Ensuring continued interaction of the parties, providing a potential avenue out of terrorism, offering the elusive hope of a peace dividend may be the best that can be expected for a while. For this reason, international lawyers may not be the best agents for change in terrorist conflicts: good agreements may heighten the hopes of beleaguered constituencies by avoiding the brittleness of legal contracts between states. Clarity in the negotiations is not necessarily a desirable goal, and can indeed undermine long-term prospects for peace.
