They are a means to getting the things we want within a cooperative environment. Successful negotiations can make all sides happy and they may increase the likelihood that future cooperation will occur.
Negotiations take place at all levels interpersonal, organizational, national and international.
While wars attract a lot of attention, the vast majority of international disputes are settled via peaceful means, such as through negotiations. The purpose of this course is to study negotiations from a strategic perspective. We ll look at the roles that reputation, threats and bargaining power play in negotiations and how the players can take advantage of these and other tools to improve their strategy and make it more likely that they will get a good outcome. This course will show you that this can mean not only seeing what the opponent wants, but also what the opponent minimally can accept, and that other issues can be introduced so that less-good outcomes on one issue can be traded for better outcomes on others. The class format will include lecture and discussion.