Negotiations...Plan B to end the war

 The battle begins with violence, in which the attacker shows the utmost recklessness he can, and the defender shows the utmost resistance he can. When results are not achieved, and days, weeks, months, and years pass, and the total cost of the war doubles, the doors open for negotiation, and a round of concessions and gains begins, according to the situation and condition of each party.

In negotiations, it is not possible for the parties to carry with them the same perceptions from which the war began. Negotiations do not recognize constants, nor do they fully respect them, and there is always something to lose or give up.

The truth is that negotiations are a very fierce battle, and it is a field connected to the fields of battle, affected by its course, and each party seeks to improve its positions and seize its cards through it.

What cannot be achieved through tanks is achieved in many cases at the negotiating tables, and the indicators of the success of these negotiations are subject to several considerations, the most important of which are: the real readiness of the parties, and the necessity of each party having the sovereign and final decision to proceed, approve, amend, and propose. It also depends on the quality of the mediator and the amount of accumulated experience he has, good character, the nature of the relationship that links him to the parties to the conflict, mutual trust, and that he has enough pressure cards to use to achieve progress and breakthrough in the negotiation process.

What is also necessary for the success of this process is the presence of a clear goal for the negotiation. A strategic goal, not a tactical one. Negotiating to achieve tactical goals is nothing more than a new investment in the interest of continuing the war. Strategic goals often come as a result of a rational vision that meets humanitarian and social necessities, and paves the way for long reviews based on the rules of consultation and understanding.

Despite the differences in reality, facts, geography, interests and calculations, and the differences between parties and mediators, the presence of an active mediator acceptable to all parties, capable of moving the Yemeni file in the same way as the various sensitive files that the world interacts with, can succeed in bringing the Yemenis to justice. Safety.

It can succeed in pressuring the hesitant or obstructing parties to accept a peace formula that will end the long-standing conflict and establish a long period of stability in which Yemen will regain its ability and effectiveness in the region and the world.

Without the availability of these basic components of negotiations, there cannot be a horizon for a peaceful, consensual political solution, which means that the military option will remain in place, and the state of fragmentation and fracture will continue to rise at the pace that we are all witnessing, and this is not what the Yemenis want, or what the reasonable people among them want at least.

In general, wars are not the only ones that need brave leaders, but even peace operations need leaders with a high degree of courage, care, and responsibility. The Messenger, may God bless him and grant him peace, would not go to war until he had exhausted all possible options to prevent it.