Introduction

This introductory chapter provides an overview of wartime diplomacy—what conditions promote the occurrence of negotiations, as well as what impact they have on the subsequent trajectory of the war. Wartime negotiations are a far more strategic, complex, and potentially cynical activity than most scholars and practitioners have generally recognized. Ultimately, negotiations not only are used to help settle conflicts but can also be harnessed to help delay, fight, and potentially win them. Diplomacy does not intrinsically promote peace. Depending on the circumstances, it may promote a belligerent's war aims and be worse than staging no talks at all. If negotiations can indeed worsen conflict, it is crucial to understand the conditions under which negotiations are more likely to do so and how to minimize the risks of diplomacy being exploited to perpetuate violence. The chapter then looks at three interrelated assumptions regarding wartime diplomacy, which involve the timing, cost, and purpose of negotiations. It also distinguishes between sincere negotiations and insincere negotiations.