14 min read
Why a signed deal is not the end
What happens after the signing: who checks, who pays and why the real talks often start then. Builds on “Who watches a ceasefire once it starts” and “Trade talks, line by line”.
Newsletter
Latest explainers
One new explainer every Sunday. Each says which earlier piece it builds on, so you can follow a route through them.
11 min read
Why talks stall, and how they start again
The long silences in a negotiation, what is going on in them and what brings people back. Builds on “Why the room is set up the way it is”.
15 min read
Trade talks, line by line
How a trade deal is talked through: the list, the schedule, the give and take. Builds on “Positions and interests”.
13 min read
How neighbours share a river
An invented case of two neighbours and one river, from the first meeting to the last clause. Builds on “Positions and interests”.
12 min read
Who watches a ceasefire once it starts
The observers, the reports and the long, dull middle of a ceasefire. Builds on “How a ceasefire gets agreed”.
14 min read
How a ceasefire gets agreed
The steps from first contact to a signed pause, told with an invented example. Builds on “Positions and interests” and “Who sits at the table, and who does not”.
10 min read
Why the room is set up the way it is
Round tables, long tables, interpreters in a booth: how the room shapes the talk. Builds on “Who sits at the table, and who does not”.
11 min read
Who sits at the table, and who does not
Principals, deputies, observers and the people who write things down. Builds on “What a negotiation is, and what it is not”.
12 min read
Positions and interests
What each side says it wants, and what it needs underneath. The idea that runs through every other piece. Builds on “What a negotiation is, and what it is not”.
9 min read
What a negotiation is, and what it is not
The starting point: what makes talks a negotiation, and what is only a meeting, a speech or a quarrel.
10 min read
Truce, pause, ceasefire
Why the three words are not the same, and what each one promises to the people who use it. Read it after “How a ceasefire gets agreed”.
11 min read
A shared well, as a short invented case
Two villages, one well and a dry summer: a small made-up dispute told from the first complaint to the last handshake. Read it after “How neighbours share a river”.
Free
Table Notes
A short letter every Sunday: one negotiation explained, step by step, with no side taken.