Spring is the season of hope and renewal, so even though the “Doomsday Clock” (http://www.thebulletin.org/) ticked forward in January, we are pleased that this April issue includes Louis Kriesberg’s generally positive assessment of the prospects for peace. His contribution, “Long Peace or Long War” identifies eight positive developments that suggest we have been moving toward less violent times. He acknowledges serious setbacks recently, but still sees underlying conditions that, if managed effectively by the United States in particular, bode well for a more peaceful future.
Larry Crump offers a long-term view of a different sort in his article, “A Temporal Model of Negotiation Linkage Dynamics.” He examines sequences of trade agreements in the Pacific Rim, illuminating how one negotiation is influenced by the substance and the process of negotiations that it both follows and precedes. As he notes, astute negotiators sometimes use smaller transactions to set the stage for deals yet to come.
This issue also includes two pieces on different facets of mediation practice, starting with a challenge to conventional ways of thinking about mediation ethics, well-intended as those might be. Brad Honoroff and Susan Opotow assert that trying to articulate universal standards can be a mistake when the ethical issues that arise in various contexts are so different. Divorce mediators, for example, have responsibilities that do not arise in commercial disputes. All-encompassing principles also tend to be so abstract they leave out important social justice questions that are specific to particular domains. For instance, should an environmental mediator bear any responsibility for promises made but not kept?
As it happens, one of our book reviews also deals with mediation. We are delighted to have a review by Toni Chayes, who has long been a pillar of the Program on Negotiation. She examines Harriet Martin’s Kings of Peace, Pawns of War, a collection of engaging profiles of international mediators, among them Vidar Helgesen and Erik Solheim in Sri Lanka, Lakhdar Brahimi in Afghanistan and Iraq, and Alvaro de Soto in Cyprus. The book nicely complements Louis Kreisberg’s article, noted earlier.
Cathy Costantino, a pioneer in ADR design, looks at related issues of facilitation and consensus building in her review essay. She appraises 9 Disciplines of a Facilitator by Jon Jenkins and Maureen Jenkins and Breaking Robert’s Rules by Lawrence Susskind and Jeffrey Cruikshank. She is particularly taken by the latter’s audacity. The Robert in that book’s title was a nineteenth century army engineer whose arcane rules for meetings dictate who can speak to what issue and when. Although they have little to do with reaching wise and respected decisions, they have become embedded in the procedures of many public and private organizations. Susskind and Cruikshank offer a bracingly new alternative based on best practices from the negotiation world. Costantino acknowledges that toppling Robert’s old regime will take time, but urges us to begin now.
Finally, this issue includes two pieces that bear on teaching. The first, “A New Use for Practitioners in Teaching Negotiation” by Brian Ibbotson Groth and Sølvi Glevoll, cautions teachers against the common practice of inviting experienced negotiators to come in and relate their experience, as entertaining as that might be. War stories are necessarily one-sided and seldom tested for accuracy or insight. Groth and Glevoll propose an alternative. They invite to their class participants in a recent new business negotiation. Students query each party separately about its objectives and strategies. Students then brainstorm on the course website about different ways to structure a deal and create value. This process, the authors report, encourages students to go more deeply into the value creation process.
Christopher Honeyman’s column, “A Sale of Land in Somerset County,” should be chastening for all of us who teach negotiation. Chris, a veteran mediator and co-author of a monumental book in the field, is no neophyte when it comes to negotiation. Nevertheless, he admits surprise at how complex his own seemingly simple purchase of land turned out to be. Yes, the basics of negotiation were involved — preparation, assessment of BATNAs, and the like — but soon Chris found himself grappling with issues like aspirations, framing, trust building, agency, compliance courting, and culture.
Many negotiation teachers begin their courses with land sale simulations, ostensibly because they are so straightforward. The buyer pays cash, the seller transfers title, and the parties go their separate ways. Not so fast, says Chris. There is a lot more going on even in these transactions. So, as we teachers wrap up the current academic year, we may have to rethink how we launch our courses next year.
