Andrew, you wrote: “Will anything good come of it? I’ve no idea, and nor does anyone else, but we won’t know until it’s been tried.” Actually, it has been tried several times before, so there’s a track-record. Also, when negotiating, it’s always important to make sure you’re negotiating with the right people, i.e., people who have power over decision-making or represent those that do. In the case of Libya, it took the Brits about three years to determine that those negotiating on behalf of Qadhafi really were able to get him to commit to their commitments. The reverse was the case of Camp David II, where Clinton went expecting an agreement only to find that Arafat wouldn’t abide by his own representatives. Of course, this episode is multilateral and with precedent (e.g. the 6+2 talks with Afghanistan) and not direct, one-on-one, about other issues where the stakes are potentially higher.