Negotiating a Complex World

Book excerpt: A third edition of this book is now available. Negotiating a Complex World introduces undergraduate students of international relations to the high stakes world of international negotiation. The book uses the analogy of a board game as an organizing technique and includes many real-world cases and examples to illustrate important concepts and relationships. The authors highlight the intensity of crisis situations for negotiators, the role of culture in communication, and the impact of domestic-level politics on international negotiations. The book provides students with the tools they need to analyze why some negotiations are ultimately successful, while others end in failure. This innovative text also provides exercises and learning approaches to enable students to understand the complexity of negotiation by engaging in aspects of the diplomatic process themselves.