High Stakes Negotiations

Overview

INI is developing methods to deal constructively with emotions in hostage crises and terrorism situations; INI is field-testing these ideas in collaboration with local and federal government officials.

• Hostage Negotiation. INI works on practical theory to aid both international and domestic hostage negotiation with the FBI and state police departments respectively. INI is developing assessment instruments as well as training materials on the emotional dimension of conflict.
  
  
• President in Residence. Senior-level policymakers join INI to analyze the emotional dimension of negotiation, drawing on their practical experience and insight.  These leaders work with INI faculty to understand the emotional forces driving political conflict and negotiations and formulate prescriptive advice to improve the way that policymakers deal with emotions.
  Jamil Mahuad, former President of Ecuador, is a senior affiliate of INI.  He has worked closely with INI’s Roger Fisher and Daniel Shapiro to reveal major emotional factors involved in the success of his 1998 peace negotiations with Alberto Fujimori, President of Peru.  In Beyond Reason: Using Emotions as You Negotiate, President Mahuad describes how he applied INI’s “core concerns framework” to improve the emotional climate between the two countries and their leadership.  For details, click here.
  
  
• Middle East Negotiators. In 2001, the Harvard Negotiation Project and Conflict Management Group founded the Israeli-Palestinian Negotiating Partners, with the goal of increasing the effectiveness of Israeli-Palestinian negotiations and dialogue process. As part of this program, INI faculty have trained high-level officials and grassroots negotiators involved in the Middle East conflict.

To Return to the List of Theory Building Projects, click here.