PON – Program on Negotiation at Harvard Law School - https://www.pon.harvard.edu
Good Offices in a War-Weary World
Since the end of the Cold War, ethnic animosity, unresolved sovereignty claims, and persistent poverty have unleashed renewed violence in dozens of simmering conflicts — creating more pressure than ever to find improved conflict resolution methods. The Consensus Building Institute and the Program on Negotiation at Harvard Law School have identified "good offices" as a particular type of third-party engagement in hot disputes that deserves closer study because it stands out as one of the most viable and least controversial methods of intervention.
A "good offices" provider is a person or organization of some standing that provides a physically and psychologically safe setting for the facilitation of negotiation. The provider's role is to try to help the parties "get to readiness" to negotiate by correcting misperceptions, clarifying issues, and facilitating communication. The good offices provider might be an outside neutral or a group of stakeholders; in either case, an effective good offices provider represents a strong principle or process.
Rich with examples and commentary from experts in the field of public dispute resolution, this video explores the nature, functions, benefits, and potential of the "good offices" role. Speakers include Harvard Law School Professor Emeritus Roger Fisher, MIT Professor Lawrence Susskind, and Fletcher School of Law and Diplomacy Professor Eileen Babbit, as well as distinguished representatives from international conflict management, peacemaking, and aid organizations.
Great Negotiator 2002: Lakhdar Brahimi
Each year, the Program on Negotiation at Harvard Law School presents the Great Negotiator Award to an individual whose lifetime achievements in the field of negotiation and dispute resolution have had a significant and lasting impact. In 2002, the Program on Negotiation selected Ambassador Lakhdar Brahimi as the recipient of its Great Negotiator Award.
Ambassador Brahimi is a universally-admired diplomat whose renowned negotiation skills have been tested in the harshest of circumstances. A native of Algeria, he has devoted the greater part of his four-decade career to convincing people to choose peace over war. Highlights of his extraordinary career include mediating the Taif Accord, which paved the way for an end to the Lebanese civil war; heading special United Nations troubleshooting missions to hot-spots such as Afghanistan, Yemen, Liberia, Sudan, Nigeria, South Africa, the former Zaire (now Democratic Republic of Congo), and Haiti; and overseeing the production of the "Brahimi Report," a comprehensive critique of the efficiency and effectiveness of U.N. peacekeeping missions. In 2002, as the UN Secretary General's Special Envoy to Afghanistan, Ambassador Brahimi took a lead role in orchestrating both the Bonn Conference that set up an interim Afghan government following the fall of the Taliban, and the June 2002 Loya Jirga, the successor negotiations to Bonn.
The Program on Negotiation honored Ambassador Brahimi in events on October 2, 2002. These began with an in-depth faculty-moderated discussion with a group of students, faculty, and guests at Harvard Business School. On the evening of the 2nd, Ambassador Brahimi received the Great Negotiator Award at a formal dinner at Harvard Law School. This DVD features excerpts from the award discussion with Ambassador Brahimi.
On the DVD, Ambassador Brahimi speaks from personal experience about strategies, tactics, and lessons learned as UN Special Envoy to Afghanistan both before and after the fall of the Taliban; and about general negotiation issues such as knowing what is and what isn't negotiable, taking account of outside players in a negotiation, the role of deadlines in negotiation, negotiating with parties together or separately, and knowing when to continue negotiating and when to walk away.
The DVD booklet includes a guide to the 24 DVD tracks as well as a complete transcript of the DVD contents. Used alone or with the Lakhdar Brahimi case study, it provides a wonderful opportunity to teach from recent history, using a living, working diplomat as a focus for learning about negotiation. The case study provides a wealth of factual details regarding Brahimi's negotiations, while the DVD features Brahimi's personal reflections and observations. An instructor might, for instance, use the case study as a basis for classroom discussion, and use excerpts from the DVD to offer Brahimi's own thoughts on the issues discussed in class.
DVD run time: 1 hour, 35 minutes
Great Negotiator 2003: Stuart Eizenstat
Each year, the Program on Negotiation at Harvard Law School presents the Great Negotiator Award to an individual whose lifetime achievements in the field of negotiation and dispute resolution have had a significant and lasting impact. In 2003, the Program on Negotiation selected Stuart Eizenstat as the recipient of its Great Negotiator Award.
The former U.S. Ambassador to the European Union, Under Secretary of Commerce, Under Secretary of State, and Deputy Secretary of the Treasury, Eizenstat was recognized for his landmark efforts to reclaim property and achieve some restitution for victims of Nazi Germany. This complex problem, centered around the millions of dollars of assets and property stolen from forced laborers, Jews, and other victims of the Nazis, was the subject of Eizenstat's "second job" during six long years of negotiations. Despite the fundamental role Eizenstat played in the achievement of $8 billion of reparations for victims of the Nazis, his description of the process was touched by a profound sense of humility. "I call the work that we did 'imperfect justice,' and if that seems a contradiction, it is not one here," he remarked. "There can be no final accounting, even for those who did recover something. And yet, there was still an accountability, a sense that justice has been done."
The Program on Negotiation honored Stuart Eizenstat in events on October 1, 2003. These began with an in-depth faculty-moderated discussion with a group of students, faculty, and guests at Harvard Business School. That evening, Eizenstat received the Great Negotiator Award at a formal dinner at Harvard Law School. This DVD features excerpts from the award discussion with Eizenstat.
In the video, Eizenstat speaks from personal experience about issues such as why Holocaust reparations were negotiated 50 years after the fact, the motivations and effects of U.S. involvement in the negotiations, the way in which his own goals and background influenced his involvement, the constraints of his negotiation instructions, the obstacles to agreement, the cultural differences between U.S. and European negotiators, the lessons learned, and possible future applications of these lessons.
A booklet includes a guide to the 16 chapters as well as a complete transcript of the video contents. Used alone or with the Stuart Eizenstat case study, it provides a wonderful opportunity to teach from recent history, using a living, working diplomat as a focus for learning about negotiation. The case study provides a wealth of factual details regarding Eizenstat's negotiations, while the video features Eizenstat's personal reflections and observations. An instructor might, for instance, use the case study as a basis for classroom discussion, and use excerpts from the video to offer Eizenstat's own thoughts on the issues discussed in class.
Great Negotiator 2004: Ambassador Richard Holbrooke
Each year, the Program on Negotiation at Harvard Law School presents the Great Negotiator Award to an individual whose lifetime achievements in the field of negotiation and dispute resolution have had a significant and lasting impact. In 2004, the Program on Negotiation selected Ambassador Richard Holbrooke as the recipient of its Great Negotiator Award.
Ambassador Holbrooke is a highly regarded diplomat and negotiator perhaps best known for his central role in helping broker the 1995 Dayton Agreement following the 1992-95 war in Bosnia, as well as his leading role in resolving the multinational dispute over U.S. dues owed in arrears to the United Nations. Over his four-decade career, Ambassador Holbrooke has served as the U.S. Ambassador to the United Nations, U.S. Assistant Secretary of State for Asia as well as for Europe, U.S. Ambassador to Germany, managing director of Lehman Brothers, managing editor of Foreign Policy, and director of the Peace Corps in Morocco. Ambassador Holbrooke’s success in some of the world’s most difficult negotiations has led to him receive seven nominations for the Nobel Peace Prize.
The Program on Negotiation honored Ambassador Holbrooke in events in October 2004. These began with an in-depth faculty-moderated discussion with an invited group of students, faculty and guests at Harvard Business School and concluded with Ambassador Holbrooke receiving the Great Negotiator Award at a formal dinner at Harvard Law School. This DVD features excerpts from both discussions with Ambassador Holbrooke.
Previous recipients included Stuart Eizenstat, former Special Representative of the U.S. President and Secretary of State, for his work negotiating reparations for victims of Nazi Germany (2003); Ambassador Lakhdar Brahimi, U.N. Special Envoy to Afghanistan, for his mediating work in numerous international conflicts, including orchestrating the Bonn Conference that established an interim Afghan government following the 2001 fall of the Taliban (2002); Charlene Barshefsky, U.S. Trade Representative in the second Clinton administration, for her efforts negotiating a variety of complex international trade agreements (2001); and Former U.S. Senator George Mitchell, for his orchestration of peace talks in Northern Ireland (2000).
The DVD booklet includes a guide to the 34 DVD tracks as well as a complete transcript of the DVD contents.
Great Negotiator 2022: Christiana Figueres
The Program on Negotiation (PON) at Harvard Law School periodically presents the Great Negotiator Award to an individual whose lifetime achievements in the field of negotiation and dispute resolution have had a significant and lasting impact. In 2022, PON selected Christiana Figueres as the recipient of its Great Negotiator Award.
As UNFCCC Executive Secretary, Christiana Figueres was tasked with a seemingly insurmountable challenge of putting together an impactful, global climate agreement to save the planet. Coming out the dramatic failure of the Copenhagen summit, many believed that such an agreement was not possible. However, with persistent optimism and careful, targeted interventions aimed at building momentum, in 2015 the Paris Agreement was unanimously adopted by the 196 participating nations and set forth a new framework for international climate agreements.
PON honored Christiana Figueres as its Great Negotiator in April 2022. This included a public session interview attended by students, faculty, and guests at Harvard Law School, as well as an in-depth private session interview, where Figueres answered questions and offered insights on the negotiation process. Both the public and private video interviews are included in the Great Negotiator 2022: Christiana Figueres video package. Below, check out a preview of the private session interview with Figueres and Professors James Sebenius and Hannah Riley Bowles:
Since 2001, the Program on Negotiation has bestowed the Great Negotiator Award upon distinguished leaders whose lifelong accomplishments in the fields of negotiation and dispute resolution have had compelling and lasting results.
2000 PON Great Negotiator: George Mitchell."To Hell with the Future, Let's Get on with the Past" features former U.S. Senator George Mitchell's work on the all-party talks in Northern Ireland between 1996 and 1998 that culminated in the signing of the historic Good Friday Accords.
2001 PON Great Negotiator: Charlene Barshefsky. Featuring former U.S. Trade Representative Charlene Barshekfsky's work from 1994 to 1996 negotiating a trade agreement with China. Includes both A Case and B Case.
2002 PON Great Negotiator: Lakhdar Brahimi. Negotiating a new government for Afghanistan, featuring former United Nations Special Envoy Lakhdar Brahimi's involvement in negotiating an interim government for Afghanistan after the fall of the Taliban in 2001
2003 PON Great Negotiator: Stuart Eizenstat. Negotiating the Final Accounts of World War II, featuring former EU Ambassador and Special Representative to the President, Stuart Eizenstat's work facilitating the award of $8 billion in reparations from multiple European governments, banks, and companies to victims of World War II
2010 PON Great Negotiator: Martti Ahtisaari. Featuring former Finnish President and longtime diplomat's 2005 negotiation between the Free Aceh Movement (GAM) and the Indonesian government. The resolution ended 30 years of violence and became known as "The Helsinki Accords". Includes both A Case and B Case.
2014 PON Great Negotiator: Tommy Koh. Details the efforts of Singapore Ambassador-At-Large Tommy Koh to negotiate the United States-Singapore Free Trade agreement. Highlights Koh's successful actions to overcome the significant challenges presented by trade negotiations with the United States. Includes both A Case and B Case.
Each case study describes the featured negotiator's background and examines the context, strategies, tactics, and outcome of a particularly difficult international negotiation in which the negotiator was involved. Used together, the case studies offer a unique opportunity to learn from recent history and to compare and contrast the approaches of four renowned professional negotiators.
Each case study is also sold separately.
Guatemala Role Play, The
The Guatemala Role Play is a simulation from the Workable Peace Curriculum Series unit on Indigenous Rights and the Environment in Latin America.
OVERVIEW OF THE GUATEMALA ROLEPLAY:
Guatemala has been an ethnically, economically, and politically divided society for over 450 years. In the early 1960s, some army officers who opposed the military government organized small guerrilla rebel factions. Soon, these rebel factions organized into a larger military force known as the URNG. As the URNG began to defeat government forces in the countryside, the government decided to put pressure on the URNG and their supporters. Thousands of indigenous people were killed and their villages destroyed.
After years of negotiations, the Guatemalan government and the URNG signed an "Accord for a Firm and Lasting Peace" in 1996. Despite the peace accord, several issues remain to be resolved. This follow-up negotiation takes place in 1998. The Guatemalan Minister of the Interior will chair a negotiation that includes representatives from the Guatemalan military, the URNG, and the ethnic Mayans living in Guatemala, as well as the U.S. Ambassador to Guatemala. The three issues on the table are how to protect human rights, how to deal with Mayan land claims, and how to recognize Mayan cultural and political rights.
MAJOR LESSONS:
This role play underscores the relevance of general lessons about "basic" negotiation skills as they apply to multi-party, multi-issue negotiations: e.g., active listening, improving one's BATNA, focusing on interests rather than positions, inventing options for mutual gain, etc.
Provides a means for exploring the political dynamics and economic issues likely to emerge during an actual negotiation
Imparts an understanding of the processes of international treaty negotiations as they are currently conducted
Highlights the importance of understanding the human dimension in ethnic conflict and the difficulty of proposing solutions without grasping the complexity of the relationships.
Emphasizes the importance of understanding the interests of internal constituencies and designing negotiation strategies which manage the link between internal and external negotiations, as well as the importance of creating external coalitions without letting internal coalitions crumble.
Demonstrates how members of groups in conflict can take steps toward a workable peace by negotiating truces, recognizing each others' right to meet basic needs, and making rules for settling their conflicts and meeting their needs without violence.
Teacher's Package Includes:
Participant materials
Teaching Note
Master List of Player Goals
Framework for a Workable Peace
Workable Peace Self-Assessment Form
Overheads
Observation/Assessment Instructions
If you would like additional information about the Workable Peace framework and teaching materials, including information about teacher training and support, please contact Workable Peace Co-Directors David Fairman or Stacie Smith at:
The Consensus Building Institute, Inc. 238 Main Street, Suite 400 Cambridge, MA 02142 Phone: 617-492-1414 Fax: 617-492-1919 Website: www.cbuilding.org
Hydropower In Santales
SCENARIO:
The Ortega Company is a new hydroelectric company that hopes to build a hydropower plant in the Cordillerana region of Santales, a fictitious South American country. In a departure from normal operations, the company has asked several different communities if they are interested in allowing a hydropower plant to be developed within their borders. Of the nine communities originally considered, two have expressed preliminary interest in the project. One is the town of Villaverde, located along the Reposado River. The development of the project could bring jobs and infrastructure investment to Villaverde, but would probably reduce the flow of the river, which could threaten the livelihoods of many community members.
The Ortega Company is seeking broad support for the project and has invited representatives from the nearby indigenous community, local residents, the mayor’s office of Villaverde, and the local environmental NGO (nongovernmental organization) to meet with a representative from the company to discuss their concerns. In addition, the company has hired a professional mediator.
LEARNING OBJECTIVES
Expose participants to different viewpoints and interests regarding energy development and related land use dilemmas
Importance of voicing those different interests and perspectives early in the project development process (e.g. for identifying project impacts and possible design alternatives)
Questions about the role and responsibility of the mediator in: helping parties listen to each other, raising constructive options, clarifying solutions reached, and drafting written agreements
Build competency with brainstorming creative options based on party interests
Address fundamental value differences as a key source of disagreement among parties
MECHANICS:
This negotiation itself may be run within 2 – 3 hours (which includes a 30 minute prep period at the beginning). An additional 30 minutes prep time could be added should the instructor ask participants who have been assigned the same role in separate negotiation groups, to gather and discuss their role prior to the actual negotiation.
The instructor should allow at least 1 additional hour for debriefing.
TEACHING MATERIALS: For all parties:
General Instructions
Transcription of the Local Radio Announcement
Role Specific Confidential Instructions:
Representative of the Junta de Vecinos – Villaverde
Mayor of Villaverde
Representative of Los Robles
Representative of the Ortega Company
Representative of the Environmental NGO
Mediator
Teacher's Package:
All of the above
Teaching Note
ENHANCED VERSION AVAILABLE:
A digitally enhanced version of this simulation is available through the iDecisionGames platform and includes the following features:
An Instructor’s Guide summarizing the negotiation concepts covered in the simulation, a quick review of simulation logistics, and a ready-to-use set of debriefing slides;
Highlights from background readings that will help both students and instructors gain a better understanding of negotiation concepts and methods covered in the simulation;
Pre- and post-simulation questionnaires instructors can use gauge each student’s grasp of the core concepts before and after participating in the simulation;
PowerPoint slides that introduce key concepts before the simulation and highlight lessons for debriefing;
Real time, interactive, data analytics provided via the iDecisionGames platform.
Lakhdar Brahimi – Negotiating a New Government for Afghanistan
Part of the PON Great Negotiator Case Study Series, this factual case study examines former U.N. Special Envoy Lakhdar Brahimi's involvement in negotiating an interim Afghani government after the fall of the Taliban in 2001. As a result of these efforts, Brahimi received the Program on Negotiation's 2002 "Great Negotiator" Award.
The case study covers Brahimi's background and early career, the background of the 2001 conflict in Afghanistan, the players and issues involved in the 2001 Bonn Conference on establishing an interim Afghani government, the main points of the Bonn Agreement, and the post-Bon peace process. It also includes an ethnic map of Afghanistan, excerpts from Brahimi's remarks to the United Nations about Afghanistan, and a diagram of the Bonn Conference participants.
This case study provides a wonderful opportunity to teach from recent history, using a living, working diplomat as a focus for learning about negotiation. It may be used alone or in conjunction with the Great Negotiator 2002: Lakhdar Brahimi video, which is available separately.
The case study provides a wealth of factual details regarding Brahimi's negotiations, while the video features Brahimi's personal reflections and observations. An instructor might, for instance, use the case study as a basis for classroom discussion, and use excerpts from the video to offer Brahimi's own thoughts on the issues discussed in class.
March at Drumcree Role Play, The
The March at Drumcree Role Play is a simulation from the Workable Peace Curriculum Series unit on Religion and Nationalism in Northern Ireland.
SCENARIO:
This role play is set in the mixed Protestant/ Catholic town of Portadown, Northern Ireland. The conflict centers around the issue of Protestant celebrations of the Protestant defeat of the last Catholic King of England in 1690. These celebrations, in the form of marches through the neighborhoods of Portadown, have been occurring for nearly two hundred years; however, due to changing demographics, some of these neighborhoods are nor inhabited primarily by Catholics, who view the marches as a symbol of Protestant domination. As this role play begins, a government commission has ordered representatives of the Orange Order, the Garvaghy Road Residents Coalition, the RUC, the Protestant Church of Ireland, and the Catholic Church to try to resolve the dispute, with the help of a mediator from the European Union. Specifically at issue are the following questions: whether the march will take place, and if so, the route that it will take; what behavior rules the marchers and residents will follow; and what kind of long-term arrangements can be made to settle such disputes in the future.
GOALS OF A WORKABLE ROLE PLAY:
The Workable Peace March at Drumcree Role Play aims to:
Provide accurate history and background information on the Northern Ireland conflict, and specifically the conflict over the issue of Protestant marches, and provide opportunities for students to engage with this history in a direct and realistic context
Stimulate and motivate student learning through active participation, as well as reading, writing, class discussion and other forms of analysis and expression.
Build students' negotiation and conflict management skills by asking them to take on the roles of participants seeking to resolve a conflict through negotiation, with support and feedback as they prepare, conduct and debrief the role play.
Challenge students to find the links between the conflicts presented in the role play and the conflict resolution steps presented in the Workable Peace Framework, and the links to other conflicts in history and in their own lives.
Teacher's Package includes:
History and General Instructions
Confidential Instructions for four parties and a mediator
Framework for a Workable Peace
Teaching Notes
If you would like additional information about the Workable Peace framework and teaching materials, including information about teacher training and support, please contact Workable Peace Co-Directors David Fairman or Stacie Smith at:
The Consensus Building Institute, Inc. 238 Maint Street, Suite 400 Cambridge, MA 02142 Tel: 617-492-1414 Fax: 617-492-1919 web: www.cbuilding.org Email: stacie@cbuilding.org
Nazi Party of America v. Town of Hokey
SCENARIO:
The Nazi Party of America has paid a non-refundable $5,000 deposit to the Convention Center in the Town of Hokey (population 100,000-55,000 Jewish). The American Civil Liberties League (ACLL) is representing the Nazi Party in petitioning the Board of Selectmen to permit a parade that will travel through the center of town and pass many Jewish homes with residents who still vividly remember the Holocaust. The Town of Hokey is in an uproar, and the issuance of the permit has become a national political issue. There is little doubt that if the permit is not issued the whole convention will move to another heavily Jewish community. The Attorneys for the Town and the ACLL are scheduled to meet to discuss the possibility of reaching some agreement. The meeting of the Board of Selectmen meet to vote on the issuance of the permit is imminent.
MECHANICS:
This case can be configured either one-on-one or two-on-two. Negotiation time may range from 10-60 minutes, review from 15-60 minutes, both depending on the goals and the amount of preparation. (No precedents are given in the case, but obviously many exist that can be researched.) Videotaping highlights nonverbal communication.
MAJOR LESSONS:
This case puts Carol Gilligan's two "voices" of rights and caring directly at odds in a value-laden political context with high salience for many people. This sets up discussion of a series of issues, including: Whether and how the two concerns can be reconciled? What constitutes "objective" criteria in a case like this–is some fundamental value consensus needed for the concept to have meaning and/or functionality?
How does internal conflict over these issues manifest itself in verbal and nonverbal behavior? What differential effects do different negotiation techniques have on the level of conflict–can partisan perceptions be strengthened by some approaches, greater understanding promoted by others? Which is desirable on an individual or societal level?
The case also raises a variety of issues related to politicization, and to conflicts of interests between local and national interest groups and between short- and long-range goals.
TEACHING MATERIALS:
Role Specific:
Confidential Instructions for the:
Town Attorneys
American Civil Liberties League Attorneys
Teacher's Package:
All of the above
PROCESS THEMES:
Authority; BATNA; Communication; Constituents; Credibility; Emotions; Ethics; Fairness; Gilligan, two voices; Lawyering; Legitimacy; Media; Objective criteria; Partisan perceptions; Precedents; Pressure tactics; Public opinion; Separating the people from the problem; Threats
One Village, Six People
SCENARIO:
In 1990, Tutsi exiles in Uganda formed the Rwandese Patriotic Front (RPF), a political and military organization. After three years of war, they came within 30 km of invading Kigali, the Rwandan capital. The Rwandan president was forced to sign a power-sharing peace agreement with the RPF. However, Hutu elites within the government had been training civilians, militias, and army units to massacre the Tutsis. On April 6, 1994, President Habyarimana was assassinated and the genocide began.
For three months, the citizens of Rwanda were slaughtered on such a massive scale that five times more people were killed per day than in any other twentieth century genocide. Approximately 830,000 people were killed, of which 800,000 were members of the Tutsi ethnic minority, and the remainder members of the Hutu majority. Eleven percent of Rwanda's population died. Two million of Rwanda's seven million people fled the country as refugees.
In 1996, most of the Rwandan people returned to their homes and livelihoods. The ethnic conflict that had exploded into genocide two years before still existed, however, and new conflicts had arisen out of the genocide.
This negotiation is set in a small village in Gisenyi Province of northern Rwanda, just after the return of a massive wave of refugees. The format is a village meeting with six participants: Bernadette (a 44-year old Tutsi woman whose husband and son were killed by the Hutus); Frederic (a 22-year old Tutsi refugee whose parents fled to Uganda from Gisenyi 30 years ago); Ancille (a 45-year old Hutu woman whose daughter had married Bernadette's son); Joseph (a 25-year old Hutu man, recently appointed prefect); Charles (a 60-year old Hutu man and the locally elected bougmestre who challenges Joseph's authority); and Perpetune (a 29-year old Hutu woman whose land abust the land claimed by Bernadette, Ancille, and Frederic). The villagers will seek consensus regarding competing land claims and local authority issues.
NOTE: One Village, Six People is a role simulation from the Workable Peace Curriculum Series unit on Ethnic Conflict and Genocide in Post-Colonial Africa.
Key learning points include:
How intergroup conflicts begin when individuals identify strongly with a particular group as a way to meet their physical and psychological needs, and come to believe that this "identity group" is being threatened by members of other groups;
How intergroup conflicts escalate when group members and leaders decide to use threats or acts of violence to meet the needs of their own group; and
How members of groups in conflict can take steps toward a workable peace by negotiating truces, recognizing each others' right to meet basic needs, and making rules for settling their conflicts and meeting their needs without violence.
Teacher's Pack includes:
History and General Instructions
Confidential instructions for Perpetune, Frederic, Charles, Joseph, Ancille and Bernadette
Observation/ Assessment Instructions
Teaching Note
Master List of Player Goals
Teaching Overheads
Framework for a Workable Peace
If you would like additional information about the Workable Peace framework and teaching materials, including information about teacher training and support, please contact Workable Peace Co-Directors David Fairman or Stacie Smith at:
The Consensus Building Institute, Inc. 238 Main Street, Suite 400 Cambridge, MA 02142 Tel: 617-492-1414 Fax: 616-492-1919 web: www.cbuilding.org Email: stacie@cbuilding.org
Rebuilding the World Trade Center Site
This video shows a group of legal, business, and dispute resolution professionals negotiating the six-person, facilitated role simulation entitled World Trade Center Redevelopment Negotiation (also available from the Teaching Negotiation Resource Center) regarding the reconstruction of the World Trade Center site in New York City, following the terrorist attacks of September 11, 2001. Professor Lawrence Susskind of the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (M.I.T.) introduces and debriefs the exercise, and F. Peter Phillips of the International Institute for Conflict Prevention and Resolution (CPR) provides additional commentary. The setting is the January 2007 CPR Annual Meeting in New York City, attended by a number of experienced attorneys, mediators, and judges.
The video includes three primary sections:
(1) An introduction (Chapter 1: approximately 14 minutes), in which Professor Susskind discusses the purposes of the exercise (primarily, to highlight the challenges associated with multi-party, multi-issue negotiations in the public arena), provides summary background information about the terrorist attacks on the World trade Center on September 11, 2001, describes the six roles and four issues to be negotiated in the World Trade Center Redevelopment Negotiation exercise, offers some preliminary observations about the dynamics of complex multiparty negotiation, and provides instructions for participating in the exercise.
(2) A demonstration of one group of six CPR Annual Meeting attendees negotiating the World trade Center Redevelopment Negotiation exercise for the first time (Chapters 2 – 9; approximately 39 minutes). This negotiation is unscripted and unrehearsed. It has been edited for time, but every effort has been made to preserve the overall flow of the actual negotiation. This segment is particularly interesting because it frequently depicts simultaneous interactions, sometimes by using a split screen to show multiple participants in the same meeting, and sometimes by sequentially showing meetings of sub-groups of participants that actually occurred simultaneously.
A debriefing of the exercise, led by Professor Susskind, and a summary of the primary lessons (Chapters 10-11; approximately 14 minutes).
The video may be used for a number of purposes:
(1) For teachers or trainers interested in using the underlying role simulation exercise (World Trade Center Redevelopment Negotiation) in their classes, the entire video can be used for self-study, as it demonstrates an effective approach to running and debriefing the exercise. The World Trade Center Redevelopment Negotiation exercise is available from the Program on Negotiation's Teaching Negotiation Resource Center at www.pon.org.
(2) For teachers or trainers who use the World Trade Center Redevelopment Negotiation exercise in their classes, the portion of the video showing one group negotiating the exercise (Chapters 2-9; approximately 39 minutes) can be used for purposes of comparison with the students' own negotiation experiences.
(3) For teachers and trainers of mediation, facilitation, public disputes, and/or multiparty negotiation dynamics (such as process management, coalition building, and caucusing), either the entire video or the portion of the DVD showing one group negotiating the exercise (Chapters 2-9; approximately 39 minutes), can be used for demonstration and discussion purposes.
(4) For mediators, facilitators, urban planners, attorneys, executives who engage in complex negotiations, and/or anyone else interested in learning more about mediation, facilitation, public disputes, and/or multiparty negotiation dynamics (such as process management, coalition building, and caucusing), the entire DVD can be used for self-study purposes.
Springfield OutFest
SCENARIO:
This simulation focuses on a dispute between two private organizations and a city over speech rights that will or won’t be granted as part of a permit for a festival on city property. It also explores the role of attorneys representing their clients in negotiated agreements around values-based disputes.
In Springfield OutFest, Springfield Pride is a local advocacy organization that supports the city of Springfield’s sizeable lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender (LGBT) community. Springfield Pride’s largest event of the year, by far, is the OutFest, an annual street festival permitted by the city of Springfield to celebrate National Coming Out Day, to and support and affirm LGBT identity. In addition to drawing large, supportive crowds, the festival also attracts members of the public who oppose the message of the festival and LGBT lifestyles in general. One group in particular, Salvation Now!, is a nationwide network of grassroots religious and social campaigners who seek to bring their religious message directly to those they consider to be living sinful lifestyles. The local Salvation Now! organizers have been a regular and increasingly visible presence at the OutFest over the past several years, including last year. Salvation Now! members arrived at the OutFest, megaphones at the ready, and began broadcasting a message that many at the festival found offensive and hateful. Springfield Pride had organized a human buffer of numerous volunteers, who were prepared to to shield the crowd from the protesters. The volunteers carried massive signs to block the signs of the protesters and blew whistles to drown out their megaphones. As tensions mounted, the police arrested several Salvation Now! members for refusing to follow police instructions and disrupting the peace. Although these criminal charges were eventually dropped, the confrontation dampened the festival atmosphere and attracted quite a bit of unfavorable media attention to the city of Springfield and the OutFest.
The simulation begins one year later. Springfield Pride has just submitted its permit application for this year’s upcoming OutFest. Fearing either an escalation of last year’s confrontation or legal liability and court challenges, the city has requested a meeting with all parties to try to agree on some parameters and rules before this year’s festival.
TEACHING MATERIALS:
There are six roles to be assigned:
Springfield Pride (D. Jones, Chair of the OutFest Organizing Committee and R. Altman, Attorney for Springfield Pride)
Salvation Now! (B. Riley, Executive Director, Salvation Now! and G. Chiles, Attorney for Salvation Now!)
City of Springfield (C. Porter, Attorney and Head of the City Permitting Department)
Mediator
Teacher's Package Includes:
All of the above
Jennifer Gerarda Brown, Peacemaking in the Culture War Between Gay Rights and Religious Liberty, 95 Iowa Law Review 747 (2010).
Teaching notes
TEACHING POINTS:
The most important objective of this exercise is to demonstrate that assisted negotiation (i.e., mediation) can be used to resolve values-based disputes, not just interest-based disputes. With the assistance of a mediator, the parties and their attorneys can craft a settlement that does not require them to compromise their fundamental beliefs or values. Key teaching points include:
Avoiding threats to individual identity
Stressing the human element
Overarching values
Understanding the interests of the parties
Focusing on both short-term and longer-term solutions
Learning when is no agreement the best agreement
SIMILAR SIMULATIONS:
Springfield Outfest is one of a 3-part series of simulations focused on the mediation of values-based disputes. The other two simulations in the series are Ellis v. MacroB and Williams v. Northville.
If you wish to purchase all three simulations at a discount we have a bundle option available click here. You can also download a PDF version of "Teaching about the Mediation of Values-Based and Identity-Based Disputes".
Stuart Eizenstat: Negotiating the Final Accounts of World War II
Part of the PON Great Negotiator Case Study Series, this factual case study examines former EU Ambassador, Deputy Treasury Secretary, and Special Representative to the President Stuart Eizenstat's career as a negotiator, with special emphasis on his work negotiating reparations for victims of the Holocaust. As a result of these efforts, Eizenstat received the Program on Negotiation's 2003 "Great Negotiator" Award.
The case study begins with Eizenstat's background and early career, including several complex negotiations in which Eizenstat played a key role: the 1996-1998 standoff between the U.S. and E.U. regarding economic sanctions against Cuba, Iran, and Libya; a 1997 trade dispute between the U.S. and Japan over controversial port practices; the management of the U.S. delegation to the 1997 Kyoto conference on global warming; and a 1999-2000 dispute between the U.S. government and U.S. terrorism victims over the availability of blocked assets to settle legal judgments.
The bulk of the case study focuses on Eizenstat's extraordinary work facilitating the negotiations between World War II victims and Swiss, German, Austrian, and French government institutions and industries over reparations for slave and forced labor, confiscated property (including looted art and frozen bank accounts), and unpaid insurance policies. The scope of the eventual settlements was enormous, resulting in $8 billion for the victims of the Nazis. Eizenstat navigated this complicated – and in many ways, uncharted – terrain between 1995 and 2001, in addition to his demanding responsibilities as a senior official in the Commerce, State and Treasury Departments.
This case study provides a wonderful opportunity to teach from recent history, using a living, working diplomat as a focus for learning about negotiation. It may be used alone or in conjunction with the Great Negotiator 2003: Stuart Eizenstat video, available separately. Here is a short clip from that video:
Summitville Service Agreement
SCENARIO:
Summitville Service Agreement is a two-team, four-party, co-mediated, multi-issue simulation involving a property tax dispute between the small Canadian town of Summitville and the Antler Cove band living on a reservation just outside town limits.
The context of the dispute is that the Band has recently gained the right to tax non-Indian properties on its reserve land, and therefore the town can no longer tax those properties. Consequently, tax revenues are no longer available to the town to fund municipal services, and the Band and town must negotiate how those services will be provided to reserve land and at what cost to the Band. The key issue is a difference in perception regarding taxation authority. The town views this negotiation as simply defining a fee-for-service arrangement, where the Band should reimburse the town for municipal services that the town provides to Band property. In contrast, the Band perceives that the town is trying to infringe upon its sovereignty by requiring payment for town administration expenses when the Band is running its own government.
While the substantive issues related to crafting an acceptable service agreement are real and difficult, participants may discover through the mediation process that the broader relationship between the town and the Band must also be addressed.
MECHANICS:
Time require (5 hours total):
45 minutes for preparation
3.5 hours for simulation
45 minutes for debrief
Group Size:
6 participants (4 parties and 2 co-mediators)
Materials required:
General Instructions, including map and letters to the editor
Confidential Instructions for:
Mayor of Summitville B. Bolton (Town Representative)
Town Administrator T. Steeves (Town Representative)
Chief of Antler Cove Band A. John (Band Representative)
Band Administrator S. Robert (Band Representative)
Two co-mediators
Game logistics
Flip charts and Markers
TEACHING POINTS:
Zone of Possible Agreement (ZOPA) on key issues
Managing hierarchies within and across organizations
The mediators' role in framing the issues
Activity and style of the mediators
Maintaining control of the process and enforcing ground rules
Prof. Susskind’s Top 5 Environmental Negotiation Teaching Materials
From time to time, the Teaching Negotiation Resource Center asks PON-affiliated faculty to nominate their top five books, top five teaching videos or top five role-play simulations in certain fields or teaching settings. These change periodically.
