With the latest round of Syrian negotiations in Geneva at a deadlock, hopes for moving forward are bleak. Is there anything other than pressure from the international community that could bring the parties back to the table?
As co-founder of the international organization Beyond Conflict, I've spent more than 20 years working alongside those labeled as rebels, guerrillas, dictators, terrorists, freedom fighters and dissidents. I've witnessed equally intractable negotiations move beyond stalemate to producing agreements that actually stop the violence and put the warring parties on a path towards peace. If there's one thing I've learned, it's that in order to get Syrian leaders to consider peace as a step forward and not as a concession borne out of weakness, it helps to hear from former enemies in other equally-intractable conflicts describe how they made peace.
http://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2014/feb/20/syria-peace-is-possible-lessons-civil-wars