Distinguish good offices, mediation and conciliation.

An international dispute is a disagreement on a point of law or fact, a conflict of legal views or interests between states (the Mavrommatis definition's family — a matter of opposite views, not merely a claim unanswered). The Charter's command: Article 2(3) — all members shall settle their international disputes by peaceful means such that international peace, security and justice are not endangered; Article 33(1) — the catalogue: negotiation, enquiry, mediation, conciliation,arbitration, judicial settlement, resort to regional agencies or arrangements — or any other peaceful means of their choice (the free-choice principle: no imposed forum without consent).The classification (the unit's spine): (i) diplomatic (non-binding) means — negotiation, good offices, mediation, inquiry, conciliation; (ii) adjudicative (binding) means — arbitration and judicial settlement (the consent's escalation); (iii) institutional means — the UN's political organs and the regional organizations; and, outside the peaceful family, (iv) compulsive(coercive) means — retortion and reprisals: the lawful-pressure borderland (Section 6).