Most mediation studies are myopic, concerned only with the achievement of an agreement and not its long-term effects on actor behavior. Kyle Beardsley's work is a fruitful exception, linking short-term outcomes to long-term problems and doing so in a theoretically and empirically informed fashion.

By definition, mediation efforts are limited to negotiation and the provision of information, so there has been considerable skepticism about whether this kind of intervention has any lasting effects. Kyle Beardsley shows convincingly that there are indeed substantive effects, but they are often ephemeral. The Mediation Dilemma provides the defining statement about what we know and do not know about international third-party mediation.

Kyle Beardsley has written a brilliant book, based on careful and persuasive research, tackling central questions for mediators of international conflict: when and how much to intervene. His findings are striking and should be contemplated by everyone interested in conflict-resolution: While heavy-handed mediation can reduce the short-term intensity of conflict, it seems to make long-term resolution more difficult.

In this well-written book that should be of interest to scholars and practitioners alike, Kyle Beardsley shows that third-party mediation can obtain short-term peace at the cost of long-term stability, but that certain factors—such as coordination—mitigate this tradeoff. The theoretical approach draws on bargaining theory and the analysis is both rigorous and accessible, employing case studies and statistics. The Mediation Dilemma is an outstanding contribution to the international conflict management field.