Learning outcomes

This course is designed to give students:

1. An introduction to key questions and concepts in the study of international negotiations;

2. An understanding of how different factors and contexts influence the negotiation process and its outcome;

3. An overview of different actual cases of international negotiation concerning conflict, peace and security (broadly defined), and the ability to analyse independently such cases using theories or concepts commonly applied in the field; and

4. A limited hands-on feel for the complexity of conducting international negotiations, using simulations and games.

Upon completion of the course, students are expected to be able to:

--identify, independently and creatively, problems and questions concerned with international negotiation in both scholarship (research) and practice

--integrate, critically and systematically, different perspectives on international negotiation in their own analyses of particular cases and problems;

--formulate their own well-founded positions on questions regarding international negotiation; e.g. political and ethical standpoints regarding the appropriate uses, advantages and limitations or pitfalls of negotiation as an instrument and as a practice.

Content

The course provides an overview of negotiation theories and practices of international importance – bilateral, regional and multilateral. The emphasis is on different approaches to understanding what drives negotiation process and explains the outcome. Negotiations of international significance are today conducted not only between individual states, but also within and beyond them. They concern not only tangible matters such as diplomatic relations, wars, and material resources but also identity issues, symbols, rules and norms, and regime and relationship building for cooperative ventures and conflict prevention. In brief, negotiation has become the most widely used means of conflict management, rule making and decision-making in international affairs. At the same time negotiation practice itself is undergoing much change with changing patterns of conflict and intervention, new urgent issues on the global agenda, new actors and new emerging norms.

The course comprises a number of specific topics which are divided into four parts:

Part I: Overview of Basic Concepts and Actors

Part II: The Process and Context of Negotiation

Part III: Explaining Specific Cases of Negotiations

PART IV: Simulations and Games

Parts One and Two are mainly conceptual and thematic and concerned with the components, processes and contexts of international negotiation. Part Three discusses and analyses actual cases of negotiation in detail, using concepts and themes covered earlier. Part Four concludes with hands-on negotiation games and simulations, and review seminar.

Instruction

The course is taught through lectures, seminars and exercises.

Assessment

1. Final Examination: Completion of a Final Essay. This should use a concept, theory or theme relating to Part One or Two of the course to analyse and explain a specific case of international negotiation. The case will normally be chosen from amongst those covered in Part Three of the course.

2. Two short written assignments

3. One presentation in class on chosen case study

4. Attendance at all lectures, and participation in all seminars and the 'Negotiation Day' (compulsory).

Final course mark will be based on performance in fulfiling all four requirements listed above.

Course level in relation to degree requirements

Students should be able to demonstrate:

--Knowledge and understanding of the international negotiation field: The knowledge should cover the field broadly, as well as specific areas of the field in-depth. It should also encompass a deepened insight into current research and the state of the art of the field;

--Ability to integrate knowledge critically and systematically, and to analyse and assess complex issues within the field;

--Ability to identify and formulate questions and problem areas with independence and originality, and to plan and carry out advanced tasks within set time frames;

--Ability to present clearly and discuss at an advanced level the results of their work;

--Ability to make assessments within the field with reference to scientific, societal and ethical aspects;

--Awareness of the possibilities and limitations of scientific research; and

--Ability to identify their own need for further knowledge.