Where is the “wriggle-room”?

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It helps if you can think of the nego­ti­a­tions as the­atre. Some­thing rit­u­al, impro­vised and far too long. But not nec­es­sar­i­ly the stuff of tragedy. At this point the actors are keyed-up and tir­ing; alter­nate­ly anx­ious and bored by their own lines. They’re look­ing for ways to bring the dra­ma to a con­clu­sion; prob­ing