Longman Dictionary of Contemporary English
Wiktionary
n. (context politics English) Use of a neutral third party to negotiate peace between two groups of people that refuse to directly talk with each other.
WordNet
n. international negotiations conducted by a mediator who frequently flies back and forth between the negotiating parties; "Kissinger's shuttle diplomacy in the Middle East"
Wikipedia
In diplomacy and international relations, shuttle diplomacy is the action of an outside party in serving as an intermediary between (or among) principals in a dispute, without direct principal-to-principal contact. Originally and usually, the process entails successive travel (" shuttling") by the intermediary, from the working location of one principal, to that of another.
The term was first applied to describe the efforts of United States Secretary of State Henry Kissinger, beginning November 5, 1973, which facilitated the cessation of hostilities following the Yom Kippur War.
Negotiators often use shuttle diplomacy when the one or both of two principals refuses recognition of the other prior to mutually desired negotiation.
Mediators have adopted the term "shuttle diplomacy" as well.
Usage examples of "shuttle diplomacy".
Zhang, well, we have the evaluation from Secretary Adler -- you know, from the shuttle diplomacy after the Airbus shoot-down, which pretty well confirms what that Yamata guy told the Japanese police and our FBI guys about how the Chinese nudged them into the conflict with us, and what for.
We'll gladly provide it, of course, but only in the form of shuttle diplomacy.
A world where wars are won in boardrooms, through shuttle diplomacy, in newspapers, and in tedious political meetings.
Only with some frantic shuttle diplomacy and the most liberal applications of flattery did Halley manage finally to extract the concluding volume from the erratic professor.