Breakthrough International Negotiation - Paperback

by Michael Watkins (Author), Susan Rosegrant (Author)

This fascinating and instructive book offers a revealing, blow-by-blow description of secret, headline-making negotiations in the Middleast, Korea, Africa, and Bosnia, as well as an invaluable guide to conducting such a difficult process of tremendous practical application to a wide variety of conflict resolution professionals.

Based on extensive interviews and research with key players at the highest level, this book not only tells some incredibly dramatic stories but shows how to use these demonstrated strategies, skills, improvisational interventions and other techniques. Detailing breakthrough negotiations which brought the Israelis and Palestinians together for the first time in Oslo, built the Gulf War Coalition, ended the great divide between North and South Korea, and terminated the war in Bosnia, the authors employ a compelling narrative and didactic style to explain how to understand and apply sophisticated, field-tested methods of dispute resolution in a variety of situations.

Front Jacket

Since the end of the Cold War, negotiation has played a profound role in the resolution of international disputes. World-renowned negotiators built the Gulf War coalition to take on Iraq's Saddam Hussein, helped defuse nuclear tensions on the Korean Peninsula, ended the war in Bosnia, and achieved other critical resolutions. What happened during these tension-filled negotiations that enabled negotiators to achieve such extraordinary breakthroughs?
Breakthrough International Negotiation pairs vivid, blow-by-blow descriptions of sensitive negotiations in the Mideast, Korea, and Bosnia with practical advice for conflict resolution professionals seeking a better understanding of the negotiation process. It takes us behind closed doors with gifted negotiators-- including James Baker, Terje Larsen, Robert Gallucci, and Richard Holbrooke-- to learn how they achieved breakthroughs in complex situations that seemed hopelessly locked in conflict. Breakthrough International Negotiation includes compelling accounts of the first-hand experiences of key participants, including secretaries of state, generals, academics, members of Congress, and presidential advisors. In addition, the book provides specific, action-oriented frameworks and guidelines that mediators can apply on the job.
Throughout Breakthrough International Negotiation, expert negotiators show how to "shape the game" by involving new players, controlling the agenda, developing creative options, building coalitions, and managing the pace of events. While the book's case studies focus on diplomatic negotiations, the ideas and approaches discussed can be readily applied to negotiations in government, business, and private life.

Back Jacket

Breakthrough International Negotiation gives readers unusual insight into what it takes to conduct critical negotiations with far-reaching consequences. This valuable book also helps conflict resolution professionals develop the skills necessary to become savvy and successful negotiators.

Author Biography

Michael Watkins is an associate professor of business administration at Harvard Business School, where he teaches courses on negotiation and corporate diplomacy. He has also taught at Harvard's Kennedy School of Government. He is the coauthor of Right from the Start and Winning the Influence Game.
Susan Rosegrant is a case writer at the John F. Kennedy School of Government at Harvard University. She was a reporter for Business Week and the Associated Press and is the coauthor of Route 128.