I don't like vague ground rules. You know, we will be respectful, because how do you tell? I want to be able to see it. I want to be clear that if someone interrupts, if someone asks a rhetorical question, someone makes an attribution, someone attacks rather than asks questions, and if I don't have the ground rules handy then how can I tell? Our standard PCP ground rules are very tight, very behavioral. It just seems easier, all the way around. The one we did have to continually renegotiate was confidentiality, because at the beginning, even the fact of the meeting was secret. They couldn't tell anybody that they were coming to the meeting. There was a lot of renegotiation of that, and gradual loosening over time.

		When we yield to discouragement it is usually because we give too much thought to the past and to the future. -- St. Therese of Lisieux Featured Links Organizations Making Noteworthy Contributions to Efforts to Promote More Constructive Conflict Human Security Gateway Other Resources from Beyond Intractability Taming Intractable Conflicts The trick for the mediator is identifying what conflicts it pays to become involved in, how to go about it, and when. Crocker et al. explore some limitations and pitfalls for mediators and go on to suggest how they may most effectively contribute at different stages of the conflict. Nobel Peace Prize Winners Nelson Mandela Prominent figure in the anti-apartheid movement in South Africa, and 1993 Nobel Peace Laureate