When Negotiations Become Routine: Not Reinventing the Wheel While Thinking Outside the Box

In this article, we seek to apply the insights of recent research on routine to the context of repeated negotiations. To demonstrate the link between both concepts, we introduce an analytical framework in which we identify different negotiation situations in which routine can develop. We distinguish two dimensions of the negotiation process: a problem-solving dimension and a communication dimension. Our framework for analyzing the role of routine in negotiation is built around these two dimensions. We define those skills that we argue in repeated negotiations can help negotiators manage particular kinds of negotiations depending on the level and type of routinization that type of negotiation involves. Moreover, we demonstrate that our framework is inherently dynamic, which we illustrate with simplified business examples.     

欧盟的功能多边主义与中国崛起

本文认为,鉴于美国的单边主义倾向,欧盟在处理与美国、中国及其他亚洲国家关系中应占据自己的战略空间,尤其应积极推行功能多边主义,并以共同安全替代美国自冷战以来一直奉行的均势思想;应以合作政策来应对诸如环境污染、能源紧缺、社会矛盾等全球性重大挑战;应拒绝遏制政策,代之以建立在功能多边主义基础上的政策,并寻求中国的支持,从而达到理想的政策效果和提高多边主义效率。中国优先关注国内发展决定了其外交政策的性质,它近年来的变化也使欧盟能够在某些领域与中国顺利合作,并推动了中国在人权和法治方面的进步。     

Some Men Named William Hunter

The Hunter family of Rhode Island produced two important American diplomatists of the nineteenth century. The elder William Hunter served for nine years as the American envoy to Brazil, where he exerted positive influence over the young emperor, Dom Pedro II. The younger William Hunter entered the Department of State in 1829 and spent fifty-seven years there under twenty-one Secretaries of State. For decades the department's third-ranking officer, he became its “mentor and authority.” The overlapping careers of Hunter and his two successors helped guide American diplomacy until 1937.