Some of the most significant contacts between hostile parties, in recent years notably between Israel and the Palestine Liberation Organisation, and between the United Kingdom and Sinn Fein, have been made of necessity by unconventional means, some of them highly secret. This book begins by looking at the extent and significance of the breakdown in normal diplomatic intercourse which has made resort to such methods unavoidable, and asks why it has occurred.

It then considers the advantages and disadvantages of the different methods which states not enjoying diplomatic relations employ when they nevertheless need to communicate. These include intermediaries, disguised embassies (especially interests sections), ceremonial occasions such as 'working funerals', the diplomatic corps in third states and at the seat of international organisations, special envoys, andfollowing a breakthrough on a narrow front - joint commissions such as the Iran-United States Claims Tribunal.

Drawing on a wide range of examples, not least the Sino-American rapprochement in the early 1970s, this book paints a detailed picture of the inescapability of diplomacy.