Star Trek TNG Episode 12 The Big Goodbye

The obligatory Holodeck episode. Yet again, leaves important issues such as the negotiations with the Jaradan almost completely out of the picture. Just what were they trying to negotiate? And why was it so important that the Federation was willing to wait 50 years before it could negotiate with them a second time (the first time being fumbled by an accidental word mispronunciation that offended them). Indeed, the matter was desperate enough that Commander Riker was willing to put their lives at risk just so he could get the Captain back to continue the negotiations.

Why do you tease me so?

TNG always has hints of foreign diplomacy, but it never actually uses these matters as plot points unlike DS9. Could it be because the nature of the space it uses?