International Negotiation
Does the concept of the “third side” seem relevant to the international negotiation process? Why or why not? Are there alternatives?
International negotiation is a process, technique, or method of handling disputes or conflicts and reaching an agreement even when conflict does not exist (Garcia Iragorri, 2011). While some negotiations are successful, others fail that the disputes or conflicts persist. Notably, the concept of “third side” is relevant in these situations because they bring a form of neutrality to this dispute (Batongbacal, 2015). Conflict will normally occur bilateralism, especially in non-military encounters. Therefore, even in the presence of enough conflict on a negotiated matter to have the conflicting sides polarized, the third side will look into the interests with neutrality and mediation license (Zartman, n.d.). The third side will be involved within the negotiation process and tries to help the conflicting sides agree. It is prudent to note that the third side will have no authority over the decisions made.
These third parties normally come into four forms: conciliator, arbitrator, mediator, or consultant (Lumen, 2021). Each of them has a distinct role in the particular service they will provide to the conflicting sides. These services extensively depend on the conflict’s circumstances. The use of third sides is a recommended mechanism, especially when democracy and regional stability are at risk due to conflicts. Third-party interventions are expected as they will try to understand the disputants’ point of view on the conflicts. In terms of neutrality, the third parties are expected to be unbiased as they determine the effectiveness of the decisions made (Irrera et al., n.d.). To this effect, it is proper that they undertake their roles accordingly to avoid any forms of bias.
References
Batongbacal, J. (2015, January 21). Arbitration 101: the Philippines v. China. Asia Maritime Transparency Initiative. https://amti.csis.org/arbitration-101-philippines-v-china/
García Iragorri, A. (2011). Negotiation in international relations. Revista de Derecho, 19(19).
Irrera, D., Diehl, P. F., Regan, P., Beardsley, K., Lo, N., Shannon, S. E. G. M., … & Kinne, B. J. (n.d.). The relevance of third-party intervention in conflict management.
Lumen. (2021). Third-party negotiations | Organizational behavior and human relations. Lumen Learning – Simple Book Production. https://courses.lumenlearning.com/wm-organizationalbehavior/chapter/third-party-negotiations/
Zartman, I. W. (n.d.). International multilateral negotiation: Approaches to the management of complexity. Jossey-Bass.
