ABSTRACT
From the way we talk to one another every day, to the talks that go on in international organizations and across governments around the world, words matter. Approaching a conversation from the perspective of cooperation as opposed to competition or an adversarial position will significantly influence the outcome. Peace linguistics and the fields of diplomacy and negotiation can benefit from a solid understanding of the insights from sociolinguistics and applied linguistics. One would think the close connection between language and its capacity to generate peace and goodwill is intuitive: through language human beings can potentially seek agreement and common ground, explain differences and ask productive questions that can in time lead to consensus. It is not always easy to argue for peace, the counterintuitive nature of this statement notwithstanding. Peace, of all things, one would hope, should be a goal for everyone to have.
