A sharp analysis of negotiation failures in US foreign policy. The authors seek to improve 'talk power' as an alternative to 'gun power'.
This book explores the uses and limits of the power of negotiation and diplomacy in U.S. foreign policy at a critical juncture in U.S. history. Beginning with the failure of U.S. diplomacy to nip Saddam Hussein 's ambitions in the bud prior to the first Gulf War, it argues that a series of diplomatic blunders laid the foundations for the uninhibited use of gun power over talk power for the next two decades. It critically examines missed opportunities in America 's handling of the Israeli-Palestinian conflict in both the Clinton and George W. Bush administrations. Looking ahead, it shows how the United States should negotiate with unengageables like Iran, North Korea, and terrorists wherever they occur.
"Two outstanding scholars of negotiation have written a powerful book on a critical subject. In our deeply and angrily divided world, too many have lost the capacity to talk respectfully or relate constructively to one another. In a majesterial analysis of a changing world's challenges, Hampson and Zartman have identified the fundamentals of talk that can produce creative relationships capable of meeting those challenges."
--Harold H. Saunders, President Jimmy Carter's assistant secretary of state at Camp David, now President of the International Institute for Sustained Dialogue
"Winston Churchill famously said 'jaw-jaw is better than war-war.' Hampson and Zartman bring his important insight up to date by examining the variety of forms of talk that underlies negotiation and diplomacy. They illustrate it with fascinating examples of policy successes and failures, and provide an important set of lessons for American policymakers today."
--Joseph S. Nye Jr., University Distinguished Service Professor at Harvard and author of The Future of Power
"Two esteemed experts on international political negotiation make a powerful new case for the value of this foreign policy tool. They illustrate the costs of bungled opportunities and advance concrete suggestions for the future. Diplomats and students should read these lessons from decades of world experience."
--John S. Odell, Professor and Director of the School of International Relations at the University of Southern California
"Timely and thought-provoking, The Global Power of Talk is an essential read for scholars and practitioners alike. In these turbulent times of global change and transition, the authors offer fresh perspectives on the 'power of talk' and diplomacy in one nation's--the United States's--pursuit of international peace and security."
--Terje RØD-Larsen, President of the International Peace Institute and former UN Undersecretary General and Special Coordinator for the Middle East Peace Process
"Offer[s] a new perspective on diplomatic relations and an optimistic eye toward the future."
--Publishers Weekly
"Worthy of serious attention"
--Karl Helicher, Foreword Reviews Spring 2012
