The ability to negotiate effectively is one of the core competencies of diplomats as well as a vital skill in all areas of professional life. Despite its prevalence as a conflict resolution tool, negotiation is often an undervalued and understudied aspect of political science and international relations. This course will introduce students to the underlying theoretical approaches to negotiation in a global context as well as equip them with the practical skills and strategies needed to enhance their individual negotiation capacity. The highly interactive course will involve students participating in negotiation simulations on a range of thematic cases.

The aim of the simulation is to demonstrate the importance of procedural design on negotiation processes. Participants begin by designing the process without knowledge of which party they will subsequently represent in a multiparty negotiation. Once they have designed a process they are assigned to a party and receive another group’s ‘process design’ which they have to use for their multiparty negotiation.

Authors: Druckman, Jordaan, Williams, Berger