Ripening Within? Strategies Used by Rebel Negotiators to End Ethnic War

This article explores what strategies rebels use to prepare their ethnic community for negotiated peace. Proposed strategies are distilled from relevant theory and systematically investigated in case analyses of peace negotiations in Sri Lanka, Indonesian Aceh, and Senegal. The empirical findings indicate that although a coercive military capacity underpinned claims to ethnic representation, coercion did not dominate during the prenegotiation phase. During negotiations, noncoercive persuasion, as well as collective and selective incentives, clearly dominated. Moreover, the most important measures were internal to the negotiating rebel group. The successful rebel negotiator appeared to “mobilize in reverse” by initially targeting the core of military leaders followed by competitor groups and constituents. The article systematically examines across cases what measures rebel negotiators have used to “ripen” their own community, how these measures have been sequenced, and against whom they have been directed. The findings have important implications for the concepts of ripeness and prenegotiation and their requirements. The study underscores in particular the relevance of rebels' nonviolent commitment signals, something that has been largely overlooked in the research on nonstate armed actors. The policy implications suggest the possible benefits of third‐party assistance to efforts to promote communication, public outreach, and procedural transparency on the nonstate side in connection with peace talks.     

Assessment Procedures for Skills‐Based MBA Courses Adapted from the U.S. Army Reserve Officer Training Corps Leadership Development Program

Measuring student progress toward the achievement of learning outcomes in negotiation skills courses is a difficult task. Measuring the effectiveness of the delivery of course instruction can be equally challenging. This article proposes some answers to these questions: How can student performance in skills such as negotiation, leadership, and teamwork (sometimes referred to as “soft skills”) be effectively measured and accurately evaluated? What standards can be used to determine whether student performance is superior, adequate, or inferior? How can teaching effectiveness be evaluated to determine whether students are receiving the instruction necessary to achieve the course learning objectives? This article describes how the authors collaborated on an adaptation of the assessment processes used in the U.S. Army Reserve Officer Training Corps (ROTC) cadet Leadership Development Program for use in an MBA course on negotiation skills. We report on a pilot effort that has demonstrated that the ROTC‐style leadership assessment process can be successfully adapted for use in a graduate course on negotiation and that it provides useful means for evaluating both individual student performance and overall course effectiveness. While our work involved a negotiation course, we suggest that the process could be adapted for use in other skills‐oriented courses such as leadership.     

Structural,Domestic, and Strategic Interests in the European Union: Negotiation Positions in the Council of Ministers

Preferences are a crucial element for analyzing decision making and negotiations, but knowledge about which factors determine these preferences is sparse. Some quantitative and qualitative studies of European Union (EU) negotiations have assumed that the negotiation conflict dimensions in intergovernmental negotiations reflect market‐versus‐regulation approaches as well as a north–south dimension. In this study, I demonstrate that these findings can be extended to show that the relevant determining factors for negotiation positions are economic structural variables and the degree to which a country benefits from the EU. Furthermore, the domestic interests of EU governments better explain a government's interest in some specific issues, such as consumer protection or fishery policies, than do their partisan preferences. Moreover, I am able to show that in frequent negotiations, such as EU Council of Ministers negotiations, sincere preferences dominate; however, some factors, such as extreme salience, can increase the likelihood that a minister will choose a less sincere strategic position such as an extreme position.     

Transplanting Active Learning Abroad: Creating a Stimulating Negotiation Pedagogy Across Cultural Divides

For all of the ongoing attention paid by international relations scholars to reevaluating and improving their pedagogy, the effort to engage classes in new and productive ways can be exceptionally challenging when a western professor travels to a non-western society to teach advanced students. Professor Michael Fowler here explores the use of active-learning techniques in teaching international negotiation and conflict resolution abroad. Drawing especially on the author's experiences in working with officials in Laos and Vietnam, the article provides guidance for fashioning an effective active-learning course abroad, while referencing useful literature on negotiation teaching and scholarship. It assumes that certain readers will not be familiar with active-learning methods, but might want to incorporate them into future courses, and that others will be well-versed in this pedagogy, but will be looking to apply their customary techniques to the new circumstances of teaching advanced students abroad. This article includes material of interest to both groups.     

绑架现场人质解救的博弈策略

绑架者一般是不完全信息博弈者 ;在绑架现场人质解救中 ,绑架者会面临博弈困境。解救者应在人质解救的“纳什均衡”出现期间 ,解决绑架者的博弈困境。为有利于人质解救 ,解救者应有选择地向绑架者提供相关信息 ,应审慎开出“空头支票”。     

莫斯科劫持人质事件暴露出的问题及其警示

莫斯科劫持人质事件暴露了俄政府在打击恐怖活动上的措施不当、防范不周、信息不灵、制度要求不落实等问题;给我们的主要警示是:应加强反恐理论研究,建立并完善对恐怖事件的打击机制。     

从集体协商到集体谈判的转变

为了与国际接轨建立自己的集体谈判制度,实现从目前的集体协商制度向集体谈判制度转变,我国应当建立强制性的集体谈判程序,确定适宜的谈判单位,发展自己的谈判结构并尊重当事人确定集体谈判代表人权限的权利。     

行政议价的法律性质及其成因分析

当前广泛存在的行政议价大多属于滥用职权或者超越职权的行为。造成行政议价广泛存在的原因主要包括立法过程博弈不充分、部门利益化驱动、法院司法审查权的过度狭小。要禁止行政议价,关键是要消除行政议价的成因。     

WTO多哈回合谈判的发展趋势与中国的对策

WTO多哈回合谈判的中止,是各种因素综合作用的结果。笔者认为目前暂时中止的多哈回合谈判必将在有关国家的努力下得到重新启动并最终获得成功,但其成功有赖于世界经济的稳定增长、各国之间增加互信和谈判的诚意,同时还应采取有效的措施消除导致多哈回合谈判中止的诸多因素。在今后的多哈回合谈判中,我国应在正确处理WTO多边贸易体制与我国主权关系的前提下,将广大发展中国家更加紧密地团结在自己周围,不断提高谈判能力并积极参与谈判,从而发挥一个政治大国和贸易大国应有的重要作用。