Last update: Dr. rer. pol. Michal Parízek, M.Sc., Ph.D. (29.09.2020)
The purpose of the course is to introduce students into the various aspects of international negotiations and the problems faced by the negotiators in the international, especially multilateral setting. In sum, we try to understand the process of the emergence of cooperation among states. The theoretical dimension of this problem is covered with the use of the bargaining theory as well as other approaches. We discuss several topics key to the process and success of international negotiations, such as the relationship between international negotiations and domestic politics, the role of negotiation coalitions, or the problem of the negotiations' complexity. The theoretical and readings-based component takes up approximately one half of our time and of the workload connected with the course. The other half is taken up by a simulation of multilateral (trade liberalization) negotiations that runs throughout the semester (see below for more details). The purpose of the simulation is 1) to illustrate the concepts and theories discussed in the course and to provide students with a direct experience of the challenges of (multilateral) negotiations.
The join the course sessions on Zoom, follow this link: https://cesnet.zoom.us/j/91312155147 (password is required; available for registered users on course Moodle site)
Teaching methods
Last update: Dr. rer. pol. Michal Parízek, M.Sc., Ph.D. (02.11.2020)
Seminars have two parts:
a lecture and discussion component summarizing the key theoretical and conceptual insights relevant to the topic
a simulation component, in which the simulated negotiations are conducted
Due to the Covid-19 situation, the sessions of the course will be run (live) on Zoom. That means, students actively participate in sessions, as per the course schedule. Please make yourself familiar with the Zoom environment, ideally downloading the desktop app. Link to the Zoom sessions of the course is: https://cesnet.zoom.us/j/91312155147?pwd=M3NwcGZiQjVqalNxa2czbHJkWUpGQT09. The password is available to registered students on course Moodle site.
For this type of course and the student interaction it envisions, online form is quite suboptimal and students should note this when deciding whether to enroll in the course. Having said that, many of the real-world negotiations had to do the same - replace the highly personal negotiation mode with Zoom or Skype meetings. So we go along.
