Originally from Dispute Resolution Journal

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In a Financial Times opinion piece dated April 2, 2017, Jonathan Powell, a skillful negotiator on behalf of the United Kingdom, discussed participating in various negotiations with the IRA, Germany on unification, Colombia, and the old Soviet Union. In this context, he said:

The objective of any negotiation is to build trust between the two sides, not to undermine it.  At the moment, we are going in the other direction - no new relationship with the EU is going to work smoothly unless we are at least civil to each other.

The second step is to stop overstating the strength of our position.  We are weak strategically and tactically.  We are weak strategically because we depend on the EU market for more than it depends on us.

Third - we need to build common interests between the different groups concerned.

Threatening to jump off a cliff … If we do not get what we want is comparable with someone threatening to shoot themselves unless you do what they want.  It cuts no ice; so, stop with the threats.

It is only by listening … that … interests can be advanced. 

The themes we can take from Mr. Powell’s comments for problem solving are:

• Building trust

• Finding common interests

• Avoiding dramatic threats

• Listening