Elusive Peace: How Modern Diplomatic Strategies Could Better Resolve World Conflicts

Noll, a lawyer and professional mediator, goes beyond the news stories to explain why critical negotiations fail, whether they're peace talks or climate change negotiations. The author contends that today's negotiators and mediators are often ill-equipped for their responsibilities--and that they are operating under an 18th century model of European diplomacy. He notes that the primary reason so many negotiations fail is that there is the persistent assumption in diplomatic circles that negotiators will act rationally, but that concrete evidence shows the reality is frequently the opposite. Annotation c2011 Book News, Inc., Portland, OR (booknews.com)

Douglas E. Noll, JD, MA (Clovis, CA), lawyer turned peacemaker, is a professional mediator, specializing in difficult, complex, and intractable conflicts. He has been voted as one of the Best Lawyers in America since 2005 by bestlawyers.com for his work in conflict resolution and mediation and is AV-rated by Martindale Hubbell, given to the top 1 percent of the lawyers in the United States. Mr. Noll is host of The Doug Noll Show, an Internet radio show streamed live every Thursday evening from 7-8 pm Pacific on wsRadio.com and is a nationally recognized author, speaker, trainer, and lecturer on the topics of mediation, peacemaking, ethics, and leadership. Mr. Noll is also the author of Sex, Politics, and Religion at the Office (coauthored with John Boogaert); "The Neuropsychology of Conflict," chapter 3 in The Psychology of Resolving Global Conflicts, edited by M. Fitzduff and C.E. Stout; and Peacemaking: Practicing at the Intersection of Law and Human Conflict.