International Negotiation and Conflict Resolution
- LAST REVIEWED: 26 August 2011
- LAST MODIFIED: 26 August 2011
- DOI: 10.1093/obo/9780199743292-0006
- LAST REVIEWED: 26 August 2011
- LAST MODIFIED: 26 August 2011
- DOI: 10.1093/obo/9780199743292-0006
Introduction
International negotiation is often a process of power-based dialogue intended to achieve certain goals or ends, and which may or may not thoroughly resolve a particular dispute or disputes to the satisfaction of all parties. The goals of this bibliography are to familiarize the reader with books that seek to explore different forms of negotiation that aim at conflict management, conflict transformation, or else conflict resolution. International negotiation can be bilateral or multilateral, public or secret, and can involve differing forms of negotiation among states and non-state civilian actors, as well as with anti-state actors, such as individual terrorists and terrorist organizations. In addition, differing cultures may engage in negotiations with differing styles and for differing purposes, with differing expectations. Negotiation aimed at conflict management seeks to limit or minimize tensions and disputes as much as possible, without necessarily changing the status quo or the relations of power, values, and interests between the disputing parties. Negotiation aimed at conflict transformation seeks to go beyond the status quo to transform relations of disputed power, values, and interests in a more “positive” and less controversial direction although largely expecting a number of disputes and differences to remain. Conflict resolution is generally seen as an even longer-term process that attempts to find a common and complete agreement among the differing parties despite their differing values, interests, and power relationships.
General Overviews
A number of texts offer a broad and practical introduction to the subject of negotiation, both in the sense of “how to” negotiate but also how to engage in negotiations in very differing contexts. These works can be helpful in conflict management, transformation, or resolution between states, whether in terms of bilateral or multilateral negotiations. They can also be helpful in dealing with conflicting groups within a society. One can also not overlook the importance of maintaining appropriate interpersonal relationships among those who are actually engaging in the negotiating process. Asal, et al. 2005 offers a number of insights as to how to mediate during international crises. Berridge 2002 is one of the few books on traditional diplomacy that explores the negotiation process. Crocker, et al. 2004 discusses diplomatic bargaining strategies with respect to “forgotten” and “intractable” conflicts in arguing that such conflicts may be difficult or stubborn, but are not impossible to resolve or manage. Fischer and Ury 1991 is a classic “how-to” text explaining how to reach agreements. Fischer, et al. 1997 is a how-to book on problem-solving and conflict-management skills for diplomats and heads of state. Mnookin 2010 looks at ways in which negotiators have dealt with “rogue” leaderships in the past and in recent times. Mnookin and Susskind 1999 offers a framework for understanding the complexity and effects of negotiating on behalf of others. Watkins and Rosegrant 2001 identifies the four core tasks in which negotiators need to engage to achieve a “breakthrough.” Zartman and Berman 1992 draws on both theory and practice to present a model of the international negotiation process.
Asal, Victor, David Quinn, Jonathan Wilkenfeld, and Kathleen Young. Mediating International Crises. Routledge Advances in International Relations and Global Politics 34. London: Routledge, 2005.
International crises can be destabilizing not only for the actors directly involved but also for an entire region, if not the whole international system. Identifies mechanisms for crisis prevention, management, and resolution and discusses the strengths and weaknesses of mediation by third parties. The latter involve facilitation communication between parties, formulation of possible agreements, and manipulation of the parties through sanctions or rewards. Analyzes instances of mediation in 20th-century international crises, supplemented with data derived from simulated negotiation settings.
Berridge, G. R. Diplomacy: Theory and Practice. 2d ed. New York: Palgrave, 2002.
Examines traditional diplomacy as the conduct of relations between sovereign states through the medium of officials based at home or abroad. Examines the processes and procedures of diplomacy as an art and draws on evidence and examples from across the world. One of the few general textbooks on diplomacy that places a major emphasis on negotiation (the most important function of diplomats); also contains a key chapter on unconventional diplomatic methods.
Crocker, Chester A., Fen Osler Hampson, and Pamela R. Aall. Taming Intractable Conflicts: Mediation in the Hardest Cases. Washington, DC: United States Institute of Peace Press, 2004.
A clearly written, excellent text that shows ways to build a negotiating strategy so as to deal with “intractable” conflicts. Part I discusses the conflict context and mediator’s environment. Part II shows ways to use diplomatic leverage in order to build a negotiating strategy; it provides a number of recipes to secure a negotiated settlement and make it last.
Fisher, Roger, and William L. Ury. Getting to Yes: Negotiating Agreement without Giving In. 2d ed. New York: Penguin, 1991.
A classic text that offers a concise, step-by-step strategy for arriving at mutually acceptable agreements in differing kinds of disputes and conflicts—from those between parents and children to those between diplomats. Explains how to focus on interests, not positions; how to work together to invent options that will satisfy both parties; and how to negotiate successfully with people who are more powerful or who refuse to play by the rules or who resort to dirty tricks.
Fischer, Roger, Andrea Kupfer Schneider, Elizabeth Borgwardt, and Brian Ganson. Coping with International Conflict: A Systematic Approach to Influence in International Negotiation. Upper Saddle River, NJ: Prentice Hall, 1997.
This introductory text combines the clear, concise, proven principles and practice of conflict management with the newest problem-solving approaches to international relations. The book seeks to teach problem-solving and conflict management skills to diplomats and heads of state involved in contentious international disputes based on the authors’ international consulting work.
Mnookin, Robert. Bargaining with the Devil: When to Negotiate, When to Fight. New York: Simon and Schuster, 2010.
Examines differing types of conflicts, including Winston Churchill’s decision to reject negotiations with Adolf Hitler and Nelson Mandela’s decision to initiate discussions with South Africa’s apartheid government. Suggests four general guidelines for determining the best course of action: systematically compare the cost-benefit ratios of negotiating or fighting, collect advice from others, tip the scales in favor of negotiation before fully committing, and do not permit moral intuition to override pragmatic assessment.
Mnookin, Robert H., and Lawrence Susskind, eds. Negotiating on Behalf of Others: Advice to Lawyers, Business Executives, Sports Agents, Diplomats, Politicians, and Everybody Else. Thousand Oaks, CA: SAGE, 1999.
Offers a framework for understanding the complexity and effects of negotiating on behalf of others and explores how current negotiation theory can be modified to account for negotiation agents. Five major negotiation arenas are examined: labor-management relations, international diplomacy, professional sports, legislative process, and agency law. Concludes with suggestions for future research and specific advice for practitioners. Negotiation agents are broadly defined to include legislators, diplomats, salespersons, sports agents, and committee chairs—anyone who represents others in a negotiation.
Watkins, Michael, and Susan Rosegrant. Breakthrough International Negotiation: How Great Negotiators Transformed the World’s Toughest Post–Cold War Conflicts. San Francisco: Jossey-Bass, 2001.
Identifies four core tasks in “breakthrough negotiations”: to diagnose the structure of the conflict; to identify barriers to resolution; to manage conflicts that arise within the process; and to build momentum with creative deal making. Four 20th-century conflicts help the authors illustrate the application of these tasks: US negotiations with North Korea over their nuclear armament, the ongoing Middle East crisis, the recent strife in Bosnia, and conflict in Iraq.
Zartman, I. William, and M. Berman. The Practical Negotiator. New Haven, CT: Yale University Press, 1992.
This text focuses primarily on international negotiations. The authors’ research has drawn upon three sources of data: the historical record, theories and experiments on bargaining behavior, and interviews with diplomats and UN ambassadors. Historical, experimental, and personal cases are used throughout the text to illustrate their theoretical model.
Users without a subscription are not able to see the full content on this page. Please subscribe or login.
How to Subscribe
Oxford Bibliographies Online is available by subscription and perpetual access to institutions. For more information or to contact an Oxford Sales Representative click here.
Article
- Academic Theories of International Relations Since 1945
- Africa, The Islamic State (ISIS/ISIL) in
- Alliances
- Al-Qaeda in the Islamic Maghreb
- Al-Shabaab
- Arab-Israeli Wars
- Arab-Israeli Wars, 1967-1973, The
- Armed Conflicts/Violence against Civilians Data Sets
- Arms Control
- Arms Races
- Arms Trade
- Asylum Policies
- Audience Costs and the Credibility of Commitments
- Authoritarian Regimes
- Balance of Power Theory
- Bargaining Theory of War
- Battle
- Boko Haram
- Brazilian Foreign Policy, The Politics of
- Canadian Foreign Policy
- Case Study Methods in International Relations
- Casualties and Politics
- Causation in International Relations
- Central Europe
- Challenge of Communism, The
- China and Japan
- China's Defense Policy
- China’s Foreign Policy
- Chinese Approaches to Strategy
- Cities and International Relations
- Civil Resistance
- Civil Society in the European Union
- Cold War, The
- Colonialism
- Comparative Foreign Policy Security Interests
- Comparative Regionalism
- Complex Systems Approaches to Global Politics
- Conflict Behavior and the Prevention of War
- Conflict Management
- Conflict Management in the Middle East
- Constructivism
- Contemporary Shia–Sunni Sectarian Violence
- Corruption
- Counterinsurgency
- Countermeasures in International Law
- Coups and Mutinies
- Criminal Law, International
- Crisis Bargaining
- Critical Theory of International Relations
- Cuban Missile Crisis, The
- Cultural Diplomacy
- Cyber Security
- Cyber Warfare
- Decision-Making, Poliheuristic Theory of
- Demobilization, Post World War I
- Democracies and World Order
- Democracy and Conflict
- Democracy in World Politics
- Deterrence Theory
- Development
- Diasporas
- Digital Diplomacy
- Diplomacy
- Diplomacy, Gender and
- Diplomacy, History of
- Diplomacy in the ASEAN
- Diplomacy, Public
- Disaster Diplomacy
- Diversionary Theory of War
- Drone Warfare
- Eastern Front (World War I)
- Economic Coercion and Sanctions
- Economics, International
- Embedded Liberalism
- Emerging Powers and BRICS
- Emotions
- Empirical Testing of Formal Models
- Energy and International Security
- Environmental Peacebuilding
- Epidemic Diseases and their Effects on History
- Ethics and Morality in International Relations
- Ethnicity in International Relations
- European Migration Policy
- European Security and Defense Policy, The
- European Union as an International Actor
- European Union, International Relations of the
- Experiments
- Face-to-Face Diplomacy
- Fascism, The Challenge of
- Feminist Methodologies in International Relations
- Feminist Security Studies
- Food Security
- Forecasting in International Relations
- Foreign Aid and Assistance
- Foreign Direct Investment
- Foreign Policy Decision-Making
- Foreign Policy of Non-democratic Regimes
- Foreign Policy of Saudi Arabia
- Foreign Policy, Theories of
- French Empire, 20th-Century
- From Club to Network Diplomacy
- Future of NATO
- Game Theory and Interstate Conflict
- Gender and Terrorism
- Gendering Disasters
- Gendering Forced Migration
- Genocide
- Genocide, Politicide, and Mass Atrocities Against Civilian...
- Genocides, 20th Century
- Geopolitics and Geostrategy
- Germany in World War II
- Global Citizenship
- Global Civil Society
- Global Constitutionalism
- Global Environmental Politics
- Global Ethic of Care
- Global Governance
- Global Justice, Western Perspectives
- Globalization
- Governance of the Arctic
- Grand Strategy
- Greater Middle East, The
- Greek Crisis
- Hague Conferences (1899, 1907)
- Hegemony
- Hezbollah
- Hierarchies in International Relations
- History and International Relations
- History of Brazilian Foreign Policy (1808 to 1945)
- Human Nature in International Relations
- Human Rights
- Human Rights and Humanitarian Diplomacy
- Human Rights, Feminism and
- Human Rights Law
- Human Security
- Hybrid Warfare
- Ideal Diplomat, The
- Idealism
- Identity and Foreign Policy
- Ideology, Values, and Foreign Policy
- Illicit Trade and Smuggling
- Imperialism
- Indian Foreign Policy
- Indian Perspectives on International Relations, War, and C...
- Indigenous Rights
- Industrialization
- Intelligence
- Intelligence Oversight
- Internal Displacement
- International Conflict Settlements, The Durability of
- International Criminal Court, The
- International Economic Organizations (IMF and World Bank)
- International Health Governance
- International Justice, Theories of
- International Law
- International Law, Feminist Perspectives on
- International Monetary Relations, History of
- International Negotiation and Conflict Resolution
- International Nongovernmental Organizations
- International Norms for Cultural Preservation and Cooperat...
- International Organizations
- International Relations, Aesthetic Turn in
- International Relations as a Social Science
- International Relations, Practice Turn in
- International Relations, Research Ethics in
- International Relations Theory
- International Security
- International Society
- International Society, Theorizing
- International Support For Nonstate Armed Groups
- Internet Law
- Interstate Cooperation Theory and International Institutio...
- Intervention and Use of Force
- Interviews and Focus Groups
- Iran, Politics and Foreign Policy
- Iraq: Past and Present
- Japanese Foreign Policy
- Jihadism
- Just War Theory
- Korean War
- Kurdistan and Kurdish Politics
- Law of the Sea
- Laws of War
- Leadership in International Affairs
- Leadership Personality Characteristics and Foreign Policy
- League of Nations
- Lean Forward and Pull Back Options for US Grand Strategy
- Liberalism
- Marxism
- Mediation and Civil Wars
- Mediation in International Conflicts
- Mediation via International Organizations
- Memory and World Politics
- Mercantilism
- Middle East, The Contemporary
- Middle East, The Contemporary
- Middle Powers and Regional Powers
- Military Science
- Minorities in the Middle East
- Minority Rights
- Morality in Foreign Policy
- Multilateralism (1992–), Return to
- National Liberation, International Law and Wars of
- National Security Act of 1947, The
- Nation-Building
- Nations and Nationalism
- NATO
- NATO, Europe, and Russia: Security Issues and the Border R...
- Natural Resources, Energy Politics, and Environmental Cons...
- Neorealism
- New Multilateralism in the Early 21st Century
- Nigeria
- Nonproliferation and Counterproliferation
- Nonviolent Resistance Datasets
- Normative Aspects of International Peacekeeping
- Normative Power Beyond the Eurocentric Frame
- Nuclear Proliferation
- Peace Education in Post-Conflict Zones
- Peace of Utrecht
- Peacebuilding, Post-Conflict
- Peacekeeping
- Piracy
- Political Demography
- Political Economy of National Security
- Political Extremism in Sub-Saharan Africa
- Political Learning and Socialization
- Political Psychology
- Politics and Islam in Turkey
- Politics and Nationalism in Cyprus
- Politics of Extraction: Theories and New Concepts for Crit...
- Politics of Resilience
- Popuism and Global Politics
- Popular Culture and International Relations
- Post-Civil War State
- Post-Conflict and Transitional Justice
- Post-Conflict Reconciliation in the Middle East and North ...
- Power Transition Theory
- Preventive War and Preemption
- Prisoners, Treatment of
- Private Military and Security Companies (PMSCs)
- Process Tracing Methods
- Pro-Government Militias
- Proliferation
- Prospect Theory in International Relations
- Psychoanalysis in Global Politics and International Relati...
- Psychology and Foreign Policy
- Public Opinion and Foreign Policy
- Public Opinion and the European Union
- Quantum Social Science
- Race and International Relations
- Realism
- Rebel Governance
- Reconciliation
- Reflexivity and International Relations
- Religion and International Relations
- Religiously Motivated Violence
- Reputation in International Relations
- Responsibility to Protect
- Rising Powers in World Politics
- Role Theory in International Relations
- Russian Foreign Policy
- Russian Revolutions and Civil War, 1917–1921
- Sanctions
- Sanctions in International Law
- Science Diplomacy
- Second Sino-Japanese War (1937-1945), The
- Secrecy and Diplomacy
- Securitization
- Self-Determination
- Shining Path
- Sinophone and Japanese International Relations Theory
- Small State Diplomacy
- Social Scientific Theories of Imperialism
- Sovereignty
- Soviet Union in World War II
- Space Strategy, Policy, and Power
- Spatial Dependencies and International Mediation
- State Theory in International Relations
- Statehood
- Status in International Relations
- Strategic Air Power
- Strategic and Net Assessments
- Sub-Saharan Africa, Conflict Formations in
- Sustainable Development
- Systems Theory
- Teaching International Relations
- Territorial Disputes
- Terrorism
- Terrorism and Poverty
- Terrorism, Geography of
- Terrorist Financing
- Terrorist Group Strategies
- The Changing Nature of Diplomacy
- The Politics and Diplomacy of Neutrality
- The Politics and Diplomacy of the First World War
- The Queer in/of International Relations
- the Twenty-First Century, Alliance Commitments in
- The Vienna Conventions on Diplomatic and Consular Relation...
- Theories of International Relations, Feminist
- Theory, Chinese International Relations
- Time Series Approaches to International Affairs
- Trade Law
- Transnational Actors
- Transnational Law
- Transnational Social Movements
- Tribunals, War Crimes and
- Trust and International Relations
- Turkey
- UN Security Council
- United Nations, The
- United States and Asia, The
- Uppsala Conflict Data Program
- US and Africa
- US–UK Special Relationship
- Venezuelan Politics and Foreign Policy
- Voluntary International Migration
- War
- War of the Spanish Succession (1701-1714)
- Weapons of Mass Destruction
- Western Balkans
- Western Front (World War I)
- Westphalia, Peace of (1648)
- Women and Peacemaking Peacekeeping
- World Economy 1919-1939
- World Polity School
- World War II Diplomacy and Political Relations
- World-System Theory