Three steps to give peace a chance (and informal meals help, too)

When I served at the United Nations, one ambassador used to provide breakfast every morning so that delegates shared food together before formal talks began. This allowed negotiators to meet first as people, rather than as representatives with competing national positions. Buffet lunches in the same room created space for quiet one-on-one conversations away from prepared statements, so that misunderstandings could be clarified and tensions defused. Each day ended with evening snacks together, which helped delegates take off their negotiating “hat”, remember that policy disagreements were not personal, and leave the room with relationships and trust intact.

This was conflict literacy in action and this ambassador, who successfully chaired a difficult round of negotiations, understood that diplomacy does not begin at the negotiating table.