Description
Within current International Relations (IR) trust literature, the focus for examining interpersonal trust has been on state leader relationships and their impact on bilateral relations, including between conflict parties. Nevertheless, intra-conflict party relations, such as between a state leader and their foreign minister, can impact how inter-conflict party relations are developed. Intra-conflict party relations can affect how decision-making is conducted, how negotiations develop, and, crucially, the selection of representatives for those negotiations. This paper examines how intra-conflict party relations are managed during negotiations between conflict parties. Using a case study of the Oslo negotiations between Israel and the Palestine Liberation Organisation, this paper will focus on the relationship between Israeli Prime Minister Yitzhak Rabin and Foreign Minister Shimon Peres and examine how the relationship between the two was managed in the lead up to, and during, the Oslo negotiations.
