With the unprecedented COVID-lockdown in 2020, many peace diplomatic efforts turned virtual. This represented a temporary loss of many of the usual practices of peace diplomacy and provided an opportunity to examine micro-dynamics of both virtual diplomacy and face-to-face meetings. Based on interviews with parties and mediators involved in the Syrian and Yemeni peace processes we analyze the affordances of virtual and physical meetings respectively. We find that virtual meetings condition peace diplomacy by broadening accessibility, putting confidentiality at risk, allowing for higher frequency of meetings, often disrupting interaction, but also in some instances equalizing it. The transition to virtual also meetings demonstrated what is lost in the absence of physicality: bodily presence, spending longer periods of time together, the possibility of reconciliatory interaction and sharing informal space. When this is missing, it hampers conditions for what we call the sense of peace, that is, the visceral potential of meeting physically, which we conceptualize to include a sense of understanding, togetherness and trust. We further propose a wider application of this conception beyond peace diplomacy, in the form of diplomatic approachment. Finally, we suggest strategies in virtual diplomacy and discuss how virtual and physical diplomacy may supplement each other.

中文翻译：

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缺少的和平感：COVID-19 封锁期间的外交接触和虚拟化

随着 2020 年史无前例的 COVID 封锁，许多和平外交努力变成了虚拟的。这代表了许多和平外交常规做法的暂时丧失，并提供了一个机会来检查虚拟外交和面对面会议的微观动态。根据对参与叙利亚和也门和平进程的各方和调解人的采访，我们分别分析了虚拟会议和实体会议的可行性。我们发现，虚拟会议通过扩大可访问性、将机密性置于危险之中、允许更高频率的会议、经常扰乱互动，但在某些情况下也会使互动平衡，从而影响和平外交。向虚拟会议的过渡也展示了在没有实体性的情况下所失去的东西：身体存在，花更长的时间在一起，和解互动和共享非正式空间的可能性。如果缺少这一点，就会阻碍我们所谓的和平感的条件，即身体会面的内在潜力，我们将其概念化为包括理解、团结和信任感。我们进一步建议以外交接触的形式，在和平外交之外更广泛地应用这一概念。最后，我们提出了虚拟外交的策略，并讨论了虚拟外交和物理外交如何相辅相成。我们进一步建议以外交接触的形式，在和平外交之外更广泛地应用这一概念。最后，我们提出了虚拟外交的策略，并讨论了虚拟外交和物理外交如何相辅相成。我们进一步建议以外交接触的形式，在和平外交之外更广泛地应用这一概念。最后，我们提出了虚拟外交的策略，并讨论了虚拟外交和物理外交如何相辅相成。