This book examines the problems encountered by protagonists as well as third parties attempting to achieve a cease-fire. It illustrates several in-depth case studies, drawing on such conflicts as the Iran/Iraq War, the Gulf War, and the Yugoslav wars.

Introduction -- The Long and Winding Road to Peace -- Belligerents During War -- Power and the Willingness to Settle: "Why stop now?" -- The Avoidance of Weakness and the Search for Strength: "WE will look weak" -- Political and Cognitive Dissonance: "We'd never get away with it" -- Making the Decision to Stop Fighting: "WE didn't consider it; THEY wouldn't listen; WE couldn't agree" -- Unbridgeable Divides and Uncontrollable Armies -- the Inability to Cease Fire: "We can't give them what they want; We can't stop fighting" -- The Cease-Fire Proposal -- Construction, Acceptance, and Failure: "WE can't make/accept the offer; the agreement didn't work" -- Third Parties and War -- Mediator Impartiality and the "Two-Hat" Dilemma: "You are not objective" -- The Imposed Cease-fire: "YOU can't make us" -- Conclusions -- The Road Ahead -- Notes on the Definition of "Cease-fire" -- "Why can't they just stop fighting?" -- Case Study Chronologies