Diplomatic Diplomatic Diplomatic Negotiation Essence and Evolution Negotiation Paul Meerts Paul Meerts Diplomatic Negotiation Essence and Evolution Paul Meerts Clingendael 2015 This monograph was defended and published as a dissertation on 4 November 2014. Cover: Picture of the secret final negotiations on the German First World War reparations in the room of British Prime Minister Ramsay MacDonald in the Hôtel Beau-Rivage (Lausanne, 1932), taken by Dr. Erich Salomon (Berlin 1886–Auschwitz 1944), inventor of the ‘candid camera’. French Prime Minister Briand called him ‘le roi des indiscrets’. Cover photo: bpk Photo Agency / Erich Salomon; source: De Vries and Hunter, 1963 Language editor: Rebecca Solheim Index: Sander des Tombe Layout: Textcetera, The Hague Print: Gildeprint, Enschede ISBN 978-94-610-8781-2 NUR 805 Copyright: P.W. Meerts / Clingendael Institute, The Hague / 1st edition 2014, 2nd slightly revised edition, 2015 [email protected] All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, translated, stored in a retrieval system of any nature, or transmitted, in any form or by any means, electronically, mechanically, by photocopying, microfilming, recording, or otherwise, without prior permission from the author. Dedication: To my ancestors, who negotiated for survival, and to my wife, children and grandchildren who taught me bargaining. Table of Contents Preface 11 Chapter I: Introduction and Disquisition 17 The architecture of international negotiation 21 Academics and Practitioners 22 Parties and Interests 24 Process and Power 27 Bashing or Bargaining 29 Approaches to international negotiation 31 Approaches from ‘International Negotiation’ 32 Approaches from Other Sources 37 In Conclusion 42 PART ONE THE NATURE OF DIPLOMATIC NEGOTIATION: 45 Chapter II: Aspects of Diplomatic Negotiation 47 The development of diplomatic negotiation 50 The Problem of Establishing Outcomes 53 Changes over the Centuries 55 Characteristics of diplomatic negotiation 57 Conflict of Interest and Power Relationships 59 Inter-state Negotiations 61 The Diplomat and Negotiation Behaviour 63 In Conclusion 65 Chapter III: Process and Context 67 Boundaries in bargaining 71 Geography: Bargaining Borders 72 Systems as Boundaries in Bargaining Processes 74 Needs: the role of interests and positions 75 Resources: Human, Immaterial and Material 76 Regulators: Law, Procedures, and Diplomatic Norms and Values 77 The Time Factor 79 Order through organization 80 Regimes 80 Regimes and Negotiations 82 Shifts in Multilateralism 84 Coping with Challenges 85 Possible Future Developments 87 In Conclusion 88 8 Diplomatic Negotiation Chapter IV: Entrapment in Negotiation 91 Characteristics: Choice, Uncertainty, Investment, Repetition 94 Levels: Intrapersonal, Interpersonal, National, International 101 Factors: Planning, Information, Communication, Control 106 Case Study: Four lessons 110 In Conclusion 113 Chapter V: Negotiation and Warfare 115 The utility of War and Words 118 Historical Background 119 Commonalities 121 Divergences 125 Synergies 127 Mediation 130 In Conclusion 133 PART TWO THE CONDUCT OF DIPLOMATIC NEGOTIATION: 137 Chapter VI: The Seventeenth Century: Forward- and Backward-Looking Outcomes 139 Parties and Positions 143 Procedures and Processes 148 People and Posture 151 Prevention and Prospectiveness 157 In Conclusion 161 Chapter VII: The Eighteenth Century: Behaviour of Negotiators 163 What was it about? 165 The Political Context 167 Pre-negotiations 169 Negotiations 170 Negotiators 172 Other Congresses on Dutch Soil 174 The Peace of Utrecht in a Broader Perspective 175 Past and Present: The Effective Negotiator 178 In Conclusion 180 Chapter VIII: The Nineteenth Century: Inclusiveness and Exclusiveness 183 Choice 187 Context 190 Counterparts 193 Structure 199 Conversations 202 Convergence 206 In Conclusion 212 Table of Contents 9 Chapter IX: The Twentieth Century: Reputation and ‘Egotiation’ 217 Closure of the First World War 222 The Outer Ring 223 The Inner Ring 224 Opening and Closure of the Second World War 228 Munich, 1938 229 Yalta, 1945 232 During the Cold War 234 Vienna, 1961 234 Beijing and Moscow, 1972 236 Geneva, 1985 239 In Conclusion 240 Chapter X: The Twenty-First Century: Structure and Negotiation 243 Uniqueness and Strength of the Organization 246 The Role of the Negotiation Process 247 Characteristics of the EU as a Negotiations Arena 249 Member States in the EU Negotiation Process 252 Procedures of the EU Negotiation Process 254 Institutions in the EU Negotiation Process 254 The Presidency in the EU Negotiation Process 256 The European Council in the EU Negotiation Process 257 The Council of Ministers in the EU Negotiation Process 258 The European Parliament in the EU Negotiation Process 259 The Commission as the Initiator, Implementer and Broker 260 EU Enlargement and External Negotiations 261 Strategies and Tactics in EU Negotiation Processes 263 The Future of the EU Negotiation Process 265 In Conclusion 268 Chapter XI: Simulating Diplomatic Negotiation 271 Unilateral lessons for chairing 274 Chairing in the European Union 276 Effective Chairing 278 Bilateral lessons for practice 281 The Nature of Negotiation in an OSI Context 283 Training for On-site Inspection Negotiations 287 CTBTO Table-Top Exercises: What Are They About? 289 CTBTO Table-Top Exercises: What Happened and Why? 291 Multilateral lessons for practice 295 Substance 296 Rules of the game 298 Processes and Outcomes 300 Comparable Games 302 In Conclusion 303 10 Diplomatic Negotiation Chapter XII: Summary and Conclusions 307 The Nature of Diplomatic Negotiation 311 The Conduct of Diplomatic Negotiation 315 Cross-Cutting Findings 321 Actors 323 Factors 324 Process 326 Control 326 Recommendations 328 Samenvatting 331 Bibliography 341 Glossary 367 Acknowledgements 371 Curriculum Vitae 375 Index 379 Preface This treatise is a study on international diplomatic negotiation processes and their context. Diplomatic negotiation processes are vital instruments in international relations between countries and in international organizations. In article 33.1 of Chapter VI of the Charter of the United Nations, concerning the ‘Pacific Settlement of Disputes’, negotiation is mentioned as the first instrument of seven methods to be used in cases of conflict: ‘The parties to any dispute, the continuance of which is likely to endanger the maintenance of international peace and security, shall, first of all, seek a solution by negotiation, enquiry, mediation, conciliation, arbitration, judicial settlement, resort to regional agencies or arrangements, or other peaceful means of their own choice’ (https://treaties.un.org/doc/ publication). Furthermore, in its 83rd plenary meeting on 8 December 1998, the United Nations General Assembly adopted Resolution 53/101 on ‘Principles and Guidelines for International Negotiations’ (www.refworld.org/docid/3b00f5254a.html). In the preamble, it stresses ‘the important role constructive and effective negotiations can play in attaining the purposes of the Charter by contributing to the management of international relations’. The resolution provides principles and guidelines, hoping that these will ‘contribute to enhancing the predictability of negotiating parties, reducing uncertainty and promoting an atmosphere of trust at negotiations’. In its second operative paragraph, it ‘Affirms the importance of conducting negotiations in accordance with international law in a manner compatible with and conducive to the achievement of the stated objective of negotiations’. The name ‘diplomatic’ is perhaps not completely accurate – inter-state or ‘inter-nation’ might be more precise – but it seems to make good sense to use ‘diplomatic’ as the term commonly understood for international negotiations in the public sector, playing a pivotal role in peaceful conflict resolution. After all, it had already been said in 1716 (Callières, 1983: 70) that ‘States reap so many advantages from continual negotiations, when they are managed with prudence, that it is not possible to believe it, where one does not know it by experience’. This book will use the term international negotiation in the sense of diplomatic negotiation – that is, inter-state negotiation processes between sovereign states in and outside international organizations, being tied to the intra-state processes in which the national positions are determined. As the term ‘international negotiation’ is the most common terminology to be used by those who deal with diplomatic negotiation processes, the two terms will be used interchangeably. This book defines diplomatic negotiation as an exchange of concessions and compensations in a framework of international order accepted by sovereign entities. Such a peaceful process will only be successful if there is enough common ground between the adversaries. Effective diplomatic negotiators will diagnose – and if needed create – this common space. This treatise has been written in the tradition of Clingendael Institute’s PIN program, and after two decades at the International Institute of Applied Systems Analysis (IIASA) in Laxenburg. According to the PIN tradition, there is no one-way street on negotiation. There are, of course, books – often originating in North America – that are a great help 12 Diplomatic Negotiation to those who want to negotiate successfully. Indeed, these books are a useful tool for the international negotiator, but they are one-sided as they tend to explain negotiation through inclusive models, thereby excluding other approaches.