Abstract
Although the parties to a negotiation remain committed to progress, its momentum might falter and even collapse. This chapter examines the methods employed to minimize these risks. The step-by-step approach is one way; another is the circulation of a ‘non-paper’. But most prominence is given here to the following methods: first, the use of deadlines, which might be self-imposed, external, or symbolic, with the Holy Grail being a conjunction of two or more; second, the employment of metaphors of movement, notably those of the train and the automobile; third, publicity, where flying kites and talking up the talks are common tactics; and fourth, raising the level of the talks as a last resort. Among the examples provided is the Good Friday Agreement on Northern Ireland.
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Further Reading
Boffey, Daniel, ‘EU and UK teams pin hopes on ‘tunnel’ talks to deliver Brexit deal’, The Guardian, 9 October 2020 [www].
Boffey, Daniel, ‘When is the deadline for a Brexit trade and security deal?’, The Guardian, 20 December 2020 [www].
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Chandler, Adam, ‘Why have negotiation deadlines anyway? The psychology of another missed milestone in the Iran talks’, The Atlantic, 7 July 2015 [www].
Cradock, P., Experiences of China (John Murray: London, 1994). Chs 16–20, 23; on the negotiations in 1983–4 for the transfer of Hong Kong to Chinese sovereignty, which Cradock led on the British side.
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Hiro, Dilip, ‘Will the Iran Nuclear Deal Thrive or Wither?’ Yale Global Online, 21 January 2014 [www].
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Mitchell, George J., Making Peace (Heinemann: London, 1999). See pp. 126–83, on the Good Friday agreement on Northern Ireland.
Moore, Christopher, The Mediation Process: Practical strategies for resolving conflict, 2nd edn (Jossey-Bass: San Francisco, 1996). See pp. 291–300. Discusses deadlines.
Pinfari, Marco, ‘Time to Agree: Is Time Pressure Good for Peace Negotiations?’, The Journal of Conflict Resolution, vol. 55(5), October 2011.
Pinfari, Marco, Peace Negotiations and Time: Deadline diplomacy in territorial disputes (Routledge: Abingdon, 2013). An expanded version of the article.
Quandt, W. B., Camp David: Peacemaking and politics (Brookings Institution: Washington, DC, 1986). Especially Ch. 2, on the US electoral cycle.
Ross, Dennis, Statecraft: And how to restore America’s standing in the world (Farrar, Straus and Giroux: New York, 2007). See pp. 205–7 for this former diplomat’s view of deadlines.
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Walker, Peter, ‘Entering ‘the tunnel’: what does it mean for the Brexit talks?’, The Guardian, 11 October 2019 [www].
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Berridge, G.R. (2022). Diplomatic Momentum. In: Diplomacy. Palgrave Macmillan, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-85931-2_4
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-85931-2_4
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