You've identified a key misunderstanding - conflict resolution between individuals is nothing like conflict resolution between nations. Our metaphors for natio

You've identified a key misunderstanding - conflict resolution between individuals is nothing like conflict resolution between nations. Our metaphors for nations in the Lakoffian sense[1] erroneously guide us toward the conclusion that "countries are people". Countries "want" this or "dislike" that is specifically an example of personification identified in chapter seven. This is a dangerously leaky abstraction that when taken for granted lead to the naive conclusions you've identified like nations calling each other up and resolving some misunderstanding. Partially, the fact that diplomatic negotiations are closed and the public has no mental model of how negotiations actually work can be blamed too. That doesn't necessarily mean that negotiations should be made public (how would that work?), but that it is a complicated contributing factor. Political viability plays a hugely underappreciated role and simply telling the body politic "you're not going to get your way this time,"(like children) doesn't and will not work. 1. See Lakoff, G., & Johnson, M. (1981). Metaphors we live by. University of Chicago Press.