Gain strategies to resolve international disputes. (Photo adapted from CDC image)

The weekly in-class discussions in this seminar allow for in-depth examination of international politics topics in the context of case studies. Samples of student work are in the Assignments section. A particularly unique feature of the seminar is the Simulation Exercise Seminar, an all-day international environmental negotiation role-play exercise.

This seminar is designed as an inquiry into the nature of multilateral negotiation. In what ways are the tools, techniques, and rhythms of multilateral negotiation similar to bilateral negotiations and in what ways – if at all – are they different.

The seminar focuses on negotiated decision-making in multilateral settings. It will survey process issues such as: the differences between bilateral and multilateral negotiations, the particular problems of negotiations involving a very large number of parties, the complexities of issue-linkage, managed negotiation processes, the role of coalitions, conference diplomacy, treaty negotiations, knowledge in negotiation, etc. These topics will be discussed in the context of case studies dealing with a range of multilateral issues including international security, environment, and international trade. It is assumed that all students are already familiar with the basics of bilateral international negotiation and these will not be reviewed in any length during the seminar.

The course is divided into three modules: understanding multilateral negotiation, multilateral negotiation in practice, and analyzing multilateral negotiation.