Deadlocks in Multilateral Negotiations
Causes and Solutions

Examines the causes and consequences of deadlocks in multilateral settings, and analyses strategies for breaking them.

Amrita Narlikar (Edited by)

9780521130677, Cambridge University Press

Paperback, published 6 May 2010

336 pages, 4 b/w illus. 7 tables
22.8 x 15.2 x 1.5 cm, 0.53 kg

'Amrita Narlikar has put together a valuable collection of essays on the ingredients of success and failure in multilateral negotiations. The approach is multi-disciplinary, as well as being both theoretical and empirical. This book has a coherent and disciplined structure, as the authors of individual chapters relate their analyses to the conceptual framework laid out at the start by Narlikar. The volume makes a useful contribution to our thinking about the dynamics of negotiation and how to understand their results.' Patrick Low, Chief Economist, World Trade Organization

Deadlocks are a feature of everyday life, as well as high politics. This volume focuses on the concept, causes, and consequences of deadlocks in multilateral settings, and analyses the types of strategies that could be used to break them. It commences with a definition of deadlock, hypothesises about its occurrence, and proposes solutions. Each chapter then makes an original contribution to the issue of deadlock – theoretical, methodological, or empirical – and further tests the original concepts and hypotheses, either theoretically or through case-study analysis, developing or altering them accordingly. This is a unique volume which provides an in-depth examination of the problem of deadlock and a more thorough understanding of specific negotiation problems than has ever been done before. It will be directly relevant to students, researchers, teachers, and scholars of negotiation and will also be of interest to practitioners involved in negotiation and diplomacy.

Introduction Amrita Narlikar
Part I. Disciplinary Insights: 1. The politics of deadlock Andrew Gamble
2. From Bretton Woods to Havana: multilateral deadlocks in historical perspective Martin Daunton
3. Talking one's ways out of strikes William Brown
4. Litigating the way out of deadlock: the WTO, the EU and the UN Markus W. Gehring
Part II. Case Studies: 5. Transatlantic intransigence in the Doha Round: domestic politics and the difficulty of compromise Alasdair R. Young
6. Know the enemy: uncertainty and deadlock in the WTO Amrita Narlikar and Pieter van Houten
7. Entering the zone of agreement: the United States in climate change negotiations Sevasti-Eleni Vezirgiannidou
8. The role of informal negotiation processes in breaking deadlocks: the UN Security Council Jochen Prantl
9. Negotiating international policies on Kosovo Pieter van Houten
10. Beyond negotiation deadlocks: the importance of mediation and leadership change Jacob Bercovitch and Carmela Lutmar
Conclusion. Case studies as evidence: lessons learned Daniel Druckman and Amrita Narlikar.

Subject Areas: Business negotiation [KJN], Business & management [KJ], International relations [JPS], Politics & government [JP]