Jamil Mahuad, former mayor of Ecuador’s capital, Quito, was elected president of Ecuador in 1998. When he took office, the country was on high alert. Troops from Ecuador and Peru were poised at the border, ready for battle. For 200 years, the border had been in dispute and fighting broke out regularly. And there was also a long tradition of the leaders of both countries not talking to each other. How did he handle this crisis as a new president?

He made a risky decision and decided on a face-to-face meeting with the president of Peru, Alberto Fujimori, in order to negotiate a peaceful settlement to this long-standing dispute and avoid an imminent war. Rather than confront President Fujimori as an adversary, he sought to understand him and his interests. They tried many different negotiation techniques and both took a personal responsibility for finding agreement.

After many months of negotiations, they reached an agreement that included some creative provisions developed by both sides, including one that allowed each country to “keep” the disputed zone by making a large part of the area a demilitarized park owned and maintained by both nations. And Mahuad’s negotiated historic peace agreement earned him a Nobel Peace Prize nomination.