ABSTRACT
This chapter explores the logic of secret diplomacy from a rationalist perspective, which suggests that there are many forms of secret diplomacy with varying degrees of signalling problems and solutions attached to them Secret diplomacy, in its most standard formulation, involves diplomacy conducted in the absence of media and public attention. Studies also indicate that e-negotiators engage in more deception and less truth-telling than their counterparts interacting face-to-face. While the insight that personal interactions give clues to mental states is not particularly new, the social psychology and cognitive neuroscience supporting that intuition is relatively new. Paul Ekman (2009), a psychologist who specialises in deception detection, argues that the keys to detecting deception and secrets often lay in the face. Summing up the findings from evidence drawn from social psychology and neuroscience suggests that face-to-face interaction provides a mechanism for individuals to read and be read.
