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Winner of the 2020 International Security Section of the APSA
Best Book by an Untenured Faculty Member

Honorable Mention, Diplomatic Studies Section Award
International Studies Association

What makes wartime enemies decide to start talking—and when does that decision shift? In The Costs of Conversation, Oriana Skylar Mastro argues that states weigh the strategic costs of engaging the enemy, and they only enter talks once those costs are low. Leaders primarily assess two risks: whether diplomacy will be seen as weakness, and how the enemy might alter its military strategy in response. Talks begin only when leaders believe diplomacy won’t backfire militarily.

Drawing on four cases—North Vietnam in the Vietnam War, China in the Korean and Sino-Indian Wars, and India in the latter—Mastro shows that strategic cost, not ideology or battlefield conditions, best explains when states choose diplomacy. Her work offers key insights into how wars end, with implications for military strategy, mediation, and peace negotiations.

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EARLY PRAISES

“‘The Costs of Conversation’ tackles a theoretically and practically important question: What are the obstacles to peace talks in wartime? Analyzing three conflicts along China’s periphery in the 1950s and 1960s, Oriana Skylar Mastro finds that talk in war is not necessarily cheap. Clearly written with crisp findings, this volume will remain on international relations and foreign policy reading lists for many years.”

David M. Lampton, Oksenberg-Rohlen Fellow, Asia Pacific Research Center, Stanford University

“When belligerents are winning, they’re not interested in talking; when they’re losing, they’re scared of it. So how do peace negotiations ever begin? In this ground-breaking study, Oriana Skylar Mastro explores the crucial question of when warring parties will talk to each other — and when they won’t. Packed with deep original research on major Asian conflicts, ‘The Costs of Conversation’ is crucial reading for anyone interested in how wars end.”

Gideon Rose, editor, Foreign Affairs; author, “How Wars End: Why We Always Fight the Last Battle”
(Simon & Schuster, 2010)

David Shambaugh, George Washington University, and author of China Goes Global

REVIEWS

FOREIGN AFFAIRS

"In this welcome contribution to the study of wartime diplomacy, Mastro shows why it can be so hard for belligerents to find a diplomatic route out of conflict. Embracing peace talks can signal weakness and a lack of resolve, which can damage the morale of one’s troops while emboldening the adversary. Only those factions confident in their strategic position will agree to open talks, and such offers are often combined with demonstrations of military strength. More circumspect parties to a conflict keep the initial conversations closed. Mastro catalogs many examples of how this dynamic has worked in practice, but her main case studies come from Asia during the Cold War, where she focuses on the experiences of China during the Korean War, China and India during their 1962 war, and the North Vietnamese during the Vietnam War."