Biden should send diplomatic mission to Palestine, negotiating experts agree

Cambridge (Massachusetts, USA), 11 December — The Harvard Symposium on Negotiation held on Saturday 9 December featured expert discussions on pressing issues of the moment. The working groups were attended not only by Harvard professors, but also by other educators and top negotiation experts, along with experts on negotiations in crisis and war situations for the Czech Republic, as well as the president of the Association of Negotiators Radim Parík. The symposium was held in celebration of 40 years since the founding of Harvard's Program on Negotiation (PON). The most fundamental discussions experts have had about negotiation in relation to artificial intelligence, which is changing the way negotiation is studied, learned and conducted. They also discussed the serious situation in the Gaza Strip and tried to find a solution, although there were not many optimistic prospects.

In the case of using artificial intelligence in negotiation, researchers are focusing on the ability of the UI to accurately detect signs, when the counterparty is nervous and when something is fogging up. “Artificial intelligence, as perceived and used by experts at Harvard or MIT (Massachusetts Institute of Technology), focuses on identifying signs in nonverbal communication. At the same time, they are looking for patterns that reveal when the best deal is reached and when we generate the most value for both parties in the negotiation,” explains Radim Parík, who as president of the Association of Negotiators and a graduate of the Negotiation Program at Harvard University in Cambridge, Massachusetts, represented the Czech Republic.

“Transcripts of individual negotiation procedures and sentences are created so that we find the best recommendations for all. Today, we know that the first three to five minutes are decisive in negotiations, when the negotiators are building a relationship and when the parties subconsciously decide whether they will create an appropriate or even greater value together in the agreement, or if everyone wants to take their share,” continues Radim Parík.

Much of the symposium marking the 40th anniversary of the founding of the Harvard Negotiation Program was devoted to the conflict in Gaza. The panel was staffed by experts such as Professor William Ury, co-founder of the Harvard Negotiations Program, Professor Gabriela Blum, who specializes in terrorist attacks, Professor Raihap Khapib, who covers issues in the Middle East at Harvard, Professor James Sebenius, who led the panel on the Gaza conflict, and Professor Robert Mnookin, who specializes in dispute resolution at the Law School, arbitration and arbitration. Together, they discussed what solution would be most effective for the Gaza conflict at this time.

“The conflict in Gaza has been going on for a long time and could actually have been predicted long in advance. Its seeds were laid in 2005 when, under the supervision of international observers including the United States of America and Israel, elections were held in Palestine, which was won by Hamas. No one recognized the results of the election, thus planting a very fundamental seed of mistrust of the Palestinians in the international community. Hamas then assumed they would form a pan-Arab front to join the war, but this did not happen. Those plans have failed and there is currently no one willing to take responsibility for Gaza. Not Qatar, not Saudi Arabia, not Egypt. Just as long as Hamas operates there, no one,” the president of the Association of Negotiators, Radim Parik, describes the complex situation.

Everyone agreed at the symposium that negotiations with Hamas were very complex, and that no one had ever considered the legitimate demands and problems of Palestine. This escalated the whole situation. “The representative of the Palestinian community mentioned that the problem that the Palestinians see is that the Israeli government has never recognized Palestine and has never seen the Palestinians as people who have the right to their own state,” adds Radim Parik, and continues: “The most important players in the background that we were not aware of until today are Iran and Russia. It is also Saudi Arabia and Turkey, through which money and commodity transfers run for both sides. “

One of the proposals that fell on the panel was for President Biden to send a diplomatic mission to Palestine to send a symbolic signal that the U.S. is not only willing to talk to Palestine, but that the past is the past and Palestine is a recognized entity to deal with. At the same time, everyone agreed that at the moment, unfortunately, there is no room for either empathy or a peaceful solution, because both sides are blocked and neither wants to listen to what needs the other has.

“We will see what the next development will be, anyway, the United States, together with Harvard professors, is preparing a program and alternative scenarios. One of them assumes that President Biden should call both sides for a fundamental cease-fire any time soon in order to be negotiated. Unfortunately, as the panel discussion and the behind-the-scenes information showed, the priority for peace does not exist on either side,” said international negotiator Radim Parik.

Harvard professors named two fundamental problems throughout the solution. Russia is not directly at the negotiating table, although it is coordinating its activities in the region together with Iran and probably also Saudi Arabia. The first problem is that the Americans cannot forgive Russia for their operations in Syria. The second problem is that in recent years President Biden has been unable to talk to President Putin. The United States of America simply does not officially communicate with Russia, and vice versa. Therefore, according to experts, this conflict continues to lengthen.

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