Kimberlyn Leary and Michael Wheeler lead this issue with a Column on “The Luck Factor in Negotiation.” So many negotiation success stories reflect a bias in what is (and is not) reported. With a peek under the hood in the celebrated rounds of negotiation between Bill Gates and IBM, as well as other negotiation success stories, they point out the overlooked role of luck. It is humbling to know that skill and strategy may not be the primary pivots in a negotiation. It is also instructive for negotiators to anticipate good luck and bad luck, taking the stance of a judo master ready to work with these predictable surprises in negotiation.
In a Research Report on “The Humanitarian as Negotiator: Developing Capacity Across the Aid Sector,” Rob Grace captures the emerging attention being given to negotiation and conflict resolution skills training for humanitarian aid professionals. The report is based on fifty‐four interviews with humanitarian workers in a range of front‐line, mid‐level, and senior leadership roles. Grace documents a “negotiation cognizance gap,” where individuals too often fail to see themselves in negotiation situations and, as a result, are highly variable in the skills and strategies employed. Leading humanitarian organizations are now sponsoring training and development programs, marking this domain as an important growth sector in the field. Negotiation and conflict resolution scholars and practitioners have much to offer humanitarian professionals. Likewise, humanitarian professionals have much to teach scholars and practitioners in the broader conflict resolution field about time‐sensitive negotiations in which human lives are at stake—negotiations involving parties with interests in undermining the interactions, complex amalgams of cultures, and deep moral and ethical challenges.
Su‐Mi Lee provides a case analysis in “Behind the Curtain: Syria’s 1979 Mediation in the Yemen Dispute.” She documents longstanding debates around the relative importance of mediator impartiality and interest—two relational characteristics that reflect a mediator’s relationship with one or both of the disputing parties. Lee then adds to this context an international diplomacy case where the mediator, Syria, had complicated relations with additional parties—the Soviet Union and a mix of Middle Eastern nations—outside of the dispute between North Yemen and South Yemen. The details of the case are complex, revealing that a seemingly bilateral mediation had many additional interdependencies that account for both failed and successful interventions. The case will be useful to international relations scholars and teachers and advances our understanding of mediation theory and practice.
Next, Arvid Bell and Taylor Valley contribute to pedagogy with “The Art of Negotiation Exercise Design: Five Basic Principles to Produce Powerful Learning Experiences.” While there are many excellent games, role plays, and simulations available to instructors, Bell and Valley note that instructors often seek to develop their own customized materials to better match the interests of their students and the learning objectives in their courses. The principles are (1) define the purpose, (2) determine the format, (3) maintain focus, (4) test the function, and (5) plan for a debrief. The authors clearly lay out the rationales for these principles, which are based in their extensive experience designing material used to teach negotiation in a variety of contexts. The authors present the principles in an orderly and actionable way that allows negotiation instructors to immediately put them to classroom use. New instructors will likely be emboldened by this article to develop some of their own materials and established instructors will find this a useful return to first principles, both of which make this a welcome contribution to the literature on pedagogy.
Michael Moffitt reviews Navigating Conflict: How Youth Handle Trouble in a High‐Poverty School by Calvin Morrill and Michael Musheno. Moffitt’s review serves to lift up a remarkable book based on sixteen years of ethnographic observations in which youth conflict is presented in students’ own voices in twenty‐one case studies and other supporting material. The concept of “anchored fluidity” advanced by the book is positioned against “zero tolerance” policies that undercut agency in youths and result in increased conflict. Moffitt not only places a welcome spotlight on the book, but also helps to advance our thinking on the roles of agency and institutional context in either increasing or moderating conflict in challenging settings.
This issue serves as the formal announcement of Nancy Waters’s transition to managing editor, emeritus, following fifteen years in the role. We appreciate her dedication and focus in lifting up our words across the years—every issue bears the stamp of her editorial expertise. We also welcome Nancy’s continued contributions on targeted projects in the years to come and wish her well as she joins the distinguished company of Shannon Quinn and Bill Breslin who previously served as managing editors for Negotiation Journal.
Silvia Glick has been at the helm as Negotiation Journal’s managing editor since the journal’s fall issue. I am delighted now to officially welcome her in the role, with the 2020 winter issue, which features our new cover design and serves as the beginning of Silvia’s first annual cycle. Silvia comes to us from the Journal of Interreligious Studies and the Howard Thurman Papers Project. She has a Ph.D. in editorial studies, as well as a Juris Doctor degree and a master’s degree in theological studies. Silvia has already made her mark in working with our contributors and helping to shape strategic direction for the journal. We are most fortunate to have her as our new managing editor.
This issue also marks the listing of the newly updated Editorial Advisory Board. The Board includes twenty‐four continuing members and eighteen new members. They span the diverse sectors and domains relevant to Negotiation Journal, including business, law, international relations, employment relations, and community dispute resolution, as well as a broad range of disciplines including psychology, sociology, political science, economics, and communications.
Looking ahead, we have two special issues coming; one is a revisiting of the theme of “critical moments” in negotiation and the other is a focus on artificial intelligence (AI) in negotiation. We are also in the process of cultivating future special issues or special sections focusing on entrepreneurial negotiations, environmental negotiations, religion and negotiation, and the cultural meaning of negotiation and conflict resolution in today’s world. Potential contributors on these and other possible topics are encouraged to contact Silvia and me to explore options. Journals are ranked based on scholarly citation impacts, which we do value, but these topics suggest that our deeper commitment is to social impact, publishing one of the world’s leading journals advancing research, policy, teaching, and practice in negotiation and conflict resolution.
