Humanitarian Negotiation (2017) | Alain Lempereur, Alan B. Slifka Chair Professor1
113HS-267F-1 – Humanitarian Negotiation
Alain Lempereur, Alan B. Slifka Professor in Coexistence and Conflict Resolution
Start and End Dates:March 17 – May 5
Class Time:Spring 2017, Friday, 2:00 pm – 4:50 pm
Meeting Room: Heller, 163
Please consult LATTE for the most recent version of the syllabus.
Contact information
Office Hours: Sign up on the Google Doc (in-person or online)
Email:
Skype ID:Alain-Lempereur
Mobile Phone:617-775-4530
Office:Heller School Building, 106
Course Description
Humanitarian actors negotiate or mediate to protect the lives affected bynature- or human-made disasters. Theyseek the license to operate toget access to the most vulnerable andassess their needs. They engage the relevant stakeholders at all levels; theypersuade them totake action and they stay engaged to alleviate suffering as long as necessary.This humanitarian diplomacy classbuilds on the Responsible Negotiationmethods course. It analyzes 150 years of frontline negotiators’ contribution;it explores real-life cases involving organizations like ICRC, MSF, OCHA, WFP, or NRC;and it provides an inquiry-based framework to supportfieldpractice.
Learning Objectives
Exploring negotiation responsibility of humanitarian actors
By the end of this course, you will be able to:
- Identify the challenges and dilemmas of humanitarian negotiators;
- Assess your relational and transactional skills as a potential humanitarian negotiator;
- Fostera multi-layer responsibility as negotiatorto engagepeople, to problem-solve constructively,and tofacilitate an empowering process.
- Effectively engage with people using guiding principles/methods that:
- Put people first (humanity, the needs of the most vulnerable, impartiality, proximity, identity, benevolence, cultural components, etc.).
- Network, aim for sustainable working relationships and overcome roadblocks and difficult behaviors.
- Structure instructions, organizations, coordination and coalitions.
- Ensure dynamic mapping of stakeholders (including the aid recipients, local communities, principals, headquarters, implementers, other humanitarian agencies, host governments, the elders, bystanders, the non-state armed groups, commanders and soldiery, perpetrators, the press, etc.).
- Constructively solve problems through negotiations so that you:
- Leverage humanitarian values, principles, and norm compliance (humanity, impartiality, neutrality, etc.) beyond political/economic/religious/procedural obstacles in the search for adequate solutions (legitimate, legal, doable).
- Look for broadly acceptable solutions and agreements, which best respond to operate safely in the host country, i.e. maximizes assistance and protection, while minimizing risks for all.
- Achieve positive humanitarian impact of solutions on beneficiaries and make the general environment safe, protective, caring, sustainable.
- Successfully facilitate negotiations through processes that:
- Carry on a facilitative process to have access to, and to protect the most vulnerable in a timely fashion.
- Empower beneficiaries at all stages, from assessing needs to implementing operations, reviewing them and handing them over, when appropriate.
- Build ownership of the solutions with all.
- Implementlocal agreements in practice and overcome possible roadblocks at all levels (strategic, operational and ground).
- Ensure broad accountability for any decision (i.e. not only with principals, but beyond the traditional two-level power structure) and provide feedback loops.
Course Materials and Resources
Reading the following books is strongly recommended for this course.
- Junod, M. (1982) Warrior without Weapons. Geneva, Switzerland: ICRC.
- Magone, C., Neuman, M. & Weissman, F. (ed.) (2011). Humanitarian Negotiations Revealed. The MSF Experience. New York, NY: Columbia University Press.
- Mancini-Griffoli, D. & Picot, A. (2004). Humanitarian Negotiation. A Handbook for Securing Access, Assistance and Protection for Civilians in Armed Conflict,Hd (Center for Humanitarian Dialogue): Geneva.
This course builds on the Responsible Negotiation semester course at the Heller School (HS244a), where the book The First Move. A Negotiator’s Companion (Lempereur, A., Colson, A. &M. Pekar, Wiley, 2010) is a required reading. As a student, you are therefore in one of the following situations:
- You have attended the Responsible Negotiation course.Then please refresh your memory by rereading your class notesand the book before the class starts. Think of how what you learnt might apply or not to humanitarian situations and negotiations.
- You have not attended the Responsible Negotiation course. You are then expected to catch up and read the book The First Move. A Negotiator’s Companion. You can also sign up for the online module course HS-613-F - Responsible E-Negotiation Across Cultures, which will be offered on Friday morning during the second semester.
Additional materials are available in LATTE.
Teaching Approach
Meetings and Interactions
This course consists of 7 class sessions taught once a week for 3 hours per class. April 28 class has been cancelled and is replaced by a morning class on April 21. As participants, you are sometimes asked to meet before class in order to prepare your assignments in groups.
Activities
The coursefeaturespracticalsimulations (role plays) that involvegroup work. Please see Appendix A at the end of the syllabus for details. Students will also review and analyze case studies, exercises and videos.
Requirements
Attendance and Punctuality
Attendance means more than just coming to class and signing the attendance list. In order to benefit from experiential learning, you are required to attend every session, barring documented illness. Please arrive on time at the beginning of every class and after each session break. If you know you will be absent or late for a legitimate reason, make sure you warn in advance your instructor, who cannot acceptunexcused absences.
If you cannot avoid missing oneFriday class meeting, make sure you do itsassigned readings, and get in contact afterwards with a student who was present in class, in order to catch up with the learning purposes of that day, of its simulation, discussion and theories. You are expected to ask the instructorfor a make-up assignment.
Should you miss more than onescheduled session, unfortunately, you will not qualify for the two credits of this course.
Active Participation
It is expected that you will actively participate in pre-class work and addressspecific questions or issues in each session. The instructor will be especially attentiveto everyone’s participation. Enjoy complete academic freedom in the classroom, within the limits defined by mutual respect and courtesy.Students’diversity in the course will make the conversation richand sometimes challenging. Feel free to share your thoughts, but as in any negotiation, beware not simply of the intentions of your words, but also of their impact and unintended consequences. Humanitarian negotiations create special challenges that you must remain attentive to. The Heller School faculty and students are committed to creating a safe environment for learning. Verbal aggressionsare not tolerated.
Assignments and Readings
In order to ensure active participation in the best possible conditions, make sure you read all materials and complete the assignments listed below and in LATTE. You should submit the required documents before the deadline. For the preparation of each class, please annotate the readings, and write down what you havelearned from the simulation. Be ready to discussthe simulation process and resultsto allow well-informed online discussions.
Writing Requirements
The writing assignments are intended to strengthen your negotiation skills, to encourage you to approach reading materials critically, to foster improved research and writing skills, and to serve as a basis for contributing to class discussion and a diversity of opinions. You are expected to devote careful attention to the quality of your written work, as well as its substance. Honesty matters in all academic work, and is strictly enforced by the instructor.All written work for this course must include appropriate citation of the sources used. Please review the University Academic Standards in Appendix B for more detail about Academic Honesty.
Individual and Group Assignments
Unless instructed otherwise, all written assignments must have your name in the file title and be typewritten, double-spaced in 12-point font with 1-inch margins.Unless mentioned otherwise, your assignment must be uploadedto LATTE, as a Microsoft Word attachment,either before class, in class, or after class, according to the dates below.Submit your written assignments on time. Late submissionsare sanctioned by half-a-grade down.
Description of Graded Activities and Assignments
10% / Class Participation / Sessions 1-7- Attendance, punctuality, interactions, feedback
- Preparation of the simulations, and participation in the role-plays
- Participation on LATTE (minimum one online activity each week)
10% / Group Assignment 1 / Due: Session 2 by Friday, March 24
Prepare the designated chapter from Warrior without Weapons.
- Group 1: Spain (1936), 87-110
- Group 2: Spain (1936), 111-134
- Group 3: Germany-Poland (1939), 137-155.
- Group 4: Germany-France (1940), 156-174.
- Group 5: Germany-England-Greece (1940), 175-206.
- Group 6: Germany-England-Russia (1941-44), 207-232.
- See
- Assess
- Negotiate
- Inquire and inform
- Trigger the humanitarian impulse
- Alleviate suffering
- Stay engaged
20% / Group Assignment 2 / Due: Session 3 by Friday, April 7
Each student group should prepare a presentation and engage in the following tasks:
- Choose one humanitarian diplomat in the list that is provided in Appendix C, or validate any other humanitarian negotiator with the instructor. On a Google document that will be provided, indicate the names of your group members and of the selected negotiator. Each group has to select a different negotiator.
Due:Friday, March 31st. - Make research about the humanitarian negotiator you chose.
- Prepare 5 PowerPoint slides for your group’s oral presentation. Use the Heller COEX PowerPoint template. After the title slide, introducebriefly the negotiator (1slide), present and analyze one of his or her negotiations (1 slide), possibly with a movie clip you have identified, the lessons learnt (1 slide) and the book, or any further reading or web source, as to allow the class members to explore further the topic in question (1 slide).
Due:Tuesday, April 4th: Submit your PowerPoint presentation on Latte, so that all presentations can be consolidated in one document. - Deliver your 10-minute oral presentation in class. Make sure you rehearse the day before as a group, time your intervention, and synchronize it with your slides. If you can, make everyone participate. There will also be time for Q&A and feedback. Each group will be allocated a 10-minute time slot. You will also be asked to send feedback about your classmates’ presentations.
Due:Friday, April 7th: Group oral presentation.
10% / Group Assignment 3 / Due: Session 4 by Friday, April 21
Prepare the designated chapterfrom Humanitarian Negotiations Revealed. The MSF Experience.
- Group 1: Sri-Lanka, 15-34
- Group 2: Somalia, 77-94
- Group 3: Myanmar, 109-128
- Group 4: Afghanistan, 39-68
- Group 5: Gaza Strip, 95-108
- Group 6: Nigeria, 129-146
- Place of intervention and negotiation (country, region, etc.)
- Planning of intervention (dates, sequence, length, meetings, etc.)
- People who were concerned (MSF, authorities, arm bearers, beneficiaries, etc.)
- Purpose of negotiation
- Process Moves and Methods
- Principles
- Product of the negotiation
40% / Individual Assignment 1 / Due: Friday, April 28
Write a final paper on humanitarian negotiation (6-8 pages). You should engage in the following tasks:
- Choose one key challenge or dilemma that humanitarian negotiators might face. On a Google document that the instructor will share with you, summarize in a sentence the topic you selected.Determine which one of the three following options you will use to address it, as well as the book you plan to mobilize. Please submit your choice of option with your choice of dilemma on Google:
- Theory Paper.Find and read at least one book or substantial text. Then show by extracting theories, concepts or tools how it helps address the humanitarian issue you chose.
- Case Study. Find and read at least one book or substantial text containing a specific case study that contains a humanitarian negotiation. Clarify if and how the issue you chose was addressed and determine if leaders negotiated responsibly in that situation.
- Simulation,Find and read at least one book or substantial text about theory and/or a case study. Then write the general and confidential instructions for a simulation, as well as the teaching notes (2-3 pages) that build on your book or substantive text.
- Write your paper(6-8 pages,including endnotes and bibliography).Remember to put your name and to number the pages. If English is not your native language, make sure your text is proofread and edited before submission. As your final paper is an academic writing assignment, please use the APA writing format, with appropriate references to literature, readings, and or/lectures. A bibliography of quality (and not simplyWeb links or URLs) is expected, as well as explicit connections to the readings of the course.
- Due: Friday, April 28th: Download it on Latte
Details of Weekly Sessions
Session 1
March 17 / Humanitarian Diplomacy and The SANITAS FrameworkLearning Objectives /
- Celebrateearly humanitarian negotiation
- Grasp humanitarian diplomacy evolution
- Understand what makes a negotiation or a mediation humanitarian: Who? For whom? With whom? About what?
- Acquire an inquiry-based framework, with motivations, humanitarian trigger and adequate solutions
- Systematize a framework (SANITAS) to plan, operate and withdraw from a humanitarian intervention
Required
Readings
Assignments /
- Read the class syllabus.
- Read Régnier, P. (2011), “The emerging concept of humanitarian diplomacy: identification of a community of practice and prospects for international recognition,” International Review of the Red Cross, Vol. 93, #884, Dec 2011, 1211-1237.
- Read Lempereur, A. (2016), “Humanitarian negotiation to protect: John Rabe and the Nanking International Safety Zone (1937-1938),” Group Decision and Negotiation.
- If you have never read it, discover Dunant, H. (1939), A Memory of Solferino, Geneva: ICRC.
- If you have never read it,consultLempereur, A., Colson, A. (2010), The First Move. A Negotiator’s Companion.
Class Activities /
- Introduction: humanitarian diplomacyfrom Dunant up to now
- John RabeNanking Safety Zone
- SANITAS Framework
Additional Resources
- Veuthey, M. (2012), Humanitarian Diplomacy: saving it when it is most needed, In: A. Vautravers & Y. Fox (eds), Humanitarian Space. Webster University Geneva. 16th Humanitarian Conference. Geneva (Switzerland): Webster University, 195-208.
- Minear, L. and Smith H., eds (2007). Humanitarian Diplomacy: Practitioners and their Craft. Tokyo: United Nations University Press.
- Lempereur, A. and Herrington, R. (2016), Responsibility to protect trumps business as usual: How corporate leaders build heroism to face atrocities, In: J. Forrer & C. Seyle (eds), Business and the Responsibility to Protect. Cambridge (UK): Cambridge University Press.
- Rabe, J. (1998), The Good Man of Nanking. The Diaries of John Rabe, translated by John E. Woods, New York: Vintage Books, Random House.
- Watch for example the movies “Henry Dunant: Red on the Cross” (2006) or “City of War: the Story of John Rabe” (2009).
Session 2
March24 / Humanitarian Negotiation : The ICRC Experience (1)Learning Objectives /
- Explore ICRC negotiation in the field
- Identify the tension and necessary cooperation between headquarters and the field
- Understand the connection between humanitarian law and negotiations
- Distinguish negotiating individuals, organizations and systems
Required
Readings
Assignments /
- Group Assignment 1 on Junod (see above for details)
- Read Grace, R. (2015), Understanding Humanitarian Negotiation: Five Analytical Approaches, ATHA White Paper Series, Humanitarian Academy at Harvard, 17 pages.
- Read Mancini-Griffoli, D. & Picot, A (2004), Humanitarian Negotiation. A Handbook for Securing Access, Assistance and Protection for Civilians in Armed Conflict,Hd (Humanitarian dialogue), Geneva, 19-22.
- Consult the ICRC website, as well asPeter Maurer’s pageandinterview: “Humanitarian diplomacy and principled humanitarian action” (the 5-minute introduction is in French, but Peter Maurer’s speech is in English).
- Read Harroff-Tavel, M. (2006), “The Humanitarian Diplomacy of the International Committee of the Red Cross,” African Yearbook on International Humanitarian Law, 1-16.
Class Activities /
- Group presentations on Junod
- ICRC negotiators’ interviews
- Distribution of the instructions for the Guantama simulation
Additional Resources
- Grace, R. (2015), Humanitarian negotiation: key challenges and lessons learnt in an emerging field, ATHA White Paper Series, Humanitarian Academy at Harvard, 12 pages.Read (2012), Briefing: why humanitarians wary of ‘humanitarian corridors’”, IRIN
- Loane, G., Barriers to Negotiating Humanitarian Access: The Experience of the ICRC, London: ICRC.
- Daniel Palmeri (2014), “The International Committee of the Red Cross in the First World War”, ICRC Website
- Jackson, A. & Davey, E. (2014). “From the Spanish civil war to Afghanistan: Historical and contemporary reflections on humanitarian engagement with non-state armed groups”, HPG Working paper, May 2014.
Session 3
March 31 / Humanitarian Mediation: :ICRC Experience (2)Learning Objectives /
- Differentiate humanitarian mediation from political mediation
- Explore ICRC mediationpotential
- Connect humanitarian principles and mediation principles
- Practice the power of active perceiving
Required
Readings
Assignments /
- Read the Guantama instructions
- Submit the name of the humanitarian diplomat for your group presentation
- Read ICRC (2015), Analytical Report on ICRC Negotiation and Mediation Practices, Humanitarian Negotiation Exchange (HNx), Geneva: ICRC, Oct 2015, 20 pages.
- Read “ICRC’s Humanitarian mediation during WWII to relieve the famine in Greece”
- Consult the following videos on humanitarian mediation and identify similarities and differences of approaches:
- Yemen, 1964: André Rochat, ICRC delegate in a prisoners’exchange
- Israel, 1972: Francois Perez, ICRC delegate, in an hostage crisis
- Iran/Irak, 1981: Another prisoners’ exchange
- Colombia, 2014: JordiRaichCurco, ICRC delegate
- Lempereur, A. & Willer, E. (2016). “The Mediator as the Eye of the Storm: Active Perception of the Non-Verbal,” American Journal of Mediation, 2017.
- Read the preparatory documentand the report of the humanitarian mediation working group of the center of competence on humanitarian negotiation
Class Activities /
- Guantama simulation and discussion
- Humanitarian mediation principles
- Distribution of the HCA instructions
Additional Resources
- Bruderlein, C., Egendal, R., Lempereur, A, & Melandri, L. (2015), “Humanitarian Negotiation in Practice,” ATHA.
- Briefing: why humanitarians wary of ‘humanitarian corridors’, IRIN (2012).
- Consult the websites of other international humanitarian organizations, such as UNHCR, UNOCHA and WFP, and compare their work with the ICRC.
- Egeland, J, Harmer, A. & and Stoddard, A. (2011), To Stay and Deliver: Good Practices for Humanitarians in Complex Security Environments. Geneva: UNOCHA.
- McHugh Gerald & Bessler, M. (2006),Guidelines on Humanitarian Negotiation with Armed Groups. New York, NY: UNICEF.
- McHugh Gerald & Bessler, M. (2006), Humanitarian Negotiations with Armed Groups. New York, NY: UNOCHA.
There is no class on April 14 (spring break). Keep in mind the two sessions on April 21.
Session 4