CCTP-724 International Negotiation

J.P. Singh

The main theme of this course is the way international negotiations become increasingly important as globalization thickens and deepens, especially with respect to information technologies. Globalization refers to the patterns of increased interdependence in economic, security and cultural matters. Thickening here refers to the number of issue-areas brought into globalization, whereas deepening refers to its intensity. International negotiations are shaping both the scope and the depth of global interactions.


This course prepares you to understand globalization from the vantage point of international negotiations. How and why do negotiations take place? What factors determine their outcomes? How do negotiators tackle conflicting claims from domestic constituencies or from their opponents?


This class uses extensively the case study method of teaching. This allows the class to focus in-depth on the practice of negotiations. Conceptual development will be supplemented by class participation and discussion around several case studies of international negotiations. Class assignments are oriented toward the "real world" of negotiators and there will be several instances where class participants will be asked to role play in case studies of negotiations.


The course is divided into two parts. The first part of the course will begin with the major issues involved in international negotiations (actors, issues, strategies, power in bargaining) and then add in complications arising from market conditions, domestic institutions and multilateral negotiations. The second part will discuss specific diplomatic disputes and negotiations in international communications.

Credits: 3

Prerequisites: None

CCTP-724-01 Multilateral Negotiations

J.P. Singh

Multilateral negotiations are complex, hard, and fraught with controversies. However, they are generally recognized as offering actors the opportunity to reduce transaction costs by negotiating one set of deals rather than several bilateral or regional ones. Especially in the last century, multilateralism and multilateral negotiations are also often posited as more legitimate ways of resolving international disputes and conflicts than by unilateral or bilateral means. Their efficacy also featured prominently in the recent U.S. Presidential campaign. Nevertheless, multilateral negotiations can be costly and time consuming; in toning down negotiating advantages of any on actor, they may be seen as offering disappointing results to great powers or those with a major stake in the international system or a given issue-area.

This course provides a context for understanding the importance of multilateral negotiations in four parts with respect to both economic and security negotiations. The first part traces the historical evolution of multilateral negotiations and notes the rise of the legitimacy of multilateral diplomacy. The second part examines several strategies and tactics employed in multilateral negotiations. The third part of the course will examine specific issue areas for illustration from security, economics, environment, human rights, and technology. The final part of the course returns to broad themes underlying multilateralism in the context of international law.

The course requires heavy participation and employs the case study method of teaching drawing upon cases from Harvard Business School, Kennedy School of Government, and the Pew cases from the Institute for the Study of Diplomacy. Required exercises include a briefing paper and a strategy paper written for global actors in on-going negotiations.

Credits: 3

Prerequisites: None

Other academic years
There is information about this course number in other academic years:

• 2004-2005 Fall and Spring
• 2005-2006 Fall and Spring
• 2006-2007 Fall and Spring
• 2008-2009 Fall and Spring
• 2011-2012 Fall and Spring
• 2012-2013 Fall and Spring

More information
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