa-and-sean-langan-at-2023-foley-freedom-awards-dinner/ |access-date=2024-06-22 |website=Foley Foundation |language=en-US}}</ref>
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Pioneering the field of ''Fringe Diplomacy'',<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.fringediplomacy.com/about|title=Fringe Diplomacy|website=www.fringediplomacy.com|access-date=2018-12-26}}</ref> Bergman has developed a unique approach to global engagement that connects individuals in areas typically overlooked by governments and NGOs. He aims to create new political capital by leading professional exchange programs to frontier countries such as North Korea, Myanmar, Cuba, Lebanon, and others.
Bergman is also an accomplished author and commentator. He wrote [[In the Shadows: True Stories of High-Stakes Negotiations to Free Americans Captured Abroad|''In the Shadows: True Stories of High-Stakes Negotiations to Free Americans Captured Abroad'']] and has published numerous articles and opinion pieces. He frequently provides media commentary on cases of Americans held hostage, hostage diplomacy, and international relations, and is recognized as an expert in the fields of Cuba, North Korea,<ref>{{Cite
== Early life and career ==
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=== Israel/Palestine ===
In 2007, Bergman and Richardson began back channel negotiations to secure the release of [[Gilad Shalit]], an [[Israel Defense Forces]] who had been captured by [[Hamas]] a year earlier.<ref name=":0">{{Cite book |last=Richardson |first=Bill |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=wUDRAAAAQBAJ
=== North Korea ===
==== Kenneth Bae ====
In January 2013, Bergman, Richardson, and then-Google Executive Chairman [[Eric Schmidt]] traveled to [[Pyongyang]], North Korea on a private diplomatic mission. Their efforts included seeking release of [[Kenneth Bae]], an imprisoned American Christian missionary, charged with crimes related to preaching against the North Korean government.<ref>{{Cite news |last=Sang-Hun |first=Choe |date=2012-12-21 |title=North Korea Says It Detained American Over
==== Otto F. Warmbier ====
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=== Myanmar ===
In late 2021, Bergman and Richardson traveled to [[Naypyidaw, Myanmar|Naypyitaw, Myanmar]], ostensibly to discuss humanitarian aid and COVID-19, despite U.S. officials' caution against mentioning American journalist [[Danny Fenster]], detained there. They facilitated behind-the-scenes negotiations, met Myanmar's military leader [[Min Aung Hlaing]] and raised Fenster's case. They eventually secured Fenster's release, along with another activist, after months of detention.<ref name=":1" /><ref>{{Cite web |last=Rosbrow-Telem |first=Laura |date=2024-06-28 |title=Negotiating an American
=== Russia ===
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==== Brittney Griner ====
They played a crucial role in the efforts to secure [[Brittney Griner]]'s release. Bergman worked behind the scenes with Griner's family and legal team. This included a trip to a country neighboring Russia for an 11-hour meeting aimed at preserving negotiation channels and understanding the Russian stance better.<ref name=":5">{{Cite
==== Taylor Dudley ====
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=== Iraq ===
Bergman is currently advocating for [[Elizabeth Tsurkov]], a Russian-Israeli researcher who was kidnapped in Baghdad in March 2023 and is held by the group [[Kata'ib Hezbollah]].<ref>{{Cite news |last=Ibrahim |first=Noor |date=2023-09-29 |title=Princeton University Accused of Botching Deadly Student Abduction Crisis |url=https://www.thedailybeast.com/princeton-university-accused-of-botching-response-to-kidnapping-of-elizabeth-tsurkov-in-iraq |access-date=2024-06-23 |work=The Daily Beast |language=en}}</ref> In November 2023, the group released a propaganda video using Tsurkov. Bergman viewed the video as a positive development, stating, "Any time a proof of life video is shared, it presents an opportunity to initiate a dialogue."<ref>{{Cite news |last=Ibrahim |first=Noor |date=2023-11-14 |title=
=== Venezuela ===
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=== North Korea ===
Bergman has been interviewed numerous times on the topic of negotiations with North Korea.<ref>{{Cite web |title=Otto Warmbier negotiator breaks down the keys to negotiating with North Korea |url=http://video.foxnews.com/v/6007755400001/ |access-date=2019-07-06 |website=Fox News |language=en}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |title=President Trump remains optimistic about Hanoi summit |url=http://video.foxnews.com/v/6007099146001/ |access-date=2019-07-06 |website=Fox News |language=en}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |title=Warmbier negotiator reacts to Trump's suggestion that Kim Jong Un was unaware of Otto Warmbier's condition |url=http://video.foxnews.com/v/6008233571001/ |access-date=2019-07-06 |website=Fox News |language=en}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |title=Trump and Kim Jong Un need successful summit: Bergman {{!}} Watch News Videos Online |url=https://globalnews.ca/video/4264731/trump-and-kim-jong-un-need-successful-summit-bergman/ |access-date=2019-07-06 |website=Global News |language=en}}</ref> In March 2018, before the [[2018 North Korea–United States Singapore Summit]], Bergman and Richardson published an opinion piece in the Washington Post.<ref name=":10">{{Cite news |date=2021-10-28 |title=Perspective {{!}} Kim Jong Un
=== Myanmar ===
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=== Venezuela ===
In a 2024, [[Vanity Fair (magazine)]] article, he provided context regarding Venezuela's internal dynamics and hostage-taking. He discussed [[Alex Saab]]'s portrayal as a freedom fighter within Venezuela under [[Nicolás Maduro]]. Bergman noted Saab's extradition in October 2021 by the [[United States Department of Justice]], followed on the same day by [[Citgo Six|Citgo employees]] being sent back to prison from house arrest. Subsequently, he notes the arrests of Osman Khan and [[Eyvin Hernandez]] in the months that followed. He argues that these actions, viewed through Venezuela's narrative of Saab as a political prisoner wrongly detained in the United States, exacerbated tensions and prompted retaliatory measures from the Maduro government.<ref>{{Cite
=== Hostages and prisoners ===
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==== Prisoner exchanges ====
Bergman is one of the experts advocating for a reevaluation of the U.S. "no concessions" policy in negotiations for American hostages, a strategy originally intended to discourage kidnappings.<ref>{{Cite news |last=Downen |first=Robert |title=After 1,600 days of
In response to the argument that prisoner exchanges create a false equivalence between innocent American hostages and convicted felonts, and that such swaps incentivize hostage-taking, Bergman told the Associated Press: "The framing is wrong. Because it’s not about the guilty people that get released, it’s about the innocent Americans that come back home. And so I reverse the question and say: Is leaving ... innocent Americans to rot in prisons around the world worth the insistence of us having criminals, foreign criminals, serve their full time in the American system?”<ref>{{Cite web |date=2022-02-18 |title=Families of American captives frustrated with Justice Dept. |url=https://apnews.com/article/europe-venezuela-only-on-ap-nicolas-maduro-prisoner-exchange-ac6748a5dad08e8fb5856abe1be7bc9d |access-date=2024-06-23 |website=AP News |language=en}}</ref>
== Works ==
*{{cite book | last=Bergman | first=Mickey | title=In the Shadows | publisher=Center Street | publication-place=New York | date=2024-06-04 | isbn=978-1-5460-0475-2}} <ref>{{Cite web |last=Felten |first=Eric |date=June 30, 2024 |title=
==References==
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