Admission requirements
Honours student FGGA
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 weekend students get an introduction to the course, important relevant skills (such as public speaking), an introduction to diplomacy and the topic specific to their year. 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. The opening weekend will welcome experts and practitioners from the field, while at the same time introducing the students to the simulation, their role and any other specific relevant information.
Each seminar will high light 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 but also by contacting and meeting with the actual Embassy of their actor in the Hague). They will submit their position statement to the course lecturers who will provide it with feedback. The position statements will also 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.
During the weeks of the course students will go on field trips within the Hague to the International Criminal Court, the Peace Palace, embassies, and during the Young Diplomat Conference attend a formal dinner.
Programme:
Week 1 of the Course:
8th of February 13.00 – 17.00:
Students will be welcomed and be given an introduction on the topic of the Young Diplomat Conference followed by a skills training on public speaking.
9th of February 13.00 – 17.00:
The weekend continues with an introduction to diplomacy and a specific lecture on the theme in relation to the simulation and topic of the Young Diplomat Conference.
Week 2 of the Course:
15th of February 10.00 – 12.00 and 13.00 – 15.00:
In the first session students will be introduced to the topic of International Negotiation. This will give them a basic understanding of the important elements and process of International Political Negotiation. The students will engage and work together in an exercise highlighting important elements of negotiation such as trust and collaboration.
Week 3 of the Course:
22nd of February 10.00 – 12.00 and 13.00 – 15.00:
In the second session students will learn more about strategy and tactics within negotiation. This will immediately highlight the elements of chairing. Each negotiator and diplomat will need to prepare properly for their negotiations, after all failing to prepare is preparing to fail. Negotiations and international political conferences can be a hot bed for tensions. Therefore, they need smart and tailormade strategies and tactics. Besides this, students will explore the important elements of chairing. A chair can have significant influence over the process and outcomes of negotiations. While on the other hand can find her-/himself excluded from any affairs by a single mistake. In the second half of this session students will reflect on characteristics of a chair, the importance of procedure, tips and tricks, and different styles of chairing.
Week 4 of the Course:
1st of March 10.00 – 12.00 and 13.00 – 15.00:
In the third session students will get an introduction on the history and development of negotiation and diplomacy throughout the years. Students will engage in exercises on distributive (win/lose) and integrative (win/win) bargaining. In the second half they will engage with Trilateral and Minilateral Bargaining. The process of negotiation between more than two parties and the impact of internal and external processes will be studied and practiced. They will engage in a negotiation between five member states of the European Union concerning a crisis in the Mediterranean.
Week 5 of the Course:
8th of March 10.00 – 12.00 and 13.00 – 15.00:
The fourth session will start with a focus on Negotiation behaviour. Several models and exercises will serve to enhance the understanding and management of negotiation behaviour and its effectiveness. After all, bargaining and negotiation are not only about interest, but very much about personalities, their ego, etc. This is true for diplomats, but probably even more for politicians. The module starts with a discussion of chapter IV of ‘Diplomatic Negotiation’ and a discussion on the issue of the skilled negotiator. In the afternoon students will get started on a simulation for conference diplomacy. In order to get a better understanding of multilateral complexity, students will negotiate and draft a resolution on the creation of the United Nations Disaster Relief Organization (UNDRO) in the context of the United Nations (UN) Economic and Social Council (ECOSOC) in Geneva. This session is the preparatory phase. After the break a plenary session with short statements followed by exploration of the draft resolution will be the official starting point of the conference, followed by a first round of formal and informal consultations.
Week 6 of the Course:
15th of March 10.00 – 12.00 and 13.00 – 15.00:
In this final session the negotiations of the previous session will be finalized. An ECOSOC Resolution on the coordination in cases of natural disasters will be drafted and debriefed. In parallel sessions each member of the ten delegations (including the presidency) will be involved in a process of drafting a single text under consensus rule. After the break there will be debriefings with reflections on the performance of the students and as groups. The session will be concluded by a film of the drafting process as it happened in reality, followed by a reflection on the course so far by discussing the article of Lempereur and Colson.
Week 7 of the Course:
22nd of March 09.30 – 17.30:
The first day of the Young Diplomat Conference. The international bodies in which the students will act are the UN Security Council, NATO or the EU Heads of Government. Some actors will be represented in all bodies, while others will not. In all situations students will have to coordinate their actions and approach across the bodies, and if they have no representation in one or two of the other bodies work with allies to ensure their interests are served. Students will start negotiations on the topic of the conference and will have to coordinate with their fellow delegates and allies across different bodies. The goal is to have a final resolution or statement by the end of the weekend. Each body will have a professional from the Young Diplomat to make observations about the performance of the students serve as input to the reflection.
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.
23rd of March 09.30 – 15.00:
After a first day at the conference students are expected to come to a final outcome with either a statement or resolution. Again, each body will have a professional from the Young Diplomat to make observations about the performance of the students serve as input to the reflection.
15.30 – 17.30:
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 high light 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 will be made to the Peace Palace where the students will receive a guided tour. The Peace Palace is an active court and plays an important role in international relations, law and negotiations.
Students will pay a visit to an embassy situated in the Hague which will offer them the opportunity to meet in a small setting with a diplomat to ask questions about her/his work and the field.
Course objectives
Upon successful completion of this course, students will:
Have a better understanding of the relationship and innerworkings of supranational and intergovernmental organisations as well as among government, science and society.
Having 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.
Timetable
On the right side of programme front page of the studyguide you will find links to the website and timetables, uSis and Brightspace.
Mode of instruction
The course is worth 5 EC, 140 hours
55 contact hours (simulations, in-class and excursions)
85 self-study, preparing podcast, preparing conference, assignment, literature
Assessment method
The assessment is made up out of two assignments in essay form:
Position statement and negotiation strategy (50% of the final grade): In the weekend of 26th and 27th of March students will take part in a two day simulation. Small groups of students (2-6) and will represent an actor (state, organisation or other). The students will write a statement on the position of the actor they represent in relation to the topic of the simulation. Groups will have to finalise their position statement and exchange it with all other groups no later than the 4th of March 2022. Building on their own position and the position statements of the other actors, groups finalise their position statement for simulation and develop a negotiation strategy. This is due on the 25th of March 2022. Total word count of 1500 words (with a 10% margin).
Podcast: Case study (50% of the final grade): In a podcast of approximately 30 – 45 minutes you need to present an analysis of a historical or current negotiation. The podcast should be presented in an attractive way, in other words, people should be interested in listening to it. You can analyse any negotiation as long as it is a negotiation which took place. The purpose of the exercise is to do research and apply the skills and theory you learn in class to analyse a situation in real life and understand it better.
Both assignments need to have a sufficient (5.50) 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.
The final grade will be reduced with 0.5 point of the grade for every missed lecture or participation on both the case study weekend or the final simulation of the Young Diplomat. The total reduction of the grade can therefore reach a maximum of 5.0 (6 lectures, 2 days of the opening conference and 2 days of the Young Diplomat final simulation).
Reading list
Week 2, 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 3, 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 4, session 3:
- ‘The UN, A Suitable Place for Disasters?’, Randolph Kent.
Week 5, 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 5:
Unilateral lessons for chairing (pp. 274 - 280), Chapter XI, Simulating Diplomatic Negotiation, Diplomatic Negotiation, Essence and Evolution, Paul Meerts.
Registration
Contact
Coordinator: a.j.e.righolt@fgga.leidenuniv.nl
Organiser and Teacher: hans@youngdiplomat.org