The fog of peace : the human face of conflict resolution / Gabrielle Rifkind & Gandomenico Picco.

Includes bibliographical references and index.

This book is written by two individuals with very different experience of international relations, one, a career diplomat with some results to show at the UN, the other a practising therapist, and both concerned to develop the links between the psychological and the political worlds. The book focuses on the possibility of change in both the structure and process of current international relations in the hope of making contribution to the resolution of conflict. The book is about life and not theory, and part of the narrative is about the authors own experiences of sitting with the enemy and sometimes solving issues with them. Together, the authors explore what lies behind the hostile facade of the other, what alienates us, and how, in spite of the aggression, there is sometimes the potential for shared mutual interests. Conflict resolution is a vital subject in international relations, both in theory and in practical politics. This book does not claim to be a free-standing study of international relations and its theory and practice but of the underlying factors making up the mindsets of those involved in conflict resolution, and this will be the books unique contribution. It is conceived as a collection of studies of conflict resolution that examine how the psychological issues are affected by history and culture, and how we construct identity. These are all fundamental elements underlying the basic East-West division and mutual miscomprehension which are set out in detail in the accounts of negotiations in the book.