International negotiations as an instrument in conflict resolution are difficult to to grasp, both in theory and practice. Yet it is important to get to grips with this process, as negotiations between states and in international organizations are the lifeblood of the international body politic. The Charter of the United Nations, for obvious reasons, ranks negotiation as the foremost instrument in the peaceful settlement of inter-state conflicts. Scholars of international relations are still searching for methodologies and theories to explain outcomes of negotiations by the processes that produce them.