An early form of shuttle diplomacy emerged at the
Paris Peace Conference in 1919 when
Italy briefly withdrew from the Conference in protest of the other international delegations' refusal to grant its
irredentist territorial claims promised by the
Treaty of London in 1915. Upon Italy's return,
Colonel Edward House of the
U.S. delegation attempted to solve its conflict with
the Kingdom of Serbs, Croats, and Slovenes by placing the two countries' delegates in separate rooms and attempting to broker a compromise between the two. House's efforts were ultimately unsuccessful, leading to the collapse of
Italian Prime Minister Vittorio Orlando's government in
Rome and
Gabriele D'Annunzio's takeover of
Fiume. Kissinger continued to participate in shuttle diplomacy in the
Middle East during the Nixon and Ford administrations (1969–1977); it resulted in the
Sinai Interim Agreement (1975) and arrangements between
Israel and
Syria on the
Golan Heights (1974). The term became widespread during Kissinger's service as
Secretary of State. Soon after Kissinger's efforts, shuttle diplomacy came to the United States in the form of Israel and
Egypt conducting negotiations at
Camp David. The negotiations were successfully facilitated by President
Jimmy Carter.
Turkey has carried out shuttle diplomacy, often involving Israel: Turkey was Israel's closest ally in the
Muslim world, and some Arab countries (notably Syria, which has common borders with both Turkey and Israel) have been amenable to Turkey, with its own Muslim majority population. Another Turkish mediation took place between
Russia and
Georgia during their
war in 2008. US Secretary of State
Alexander Haig attempted to use shuttle diplomacy to mediate between the
United Kingdom and
Argentina during the
Falklands War in 1982. French president
Emmanuel Macron's shuttle diplomacy was unsuccessful in preventing the
2022 Russian invasion of Ukraine. ==Proximity talks==