"Refreshing and revealing in equal measure, this innovative volume conducts a critical/self-critical exploration of the impact of culture on the ill-fated Oslo peace process. The authors - negotiators and scholars alike - demolish stereotypes as they construct an unusually subtle and sophisticated understanding of how culture influences negotiating styles. Culture, they argue, did not cause the Oslo breakdown - but it did play an influential, intervening role at several levels: coloring the thinking of political leaders, shaping domestic politics on both sides, and affecting each side's evaluation of the other's beliefs and intentions." "Drawing on these insights, Tamara Wittes concludes the volume by offering not only a fresh appreciation of culture's influence on interethnic negotiations but also lessons for future negotiators in the Israeli-Palestinian conflict."--BOOK JACKET.

Introduction: the goal of cultural analysis / Tamara Cofman Wittes -- Israeli-Palestinian peace talks : from Oslo to Camp David II / William B. Quandt -- Surviving opportunities : Palestinian negotiating patterns in peace talks with Israel / Omar M. Dajani -- Israeli negotiating culture / Aharon Klieman -- Conclusion: culture as an intervening variable / Tamara Cofman Wittes.