The Minds of Peace Experiment is a small-scale Israeli-Palestinian public negotiating congress. The exercise invites Israeli and Palestinian delegations to publicly negotiate solutions to their struggle over a limited period of sessions. The initiative is designed to demonstrate the peacemaking power of a major public negotiating congress, to evaluate its potential outcomes, and to get support for its establishment. Scholars from different disciplines describe and analyze the enterprise. They provide valuable lessons for improving and elaborating the initiative which has been conducted in major universities around the U.S., Canada and in Israel-Palestine. The intention is to add a fresh perspective to the efforts to build a revolutionary peacemaking process in the Israeli-Palestinian case.

The Minds of Peace Experiment is a fascinating laboratory for people-to-people diplomacy and negotiation. The exercise succeeded to demonstrate how people, from all walks of life and the entire political spectrum, can reach peace agreements while their leaders face major problems in their relationship. The book intends to provoke critical and fruitful discussion among those who are interested in negotiation, diplomacy and the Israeli-Palestinian conflict.

This book was published as a special issue of Israel Affairs.

Michael Friedewald is a senior researcher and head of the ICT research unit at the Fraunhofer Institute for Systems and Innovation Research in Karlsruhe, Germany. His are of research are the social and economic impacts of emerging technologies and their implications for policy making. In recent years he has worked extensively within the field of privacy, data protection and surveillance aspects. Michael holds master degrees in Electrical Engineering and Economics and a PhD in Science and Technology Studies from RWTH Aachen University, Germany.

Ronald J. Pohoryles is Chairman of the board of directors of the ICCR Foundation Vienna, Austria and Paris, France and Assistant Professor for comparative political systems, experienced in social science research for over 35 years. His research expertise covers European integration emphasising public policy analysis, science and technology and integrated technology assessment. Overall, his work relates to a comprehensive understanding of sustainability, bringing together economy, environment, society and democracy. He has co-ordinated more than 100 research projects. His publications include numerous articles and books on the above topics.