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She is our chief diplomat. And this is her definition of diplomacy:

"You aren't going to be successful as a diplomat if you don't understand the strategic context in which you are actually negotiating," she said Tuesday. "It is not deal-making. It's not. There are a set of underlying relationships, underlying balance of power, leverage on different sides, and you have to recognize when you are in a position to then, on top of that, find a solution given the underlying balance."

Under Rice's formulation, the time is not ripe to deal directly with Iran and Syria, both of which are causing problems in Iraq, because they have not indicated they are ready to change their behavior. While the Shiite-dominated Iraqi government is trying to build ties to Iran, which Rice said she does not oppose, the administration is ratcheting up the pressure, sending a second aircraft carrier to the Persian Gulf. The United States has negotiated with seemingly implacable adversaries in the past -- the Soviet Union and Serbia's Slobodan Milosevic among them -- but Rice rejects those historical analogies as irrelevant.

By this formulation, negotiations only take place when under two conditions.

One: you must already know the outcome of said negotiations.
Two: that outcome must be the one you desire.

I suppose that if you are negotiating a terms of surrender it might work like this, but otherwise, not so much.

UPDATE: And for the record, that silly bit about negotiating not being the same as deal making? Not so much:

ne·go·ti·ate [ni-goh-shee-eyt] Pronunciation Key - Show IPA Pronunciation verb, -at·ed, -at·ing. –verb (used without object) 1. to deal or bargain with another or others, as in the preparation of a treaty or contract or in preliminaries to a business deal. –verb (used with object) 2. to arrange for or bring about by discussion and settlement of terms: to negotiate a loan. 3. to manage; transact; conduct: He negotiated an important business deal. 4. to move through, around, or over in a satisfactory manner: to negotiate a difficult dance step without tripping: to negotiate sharp curves. 5. to transfer (a draft, promissory note, etc.) to a new owner by endorsement and delivery or by delivery. [Origin: 1590–1600; < L negōtiātus (ptp. of negōtiārī to trade), equiv. to negōti(um) business (neg- not + ōtium leisure) + -ātus -ate1]