As the Vietnam negotiations about table arrangements in Paris showed, form and content do go together. But to suggest that the negotiating process is about reaching a compromise somewhere between a 'unitary state' and 'independence' is to perpetuate the Singer error. Agreements that are not principle centered have a way of unraveling - sooner rather than later. Professor Singer was right to make plain that by 'reality' he was referring to the balance of political and military power between the Tamil and Sinhala people. Reality' does not lie in concrete material conditions alone .
Ideas too have material force.
Theory is not without power to influence, and 'reality' lies in the dynamic interplay between the ideal and the material. Sometimes, an important factor in changing the course of an international negotiation may be the introduction of a creative perspective, a new understanding of what may have seemed to be intractable conflict.