Abstract Based on newly assembled data on resolutions authorizing peace missions and their extensions between 1948 and early 2024, we explore coalitions in the United Nations Security Council ( unsc ) involving both the five permanent (P5) and the ten elected, non-permanent member states (E10). We combine a basic quantitative exploration of voting behavior with a qualitative assessment of selected resolutions and related statements. The focus is notably on abstentions, as ‘no’ votes by P5 members imply a resolution does not pass. We apply a range of coalition-formation theories to gain insights into coalition dynamics and find that respective approaches need adaptations for the case of the Security Council: Coalition-formation in this institution, as our analysis demonstrates, is driven by motives such as parochial national interests, expected audience costs (including effects on a member state’s standing within the organization), and lastly, aspirations to uphold the collective legitimacy and credibility of the institution.
Abstract This article examines how cultural time orientations of Long-Term Orientation ( lto ) and Short-Term Orientation ( sto ) shape negotiation behavior in the South China Sea ( scs ) conflict. Combining constructivist theory with Hofstede’s cultural dimensions, it argues that culture is a constitutive variable in diplomatic strategy. Using a mixed-methods approach, the research compares East Asian states (China, Japan, South Korea), which exhibit high lto , with the sto -driven diplomacy of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations ( asean ). The findings show that lto cultures emphasize persistence, thrift, hierarchy, and historical continuity, enabling consistent and future-oriented negotiation strategies. In contrast, asean ’s sto values encourage flexibility, consensus, and short-term harmony, resulting in more reactive and fragmented responses. The article concludes that enduring asymmetries in scs negotiations cannot be understood without accounting for the normative and symbolic functions of culture. It calls for greater cultural calibration in regional diplomacy to foster more effective, balanced, and sustainable negotiation outcomes.
Abstract Those who seek to make and build peace have a number of tools at their disposal. Since the end of the Cold War, negotiation and mediation between conflicting parties has become an increasingly common part of this toolkit. These approaches avoid the expense of other activities but significant debates have arisen about their effectiveness and the features that determine their success or failure. In this article, we consider an often-overlooked aspect of peace negotiation and mediation processes—how they are funded. We assess the importance of how a negotiation is financed for successful conflict resolution and assess the threats and opportunities therein. Based on 48 semi-structured interviews, we find a series of interlinked financing threats that could inhibit negotiation processes, pertaining to informational asymmetries, misaligned incentives, and collective action problems. While resulting in losses of efficiency, no evidence emerges that these threats materially affect outcomes once a negotiation has begun. At the same time, there is some potential that inappropriate financing inhibits the start of negotiations in conflicts that are ripe for resolution.
Abstract The Cyprus conflict has persisted for nearly six decades despite multiple resolution attempts. The Greek Cypriot leadership advocates for continued bi-communal, bi-zonal federation talks under the UN framework, while Turkish Cypriot decision-makers promote a two-state structure that recognizes Turkish Cypriot sovereignty. This article explores the cooperation within technical committees ( tc s) in Cyprus to determine if and how they contribute to peace given the current political impasse. We conducted interviews with former and current tc members, committee coordinators, and experts and found that most committees have completed projects improving the daily lives of both Cypriot communities. However, these projects have been obstructed by each side’s political agenda, funding and staffing challenges, international actors’ differing views of their role, the public’s general lack of awareness, and communication issues. Despite these challenges, the tc s connect Track i , Track ii , and Track iii actors, helping them develop a crucial foundation for peace in Cyprus.
Abstract Coalition formation in international organizations plays a crucial role in global governance. Our article uses new data on the (co-)sponsorship of United Nations Security Council ( unsc ) resolutions, classified into member categories, offering fresh insights into the operations of this core institution in the pursuit of global peace and security. Analyzing draft resolution sponsorship to map behaviors and alignments within the Security Council for 2009 to 2023, our findings show that the P5—and notably the P3—continue to play a prominent role, particularly due to their ability to draft resolutions and lead negotiations, a practice known as ‘penholdership’. In contrast, next to the P2, the E10 members remain influential within the unsc especially through their capacity to co-sponsor resolutions and form coalitions with other Security Council members, to influence negotiations and decision-making in this institution.
There is an increasing consideration of the role individuals – other than state leaders – can play in diplomacy and negotiations across various contexts. This article argues that the concept of the boundary spanner can be refocused beyond its current narrow use to consider the activities that individuals engage in when operating between conflict parties. At their core, boundary spanners are actors who operate along the boundary between units or a unit and its external environment and engage in four activities: relational, connectional, informational and entrepreneurial. I argue that refocusing on the core elements of the boundary spanner concept allows for considering the role individuals can play in shaping dialogue and diplomatic relations between conflict parties. Using a range of English-language discursive materials and interviews, I apply this concept to a single case study of Dr. Yair Hirschfeld’s activities in 1989–1993, which were crucial for establishing the Oslo Channel between Israel and the Palestine Liberation Organization.
While most scholarship on simulation pedagogy focuses on the undergraduate classroom, this article examines the challenges and opportunities of using negoti-ation-based simulations in a PhD-level conflict theory course. Specifically, it exam-ines what learning endures months after the completion of the "Peacebuilding: The Challenge of Darfur" simulation from the National Museum of American Diplomacy, United States Department of State with students of varying backgrounds from around the world. Drawing on the experience of two different instructors and including data from focus group sessions with student participants, the paper examines the benefit of negotiation simulations within a theory-based PhD program. In particular, the article identifies several issues faculty members should consider when integrating simula-tions into their courses, including how to help students develop negotiation-related skills and how to build synergy across graduate classes to accentuate the learning benefits of such simulations. The findings suggest that while students may not recall specifics of the theories and readings assigned in association with the simulation, they have strong memories of the dynamic interactions of the simulation itself as well as actions that accelerated and/or detracted from reaching agreements.
This article introduces a special issue of International Negotiation dedicated to innovations in negotiation pedagogy through experiential learning and simulation. It traces the evolution of simulation as a core teaching method in negotiation education and examines how instructors across disciplines have increasingly integrated experiential approaches to enhance learner engagement and skill development. Drawing on the eight contributions in this issue, the article highlights key pedagogical advances, including the contextualization of simulations, incorporation of narrative and complexity, integration into course design, and attention to assessment and long-term learning outcomes. It concludes with a forward-looking discussion on the emerging role of artificial intelligence in simulation design and negotiation training. Together, these articles advance our understanding of experiential learning in negotiation education and point toward future directions for research and practice.
Studies of negotiations pedagogy have found that roleplays and simulations play a critical role in successfully teaching international politics but are significantly underused. There has been little reflection on using simulations and roleplays in teaching and learning about global climate justice. In the last few years, we have designed a structured and scaffolded simulation of an international climate negotiation carried out in-person several times at University of California at Berkeley's International Environmental Politics class and recently for the first time at University of San Francisco's Global Environmental Politics class. The exercise is based on the UN Framework Convention on Climate Change-historically, the 2015 Paris Agreement, and subsequent negotiations. Drawing on various iterations of this exercise and the lessons we learned from it, as well as on accounts from students who have participated in the last couple of years, we propose a model to conceptualize and put into practice international negotiations pedagogy as it pertains to the international climate regime. Drawing on our experience conceiving and implementing this exercise, we argue that its emphasis on justice claims, empathy, and an ethically informed sense of student agency in and beyond the classroom contributes to and is in dialogue with scholarship on international negotiations pedagogy.
According to Greek mythology, King Theseus found his way out of the Minotaur`s labyrinth by following a red thread. Learning peace mediation-a multidisciplinary field with roots in both academia and practice-often requires creating unconventional connections or navigating a learning "labyrinth." This study presents a successful case of a peace mediation exercise consisting of a series of Experiential Learning Activities (ELA s) spread out over a two-year program including a culminating integrative-multi-day, multi-party, immersive and coached-mediation simulation. Through this exercise, we showcase the advantages of cumulative ELAs guiding learners from the first to the last day of an educational program; the effectiveness of balancing high degrees of realism with strong pedagogical support structures; and the unique attributes of a peace mediation exercise, as compared with its non-peace related equivalent. We thereby also exemplify the potential for "resurrection" of simulations in negotiation and mediation education.
In this article the authors present findings from a project employing simulation exercises to provide at-risk youth in the District of Columbia with opportunities to test negotiation skills they learned in conflict resolution training workshops. Simulations can both test knowledge and provide instruction utilizing scenarios that challenge participants to formulate a response to "real-world" problems in which they play a stakeholder role. They also are used in academic settings to help students learn about the intricacies of international negotiations. However, seldom are they used to exam-ine how effectively skills are applied in situations participants may actually confront. The program described in this article introduces young people from one of the most violence-prone wards in Washington, D.C. to conflict resolution skills of practical value to them. The capstone simulation provides an opportunity for participants to practice those skills and allows program administrators to evaluate the impact of instruction.
In recent years, the study of peace negotiations has incorporated tools developed for analyzing complex systems. Role-plays have proven valuable for teaching and learning about social systems with many variables interacting simultaneously, allowing participants to become familiar with multiple positions, perspectives, and interaction dynamics. Based on 39 interviews with peace negotiation role-play designers, trainers, and participants, this paper explores how negotiation complexity is introduced, experienced, and managed in these simulated scenarios. The paper makes two main contributions. The first is to show that peace negotiation role-plays provide a space where trainers can introduce elements of complexity to allow participants to experience how these scenarios unfold. They can do this in a controlled way, by focusing on the main drivers of negotiation complexity or by allowing the development of elements that are beyond their control and that emerge organically from the dynamics of interaction between participants. The second contribution is a set of reflections from peace negotiation role-plays that may be worth considering when dealing with the complexity of real-life negotiations: on negotiation planning, on negotiation tactics and micro-skills, and on negotiation strategy. This allows for a better understanding of the complexity of social systems and for the use of role-plays as an experiential activity not only in the teaching, but also in the study of complexity, where a key aim is to work across disciplines and share insights.
Simulations come in many forms and, for all their usefulness, they have disadvantages due to their need to simplify in time and issues as well as their artificiality. Social psychological simulations suffer from control and oversimplification; international relations simulations suffer from the artificiality of role playing. The best simulation is one where parties play themselves for real stakes in real time. While the latter two conditions are hard to obtain (although business schools often introduce real stakes), the first is possible. However, the scenario also has to be culturally understandable. This paper presents a basic scenario, the Camp Game, where the parties play themselves for imagined stakes in credible time. The game’s use in the United States and Europe is discussed. The paper then discusses options to redesign the game for African audiences, as well as two other games used in African settings.
Experiential learning and a reality-based learning setting have been demonstrated to yield high success rates in negotiation teaching by providing an experience that allows students to reflect, understand, and become better negotiators. In other words, it provides unique opportunities to train the diplomats of tomorrow. This article, after reviewing the existing literature on experiential pedagogy for negotiation teaching, presents a graduate-level course in negotiation for law and political science students, designed to provide them with the use of in class exercises, simulations, flipped classroom and technology for a dynamic and active environment. The analysis also allows for prospective research of the next development steps, contemplating the inclusion of (1) fully flipped classrooms with pre-recorded lessons, (2) asking students to participate in the design of the simulation, (3) working conferences with presenters and (4) an integrated use of technology and ai to conduct a simulation on a dedicated online platform.
Wedge strategies – negotiation strategies that seek to prevent or weaken adversarial alignments – are increasingly used in contemporary power competition. Scholars often examine how China and Russia challenge U.S. interests, and how the United States seeks to prevent unfavorable outcomes and shape power dynamics. However, the U.S. use of wedge strategies in this context, and the design of wedge strategies more broadly, have been largely overlooked. To address this gap, we develop an analytical framework to examine the choice of wedge strategies. We apply it to investigate the U.S. choice of wedge strategies in the aftermath of the Russian invasion of Ukraine and in the Indo-Pacific. Our analysis outlines the challenges of designing wedge strategies and the need to rethink factors that make them effective, particularly as the United States encounters alignments like brics . It stresses the importance of broadening wedging options and mapping their strategic and operational aspects.
This article presents an analysis of Russian behavior as an international mediator in conflicts of the post-Soviet space: Transnistria, Abkhazia, South Ossetia, Nagorno Karabakh, and Ukraine. Drawing upon theoretical tools from mediation studies, we argue that Russia can be qualified as a “principal” mediator, projecting interests and power in the studied conflicts. It has been accepted as such on various occasions. On others, however, Russia failed to work for solutions acceptable to the conflicting parties, instead pursuing an outcome favorable to itself, and thus becoming a de-facto party to the conflicts. The complex set-up of multi-party mediation formats, led by international organizations, has locked-in the Russian role as a co-mediator without creating incentives for it to actively pursue conflict settlement. Beyond the positive Russian role in containing violence in the region in the 1990s, globally, the Russian involvement in mediation has not been effective.
Despite the formal equality of all states, in practice, international negotiations are highly unequal. In particular, small delegation size limits countries’ capacity to meaningfully engage with complex global processes. Yet, delegation size is an insufficient indicator of negotiation capacity. We argue that we also need to pay attention to delegation composition. Indeed, we propose that small delegation size can be compensated by including non-governmental delegates, by sending more senior and experienced negotiators, and by sending the same delegates over time. We use the example of climate negotiations to map and explore the interlinkages between delegation size and delegation composition. Our quantitative analysis across all countries, as well as a focus on Seychelles and Mauritius, shows that countries do indeed seek to compensate for small delegation size. Yet, these compensation mechanisms, especially sending more senior negotiators and maintaining delegation continuity, require resources that not all Parties have.
This article showcases critical foundations for successful mediations of ethnosectarian-born conflicts in Bosnia and Herzegovina, Lebanon, and Northern Ireland. Comparative mediation strategies demonstrate the centrality of power-sharing agreements as a prerequisite arrangement for any negotiated settlement outcome. Agreements are typically reached following intensified conflicts. Sides to the conflicts experience exhaustions or turning points that necessitate a third-party intervention to mediate the end of violence. The choice of mediator is another critical factor for success. The mediator’s leverage to exert pressure and force concessions or offer rewards for cooperation increases prospects for resolution. Still, a mediation strategy process that addresses identity issues and fosters the distribution of power along ethnosectarian shares remains among key factors for success.
Global goals play a catalyzing role in orienting efforts to address climate change. Yet, the negotiation of the main goal in climate governance is understudied. This article aims to fill this gap by examining the negotiation, adoption, and refinecc) Long-Term Global Goal (LTGG), from the late 1970s to date. I gather insights from semi-structured interviews with climate governance experts, the scientific literature, and official documentation to highlight the developments that shaped the LTGG over time. The study shows that agential, ideational, normative, structural, and contextual factors co-interacted in negotiating, adopting, and refining the LTGG. Drawing lessons from the LTGG experience, the manuscript contributes to knowledge on the politics of global goals, international negotiations, climate governance, and, more broadly, international relations, diplomacy, and global environmental politics.
