LESSONS FROM THE IRANIAN FRAMEWORK AGREEMENT NEGOTIATIONS
Whether negotiating high level international negotiations,or corporate deals in business, the negotiation principles, fundamentals and processes are the same. As such, it makes sense to examine high profile international negotiations, learn from them and improve our skills by applying the lessons to our own business negotiations.
The recent framework agreement that the P5+1 reached with Iran over the nuclear weapons issue, drew very conflicting responses from heads-of-state, diplomats, politicians and pundits from all over the world. There were those who felt it was an acceptable deal, others felt, that although it was not great, it was still better than no deal. At the same time there were others who felt that no deal would have been preferred. In addition, some were concerned with compliance,verification and enforcement. What was most conspicuous however, was that the P5+1 did not attempt, nor were they able to defend and support the terms of the agreement or to alleviate the concerns of the many detractors and critics!
In any negotiation, if we are unable to explain to ourselves, to our superiors, to constituents or to others as to why we consented to a particular agreement, it is a clear indication that the negotiation process was flawed and that the outcome is bound to be suboptimal.
The recent framework agreement that the P5+1 reached with Iran over the nuclear weapons issue, drew very conflicting responses from heads-of-state, diplomats, politicians and pundits from all over the world. There were those who felt it was an acceptable deal, others felt, that although it was not great, it was still better than no deal. At the same time there were others who felt that no deal would have been preferred. In addition, some were concerned with compliance,verification and enforcement. What was most conspicuous however, was that the P5+1 did not attempt, nor were they able to defend and support the terms of the agreement or to alleviate the concerns of the many detractors and critics!
In any negotiation, if we are unable to explain to ourselves, to our superiors, to constituents or to others as to why we consented to a particular agreement, it is a clear indication that the negotiation process was flawed and that the outcome is bound to be suboptimal.
