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Tags: multilateral negotiation, simulation, The Hague Peace Conference Simulation, diplomacy, reflection on process and relations, written exam.
Other skills: negotiation, multilateral negotiation, reflection on process,
reflection on own behavior in negotiation, analytical skills
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Through exercises, simulations and case studies students will actively engage to learn essential negotiation skills. The course is aimed at learning by doing. First theoretical aspects will be explained followed by exercises and simulations which increase in complexity. Furthermore, they will engage with diplomats, experts and organisations from the field. Students will gain a better understanding of how the world of International Diplomacy and Negotiation works, as well as a better understanding of their own behaviour and that of others. Creating awareness of processes, people, perceptions, preferences and power.
Admission requirements:
This course is an (extracurricular) Honours Class: an elective course within the Honours College programme. Third year students who don’t participate in the Honours College, have the opportunity to apply for a Bachelor Honours Class. Students will be selected based on i.a. their motivation and average grade.
Description:
The course is extensive, however the rational is simple. Negotiation is a skill which needs to be practiced. Therefore, students will actively engage with the theoretical material in several ways, through exercises, simulations, case studies and video reviews.
During the first session students get an introduction to the course. During the course important relevant skills besides negotiation (such as public speaking) will also be covered. Each year the simulation and subject of the Young Diplomat Conference changes, ensuring that the subjects discussed are socially relevant issues fitting the
context of current developments. Each seminar will highlight certain aspects of international negotiation and, as students progress, the exercises during the seminars will become more complex and challenging. As they learn about the theoretical aspects on international negotiation, they apply it directly and train their skills during the exercises.
During the final weekend students will partake in the Young Diplomat Conference. Here
students will have to apply the skills and knowledge they have gained throughout the course in a two day simulation. Each body will have a professional from the Young Diplomat to make observations about the performance of the students which will serve
as input to the reflection. During the course students will need to do research on the position of their actor (through desk research). The position statements will be distributed among all other participants. Students will have to submit a final position statement with a negotiation strategy as part of their final assignment.
By applying for this class you confirm that you are physically available on all the dates of the class, which also includes two weekends and 5 Saturdays. You will also attend all the meetings with the NGOs, diplomats and will visit the Peace Palace.
Course objectives:
Upon successful completion of this course, students will:
have a better understanding of the relationship and inner workings of supranational and intergovernmental organizations as well as among government, science and society;
have gained valuable skills on bilateral and multilateral negotiation skills, as well as on personal leadership and public speaking;
applying skills and theoretical knowledge through different simulations varying in complexity, while also applying knowledge to case studies;
have a better understanding of international political and diplomatic negotiation;
learn how to manage complexity, their own emotions and representing interests, while dealing with those of others;
have a better understanding of their own behavior and that of their fellow students/negotiators;
have gained analysis and research skills in relation to international political and diplomatic negotiation;
have gained a network of NGOs for potential internships and career opportunities;
have gained insights into the reality of working in international politics and diplomacy.
Programme and timetable:
The meetings of this class will take place on the following dates:
February 7 from 13.00 – 17.00: Opening, introduction to the topic of the Young Diplomat Conference and first lecture.
February 8 from 13.00 – 17.00: Lectures on the theme and other events in relation to the simulation and topic of the Young Diplomat Conference.
Saturdays, February 14, 21, 28 and March 7 and 14 from 10.00 – 12.00 (60 minute lunch break)
13.00 – 15.00 lecture by H.B. van den Berg, MSc.
Saturday and Sunday March 21 and 22 from 9.30 – 17.00 final simulation of the Young Diplomat.
PROGRAMME
Week 1 of the course:
7 th of February 13.15 – 17.30:
Session I of the seminar: introduction to International Negotiation and Bilateral
Bargaining.
An introductory lecture on the topic of international negotiation will give you an overview of the important elements of the subject. This is followed by exercises on distributive and integrative bargaining to better understand their impact on international political negotiation. The day will be end focussing on effectiveness and emotion in negotiation.
Week 2 of the course:
14 th of February 13.15 – 17.30:
Session II of the seminar: This session will focus on mediation and multilevel negotiation.
Mediation is a crucial means to reaching peaceful and agreed solutions in today’s world
– on an international, political, industrial, peace-keeping or social level. However, mediating can be challenging and requires particular skills. The start of the class will focus on the introduction of the exercise, will let you prepare your position and approach
and allow for some lobbying with the different parties. During the rest of the session you
will be working on the negotiations followed by an extensive debriefing.
Week 3 of the course:
21 st of February 13.15 – 17.30:
Session III of the seminar: Case study on negotiation and Minilateral Bargaining.
In this session, the process of negotiation between more than two parties and the impact of internal and external processes will be studied and practised. You will get a better understanding of the options for win/win solutions, hampered by elements like trust, entrapment, power and interest imbalances, the differences in character and effectiveness of the actors involved and the (non-)chemistry between them. You will get
more insights into the tensions between competition and cooperation. The session will start with a discussion of the Pacific Oil Case, this will give insights into a real life situation of negotiation and the different behaviours of people. Later on in the afternoon there will be a negotiation between five member states of the European Union concerning a crisis in the Mediterranean.
Week 4 of the course:
28 th of February 13.15 – 17.30:
Session IV of the seminar: Strategy and Tactics.
The session will focus on the strategy and tactics which are used within negotiations and international political conferences. It will give you a better understanding of the different strategies in negotiation and how to apply them. A closer look will be taken on Russia’s grand strategy on international affairs and how this influences the negotiations they take part in. A discussion on tactics will help you to understand how to use them in relation to strategies and their effects. The session will include an exercise emphasising the two level game. In the evaluation and discussion the focus will be on evaluating the approaches taken in the exercise in relation to the theory discussed and delving deeper into the two level game.
Week 5 of the course:
7 th of March 13.15 – 17.30:
Session V of the seminar: public speaking and speech writing. As diplomat being able to speak publically in a confident and comfortable way is an important skill.
This session will focus on training and practicing with the skill set necessary for public speaking. Furthermore, a crash course in speech writing will ensure students are prepared for making an opening statement during the final simulation.
Week 6 of the course:
14 th of March 13.15 – 17.30:
Session VI of the seminar: Chairing & Preparing for the final simulation.
In this session, you will come to better understand the position of the chair or president of a negotiation. We will delve deeper into the traits that are needed and how you can influence negotiations from these positions. After the break, time is allocated to further prepare for the final simulation. The team of the Young Diplomat will take time to help students familiarise themselves with the rules of procedure and support the chairs in their preparation.
Week 7 of the course:
21 st of March 10.30 – 17.30:
The first day of the Young Diplomat Conference. During the conference, you will represent a country or actor in an international body. Some actors will be represented in
all bodies, while others will not. In all situations, you will have to coordinate your actions
and approach across the bodies. If you have no representation in one or two of the other
bodies, you will have to work with allies to ensure your interests are served.
19.00 – 22.00:
Dinner an event location in the Hague. The dinner serves several purposes 1) during
dinner, as during real life negotiation and diplomatic conferences lobbying continues and
deals are struck; 2) an introductory course on etiquette will be provided; 3) this is the
final weekend of the course, a moment for students to bond and build connections
among each other.
22 nd of March 10.30 – 14.30:
After a first day at the conference, you are expected to come to an outcome with either a
statement or resolution.
15.30 – 17.00:
After the conference has concluded a break is taken. During the first part of the reflection each body will reflect, with the Young Diplomat professional, on their performance. After this reflection the group will come together, review the outcome of the conference and in general reflect on the performance across the different bodies.
During the weeks the students will engage in the following visits. The exact moments
depend on the availability of the institutions.
A visit will be made to the International Criminal Court in the Hague where students will receive a guided tour and presentation on the workings of the court. The International Criminal Court is the only international tribunal which can rule on international crimes based on the Rome statute. This visit will highlight the importance of the court in international relations and politics and what the consequences are in relation to which states are and are not signatory to the Rome statute.
A visit to the OPCW will be organised to better understand the goal and functioning of the organisation within the UN framework and offer students a chance to ask questions.
Location:
All sessions take place at Wijnhaven, visit take place to institutions and embassies within The Hague.
Reading list:
Week 1, session 1:
Christer Jönssen, ‘Conceptualizations …’ (Workbook on International Political and Diplomatic Negotiations, P.W. Meerts, pp. 83-89).
The Sage Handbook of Diplomacy (2016). Costas M. Constantinou, Pauline Kerr and Paul Sharp (eds.). Los Angeles, Sage, Chapter 1, 2, 4, 5.
Week 2, session 2:
Chapter IV Entrapment in Negotiation (pp. 91 - 114), Diplomatic Negotiation, Essence and Evolution, Paul Meerts.
Raymond Cohen (2001): Negotiating Across Cultures. In: Crocker, C.A., Hampson, F.O., and Aal, P. (eds.), Turbulent Peace: The Challenges of managing International Conflict. Washington D.C.: United States Institute of Peace, 469-481
Geert Hofstede (1984): “Cultural Dimensions in Management and Planning”. Asia Pacific Journal of Management. Vol 1, No. 2, 81-99
The Sage Handbook of Diplomacy: Chapter 6
Week 3, session 3:
- ‘The UN, A Suitable Place for Disasters?’, Randolph Kent.
Week 4, session 4:
Nicolaides, P., Negotiating Effectively for Accession to the European Union: Realistic Expectations, Feasible Targets, Credible Arguments.
Lelieveldt, H. and S. Princen (2011). The Politics of the European Union. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press: [only 232-238].
Van den Berg, H.B. (2021). On Strategy and Tactics. PIN POINTS, no. 50 (pp. 27 - 30).
Week 6, session 6:
- Unilateral lessons for chairing (pp. 274 - 280), Chapter XI, Simulating Diplomatic Negotiation, Diplomatic Negotiation, Essence and Evolution, Paul Meerts.
Course load and teaching method:
This course is worth 5 ECTS, which means the total course load equals 140 hours.
Contact hours: 48
Self-study: 92
8 hours spread over the intriduction weekend on case study and presentation.
24 hours over 6 seminars of 4 hours each.
16 hours on the final simulation of the Young Diplomat.
20 hours on the group essay of the case study assignment.
20 hours on the concept position paper final simulation and final position paper and
negotiation strategy.52 hours studying relevant literature.
Assessment methods:
The assessment is made up out of three assignments in essay form:
1. Position statement and negotiation strategy (40% of the final grade):
During the furst weekend of the course, you will be put randomly into groups (2-6
students) to represent an actor (state, organisation or other) in the final simulation.
For the first part of the assignment, you will write a position statement on the topic and
agenda points of the final simulation. You will send this position statement no later than
the 8th of March to all other representatives.
Based on your position statement and those of the other delegations you will write a final
position statement (500 words) and a negotiation strategy (1000 words). The final position statement serves also as your opening statement for your session in the final
simulation.
The opening statement:
Should clarify the position of your delegation on the topic at hand and communicate what is and isn’t negotiable.
It needs to be written in the third person (We, the delegation of the Kingdom of Norway, as representatives of the United States of America).
The negotiation strategy:
Should clarify what kind of strategy and tactics (including agenda setting) will be used to
achieve the goals of the delegation.
If the delegation holds the chair should reflect how this will be used within the strategy.
Should reference literature to support and clarify the chosen strategy and tactics.
Should reflect an analysis of the positions of the different delegations to which the strategy is tuned. Added to this assignment each student will hand in a personalised
reflection on the process of the group working together and their own work. This part
should be approximately 250 words.
Policy brief on a contemporary negotiation: (30% of the final grade)
write a concise policy brief on either the Ukraine - Russia or Israel - Palestine negotiations. You are allowed to choose yourself which one you will cover and for which leader of the parties you write it for. You can use a maximum of 2500 words. Remember that this is a policy brief and not an academic essay, this means that you should use both academic and grey sources (news, think tanks and other sources). Your brief should be appealing and easy to read, aimed at a political leader who has to be able and pushed to make decisions. Step away from being an academic and become a political advisor. The bief should cover the following:
A time line of the most important moments.
Are negotiations viable? What is the political risk?
Analysis with recommendations, outlining possible strategies and implications.Diplomatic Diary (Firs-Person Perspective) (30% of the final grade):
Write a single journal entry from the perspective a key negotiator in a historical or recent
diplomatic process. You can choose your own historical or recent moment and the person about who this is. For this assignment you will need to do the necessary research on your chosen event and the person for who you write the journal entry. Again, step away from being an academic, and become the person themselves. Takes us along in what was going on, how that person perceived it, what was going on. You will need to reference sources you used, both academic or grey. From the first-person perspective you write 1500 words (+/- 10%) covering:
The historical events on a given day or moment and the decision making process.
Make sure you cover the depth of the psychological and strategic insight.
Consider your writing style, after all you are writing as this particular person.
All assignments need to have a sufficient (5.5) grade or higher to pass the course. The
final grade for the course is calculated by the average of the grades of the two
assignments.
Brightspace and uSis:
Brightspace will be used in this course. Upon admission students will be enrolled in Brightspace by the teaching administration.
Please note: students are not required to register through uSis for the Bachelor Honours Classes. Your registration will be done centrally.
Application process:
Submitting an application for this course is possible from Monday, 27 October 2025 up to and including Sunday, 16 November 2025 23:59 through the link on the Honours Academy student website.
Note: students don’t have to register for the Bachelor Honours Classes in uSis. The registration is done centrally before the start of the class.
Contact:
Coordinator: a.j.e.righolt@fgga.leidenuniv.nl
Teacher: pwmeerts@gmail.com
Organiser and Teacher: hans@youngdiplomat.org