Harvard Style Negotiation Role Play Exercise 102 - The US and Soviet Union Cold War Case Study
In this Harvard styled role play exercise, you will assume the role of a diplomat from Country A who is engaged in international negotiations with representatives from Country B. The goal of the negotiations is to reach a peaceful resolution to the conflict between the two countries. Practising your negotiation skills based on real-life scenarios is one of the best ways to improve your negotiation skills quickly, as you will be able to base your negotiation setting on events that have happened in the past. This allows you to set up the negotiation parameters more easily, which is useful in keeping negotiations structured and allows you to quantify your performance during negotiations. Even though it is possible to negotiate in a three-way setting involving three or more countries in this negotiation role play exercise, we recommend participants to set up the negotiation scenario that would involve no more than 2 countries at first to simplify the process.
We recommend participants design negotiation role plays in a way that lends more power to one side, so that participants can experience negotiating both from a position of relative strength, and a position of relative weakness. This has been covered extensively in one of our blogs titled "Negotiation Role Play Exercise 101". In an international relations context, we recommend participants to objectively determine which country possesses relative strength, which will aid you in developing suitable parameters to begin the negotiation role play.
Hypothetical Exercise: Cold War Situation between the US and Soviet Union
You will have 15 minutes to prepare for the negotiations, during which time you will develop a strategy for how to best reach a resolution. After the 15 minutes are up, the negotiation will begin and you will have 30 minutes to reach an agreement.
This case study is based on the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) and the conflict between the United States and the Soviet Union during the Cold War. Please note that this is a hypothetical exercise and any resemblance to actual people or events is coincidental.
As the diplomat from Country A, you are representing the United States in the negotiations with the Soviet Union. Your goal is to reach a peaceful resolution to the conflict between the two countries.
You have 20 to 30 minutes to prepare for the negotiation. During this time, you will develop a strategy for how to best reach a resolution. You will need to take into account the following information about the conflict (these are our recommended parameters and setting for this negotiation role play exercise, but feel free to make changes where appropriate):
The United States and the Soviet Union are in a Cold War, which is a period of time where both countries are in a state of tension with each other. Both countries have nuclear weapons pointed at each other and there is a risk of nuclear war breaking out between the two countries at any moment. The United States is concerned about the Soviet Union's growing military power and its expansion into Eastern Europe. The Soviet Union is concerned about American capitalism and what it sees as American imperialism. Both sides want to end the Cold War and find a way to peacefully coexist. However, trust is low and there are significant disagreements on how to achieve this.
Even though the Soviet Union and the United States have been engaged in a continuous struggle for power and influence for decades, in recent years, however, the Soviet Union has been increasingly willing to negotiate with the United States on a number of issues. As a result, it is important for the United States to develop a negotiation strategy that will maximize its chances of success.
Defining Negotiation Parameters
Before moving on to the negotiations, you will need to further define the parameters of your negotiation. In order to make sure the fairness of negotiations, a third party (i.e. a facilitator or moderator) should come to determine the final parameters of the negotiation, as well as determine what information should or should not be released to each respective party (for example, the moderator should let the US side know what they should aim to gain from the negotiation, as well as their concession options, whilst withholding information about the goals and concession options of the Soviet Union side). The parameters could include:
Negotiation role play performance indicator #1: List out 15-20 potential rewards or outcomes you wish to achieve during the negotiations (the more rewards/outcomes you manage to achieve through negotiations, the better your negotiation performance was).
Negotiation role play performance indicator #2: List out 15-20 potential concessions that you are ready to make during the negotiations if needed (the fewer concessions you make, the better your negotiation performance was).
Brainstorm a list of difficulties facing both countries during the cold war so that logical arguments can be made during the negotiations. For example, what level of accountability do the respective US and Soviet Union governments have towards their own people? Could this affect negotiations?
Agree on the number of negotiations and the format of negotiations. How long should each negotiation be? If both parties agree to hold more than one round of negotiations, how long should there be in between negotiations? What is the maximum number of negotiations?
After reaching an agreement on the rough parameters of the negotiation role play exercise, start brainstorming your strategy.
Your strategy will be influenced by the power dynamics between you and the other negotiator, as well as your objectives for the negotiation. Based on the cold war situation and how the US won the cold war in the end, the US side of negotiations should theoretically possess more power over the Soviet Union side. It is important to formulate a strategy based on what you want to achieve and what you are willing to give up in order to obtain the most value out of the negotiations. You should also think about what concessions you are likely to be able to get from the other side. Some key questions to consider when brainstorming your strategy should include:
What are my goals for this negotiation?
What are my opponent's goals?
What is my BATNA (Best Alternative To a Negotiated Agreement)?
What are my opponent's BATNA?
What are my priorities?
What are my opponent's priorities?
The power dynamics between you and the other negotiator
The likely outcomes of the negotiation
Once you have considered all of these factors, you can start to finalize your strategy for the negotiation.
Assuming that you are negotiating for the US, your strategy should address the following questions:
How can you build trust with the Soviet Union? Is this possible? What are the factors leading to your distrust of the Soviet Union and do they understand where you are coming from?
What concessions is the United States willing to make?
What concessions must you obtain from the Soviet Union?
What are the ideological differences between Capitalism and Communism?
How do differences in ideology play a role in negotiations?
What are the things that the Soviet Union will unlikely give up ground on?
What are the key points that the United States wants to communicate to the Soviet Union?
How can the United States best show its commitment to peace, if indeed peace is the best option? How do you define peace with the Soviet Union?
Here are a few ways to develop a winning negotiation strategy with the Soviet Union:
There are a number of ways to develop a winning negotiation strategy with the Soviet Union.
For example, the United States could make a commitment to solving the issue at hand. This would show the Soviet Union that the United States is serious about reaching a resolution. Secondly, the United States could offer a compromise to the Soviet Union. This could involve making some concessions in exchange for Soviet Union cooperation on the issue, such as concessions on economic and military issues. The United States could also communicate its key points to the Soviet Union in a clear and concise manner. Lastly, the United States could show its commitment to peace by taking concrete steps to reduce the risk of nuclear war.
Another way to develop a winning negotiation strategy with the Soviet Union is by showing flexibility. The United States could be flexible on the issues of arms control and economic agreements. The United States could also be willing to make minor concessions in order to reach a major agreement.
Thirdly, the United States could develop a winning negotiation strategy with the Soviet Union by maintaining a strong commitment to its principles. The United States could make it clear that it is not seeking to overthrow the Soviet government. The United States could also reaffirm its commitment to human rights and democracy.
Lastly, the United States could express a willingness to explore new areas of negotiation with the Soviet Union.
Even though this article does not cover possible negotiation strategies for the Soviet Union, we recommend participants take at least 5-10 minutes to brainstorm about this. Participants in this roleplay (Except the moderator) should not do extensive research about the cold war before the negotiations, as this could skew the negotiation results.
After negotiations, both sides should provide feedback to each other and switch roles, whilst following the same process outlined.
At the end of both negotiations, participants should dig into how the US and Soviet Union actually negotiated during the cold war and how it resulted in a win for the US. Participants should also reflect on whether there was actually a possibility that the Soviet Union could have won the negotiations, or at least did better to avoid a total collapse in the end.
