Promoting Tractability in South Africa and Israel/Palestine

Abstract

This article examines two cases of intractable intergroup conflict in which a process of “semiofficial talks” led adversaries to direct, official negotiation. It adopts a typological approach to specify the variables—in terms of the status of participants in the talks, the status of the third party, the objectives of the intervention, and the form of dialogue— that distinguish semiofficial talks from other forms of diplomacy. It analyzes why adversary leaders sought negotiated settlements and draws on oral histories and narrative accounts from participants in two cases of semiofficial talks, as well as on documented minutes of the meetings themselves, to trace the causal pathways by which such talks contributed to conflict resolution. Analysis of semiofficial talks in South Africa and Israel/Palestine permits an inductive approach to theory building regarding the particular political circumstances in which this type of conflict resolution initiative may be effective.