Respect, Restorative Justice and the Oslo 1993 Talks

Does respect have any value – substantive or instrumental – in international relations? This paper posits that it does. It examines the role and significance of respect by using the context of mediation. It argues that respect, conceptually and practically, has significant influence on conflict parties when they are willing, and have decided to end their violent confrontations. By employing qualitative methods (process tracing, qualitative content analysis) a taxonomy of respect is provided, explicating its role and significance. Empirical support for this is provided by the 1993 Israeli/Palestinian Oslo Talks. Subsequently, it heuristically builds on recent debate on the value of respect.