Although the literature on international negotiation is rich with studies attempting to explain why some wars end in negotiated settlements while others do not, the theoretical and empirical work focuses almost entirely on explaining a single dichotomous variable: whether parties reach agreement or not. This article argues that in order to truly understand how conflicts end, the resolution process must be viewed as taking place in three distinct stages which begins with the decision to initiate negotiations, continues with the decision to strike a mutually agreeable bargain, and ends with the decision to implement the terms of a treaty. Each of these stages is likely to be driven by very different causal factors, and only by drawing clear conceptual and theoretical distinctions between the stages (and then testing them this way) can we begin to understand the full range of factors that truly bring peace.