Bilateral Negotiations Research Articles

Медіація у «сірій зоні»

Based on the gray zone concept the potential of mediation as an alternative conflict management and dispute resolution is assessed. Based on color, the "gray zone" metaphor is a conceptual framework for exploring the complex nature of contemporary conflicts, which outwardly resemble a "neither war nor peace" situation. It has been clarified that the gray zone concept, common in Western political science, comes from US intelligence documents and is used to describe conflicts in general, phases of conflict, operational environments or tactics resorted to by participants in various types of conflicts (conventional, hybrid, etc.). To test the hypothesis of the ineffectiveness of mediation in the "gray zone," we chose the conflict in eastern Ukraine, which, although it crossed the threshold of the "black zone" in 2014, remains a fragment of the "gray zone" in relations between Russia and the West. The existence of a "gray zone" in the conflict in Donbass has been proven based on criteria formed by other researchers, mainly concerning the composition of participants and tactics of struggle. It has been established that the gray zone creates unfavorable conditions for mediation. It shows how participants, and their proxies can use mediation to control the actions of their adversaries and thus fuel the conflict without crossing the threshold of war. The assessment of the potential of mediation in the "grey zone" includes the behavior of the conflict participant (the Russian Federation), which positions itself as a "mediator"; the characteristics of the regional international organization (OSCE) as mediator; the structure (Normandy format, TKG) and mediation tools; the negotiating positions of participants in the negotiation process and the status of implementation the agreements reached on the settlement. It is proved that the resolution of the "grey zone" conflicts depends on bilateral or multilateral negotiations between the "great states" which have sponsored non-state actors responsible for the main grey zone activities at the tactical level.  

북한과 미국의 실패한 핑퐁외교 - 1979년 평양 세계탁구선수권대회와 북미 관계의 복잡성

World Tatble Tennis Campionships at Pyongyang in 1979 and the US table tennis team’s participation in it could be important opportunity for North Korea to form favorable relations with the US. However, there was no ping-pong diplomacy such like the friendly game between the US and China in 1971 because North Korea unreasonably blocked South Korea’s participation in WTTC and the US showed little interest in bilateral relations with North Korea. Despite of failed ping-pong diplomacy, WTTC at Pyongyang contributed to make the South Korea and the US propose triparty talks during the President Carter’s visiting to Seoul in July, 1979. However. North Korea refused it. It typically showed how much North Koreans were obsessed with bilateral contact and relations with the US. For North Korea, bilateral negotiation of US and North Korea could mean that the United States recognized North Korea as a state. Also, it could produce political effect to inhance the prestage of top leader and state of North Korea. In this light, Signing a peace treaty can not be said to be the main goal for Pyongyang’s insistence on bilateral negotiations with the United States. North Korea’s diplomacy around WTTC at Pyoungyang showed it.

Russia and International Law in 2000–2020: 100 Theses About Facts and Trends

The paper is an overview of the international legal stances of Russia, which were formed in the period from 2000 to 2020. The application of international law within the legal order of Russia is complicated by inconsistency of the Russian monistic concept, unclear status of customary law and general principles of law; lack of a developed judicial tradition. The Russia’s treaty policy comprises wide participation in general U.N. treaties, as well as bilateral treaties in the field of economic cooperation and legal assistance; unwillingness to participate in treaties, if this may entail negative political consequences. Russia backs down from some minor territorial claims in order to ensure stability; in some cases, she does not formulate a clear legal stance, limiting herself to political statements; she refuses to use judicial mechanisms, preferring bilateral negotiations and/or maintaining the status quo, and does not make efforts to create coalitions that support its claims. Russia uses international organizations rather as political fora, and not as a mechanism to create new legal order; she often takes a passive position when considering issues that do not affect its interests; she makes efforts to use the U.N. mechanisms, but sometimes lacks allies and trust from other members of international community. Russia recognizes the jurisdiction of international courts, but takes a passive position by rarely filing suits, objecting to jurisdiction and refusing to participate in the proceedings. The postSoviet international courts are politicized and do not make a serious contribution to the development of integration law. Russian doctrine is experiencing a serious crisis, which is caused by various reasons and can hardly be overcome by the efforts of the corporation itself

PERSPECTIVE OF INTERNATIONAL LAW ON MARITIME DISPUTE: CASE BETWEEN KENYA AND SOMALIA

The research analysed the maritime dispute between Kenya and Somalia under the international law perspective. Both states have been experiencing maritime disputes over maritime boundaries of more than 100,000 sq km of seabed in the waters of the Indian Ocean. They began to clash after Somalia accusing Kenya of illegally granting exploration rights to resources in the waters to multinational companies, Total and Eni. As Kenya declared, the waters of the East African Coast are one of the hottest oil exploration prospects in the world, and the contested area has hydrocarbon reserves. The research method is normative legal research. Accordingly, the nature of the research was descriptive-qualitative with data collection techniques by conducting a literature study. The research shows that maritime boundary dispute has worsened diplomatic relations between Kenya and Somalia. Prior to bringing the case to the International Court of Justice (ICJ), the two states agreed to resolve the dispute through bilateral negotiations. However, the case was still unsettled. Therefore, Somalia decided to bring the case before the Court.

Against the Grain: Spanish Trade Policy in the Interwar Years

We study the effects of domestic conflict and external shocks on Spanish trade policy in the interwar period. Our account mobilizes a new granular dataset on exports and imports, and good-country level information on tariffs, trade agreements, and quotas. Into the Depression, the mainstay of policy was the tariff. The establishment of the Second Republic in 1931 was a turning point in policymaking. The new regime initiated bilateral trade negotiations. The Republic’s dilemma was to find countries willing to exchange market access. In a daunting international environment, the Spanish case offers a poignant reminder of the perils of going against the grain.

Let’s Trade in the Future! A Futures-Enabled Fast Resource Trading Mechanism in Edge Computing-Assisted UAV Networks

Mobile edge computing (MEC) has emerged as one of the key technical aspects of the fifth-generation (5G) networks. The integration of MEC with resource-constrained unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs) greatly enables flexible resource provisioning for supporting dynamic and computation-intensive UAV applications. Existing resource trading could facilitate this paradigm with proper incentives, which, however, may often incur unexpected negotiation latency and energy consumption, trading failures and unfair pricing, due to the unpredictable nature of the resource trading process. Motivated by these challenges, an efficient futures-enabled resource trading mechanism for edge computing-assisted UAV network is proposed, where a mutually beneficial and risk-tolerable forward contract is devised to promote resource trading between an MEC server (seller) and a UAV (buyer) with multiple tasks. Two key problems i.e. futures contract design before trading, and transmission power optimization during trading are studied. By analyzing historical statistics associated with future resource supply, demand, and air-to-ground communication quality, the contract design is formulated as a multi-objective optimization problem aiming to maximize both the seller’s and the buyer’s expected utilities, while estimating their acceptable risk tolerance. Accordingly, we propose an efficient bilateral negotiation scheme to help players reach a trading consensus on the amount of resources and the relevant price. For the power optimization problem, we develop a practical algorithm that enables the buyer to determine its optimal transmission power via convex optimization techniques. Comprehensive simulations demonstrate that the proposed mechanism offers mutually beneficial utilities to players, while achieving commendable performance on trading failures and fairness, negotiation latency and cost, comparing with baseline methods.

Building on open economy politics to understand the stalled EU–India trade negotiations

Abstract Global trade governance is increasingly characterized by a growing fragility in multilateral institutions and a preference for bilateral negotiations. The literature on such negotiations focuses primarily on successful agreements. Academic research on unsuccessful or stalled bilateral talks is limited, although better understanding of such outcomes may provide lessons for future negotiations. This article contributes to such understanding by proposing a revised open economy politics (OEP) framework, adapted to ‘second generation’ OEP analysis. Our framework highlights the multidirectional linkages between the trinity of interests, institutions and international interactions within trade negotiations, while adding the role of power and ideas to the analysis. We leverage our revised framework to explore why the European Union–India Free Trade Agreement (EUIFTA) negotiations stalled, thus providing insights as negotiators seek to revive them. Drawing on 45 semi-structured interviews conducted over a seven-year period in the EU and India, we examine what impact these different factors had on the progress of talks. Our results suggest that our revised OEP approach provides a multi-layered and integrated framework which enables us to better understand negotiating outcomes. Furthermore, our findings suggest that the shifting balance between emerging economies and developed economies as a result of the geopolitical (power) shifts and ideational change will affect future trade negotiations.

Modeling and prediction of human negotiation behavior in human-computer negotiation

• This study proposes a segmented linear regression Strategy (SLR) model, which can predict the opponent's future offer patterns. • Segmented linear regression method can model complex concession behavior dynamically. • A theoretical framework is built upon the hope-based and game-based negotiation theories. • The model is validated empirically through computer-to-computer and human-to-computer negotiation experiments based on a prototype system. With increasing e-commerce activities, the human–computer negotiation mechanism for online transactions emerges. This study proposes a segmented linear regression strategy (SLR) model, which can predict the opponent's future offer patterns and dynamically adjust the model parameters according to the opponent's behavior. We use the hope-based (behavior-oriented) and game-based (technical-oriented) negotiation theories as the theory ground to explicate the logic of the agent's negotiation strategy. Upon which we propose a theoretical model of bilateral negotiation as the framework for designing the SLR model. We then propose the testable hypotheses to evaluate the utility of the proposed model against the benchmark results. We build a prototype system and empirically test the hypotheses using computer-to-computer (CtC) and human-to-computer (HtC) negotiation experiments. The empirical results show that the proposed system outperforms the benchmark system in both CtC and HtC negotiations regarding deal price and utility. The proposed model provides an automated negotiation solution for online platforms that can improve the efficiency and effectiveness of their negotiation capability.

Burma/Myanmar and the United States: The Dilemma of a Delicate Balance

Burma/Myanmar and the United States:The Dilemma of a Delicate Balance Moe Thuzar (bio) In 2021, in the midst of a "confluence of crises" catalyzed by the Myanmar military's seizure of state power on February 1, the year 2015 will be viewed as the halfway point in Myanmar's now interrupted journey of reform and democratic transition.1 Bilateral relations between Myanmar and the United States, which started to normalize in the almost ten years between April 2011 and January 2021, are now "paused" at best, with Washington imposing and increasing targeted sanctions against the military regime in Myanmar since February.2 In 2015 I suggested that Myanmar would be engaged in an "eternal balancing act" between the United States and China.3 I continue that assessment in this essay, taking a closer look at how this balancing act is underpinned by domestic perceptions that motivate Burmese policymakers and diplomats to continue this policy of a "delicate balance."4 Examining the domestic underpinnings to foreign policy takes on heightened relevance in the current geopolitical moment where major-power competition seizes imaginations globally, including in Southeast Asia. The current political moment in Myanmar, where the military coup has catalyzed a contest for foreign policy dominance and legitimacy assertion in the international arena, also calls for this additional lens of assessment. In this essay, I briefly assess Burmese domestic perceptions of the United States and its policy toward Myanmar along three broad themes: perceptions and expectations, [End Page 134] the importance of legitimacy (to the Burmese), and revealed pragmatic preferences in bilateral interactions.5 Expectations and Perceptions The "dawn" of bilateral relations with the United States dates from a letter sent in February 1857 from King Mindon—the penultimate monarch in Burma's last dynasty before the country came under British rule—to President James Buchanan, the fifteenth U.S. president.6 The letter, which does not address the president by name, was originally intended for President Franklin Pierce and expressed the Burmese king's hope to seek bilateral ties with the United States. In 1856–57, Burma had already fought and lost two wars with the British, ceding territory with each loss. King Mindon's perception of the United States as a former British colony now independent was probably tinged with an expectation of a possible alliance against the United Kingdom. The alliance did not materialize; the United States was on the brink of the Civil War, and James Buchanan merely sent a cordial but noncommittal reply. Burma under British occupation had little formal contact with the United States. In the 1930s the general view seemed to be that U.S. interests were more aligned with those of the UK and thus of less use to Burma.7 Washington's interests in Southeast Asia—and Burma—increased as a result of U.S. military involvement in the region during World War II and continued after the war in light of the rising tide of Communism. The United States and Burma established diplomatic relations in September 1947 before the latter gained independence from the British in 1948.8 Following independence, Burmese decision-makers' perceptions (and expectations) of the United States became linked to ethnic tensions at home. Burmese senior government officials were suspicious of U.S. intent and motives regarding the separatist movements that had sprung up after independence. Among Prime Minister U Nu's key advisers, some leaned left, while others nursed grudges against "American-inflicted slights," and [End Page 135] the then army chief, General Ne Win, was frustrated with both U.S. and British policies toward Burma.9 Notwithstanding his own largely favorable attitude toward the United States, Nu himself was frustrated with U.S. support of the Kuomintang remnant forces that had fled China to the border areas of Burma and Thailand. The Kuomintang emergency exposed CIA moves in Southeast Asia and fanned further suspicions in Burma, particularly in the military. This dilemma tested U.S.-Burma relations, leading to Nu lodging a formal complaint to the United Nations in 1953 after several failed efforts at bilateral negotiations. Burmese suspicions and perceptions of U.S. motives in the geopolitical moment of the times serve as a...

The Influence of the BEPS Multilateral Instrument on Tax Treaties Concluded by Non-signatory Countries

This article intends to assess the impact of the Base Erosion and Profit Shifting Project (BEPS) Multilateral Instrument (MLI) on tax treaties concluded by non-signatory jurisdictions. To achieve this goal, the authors initiated the analysis with forty-four countries that are members the BEPS Inclusive Framework but have not yet signed the MLI. Out of these forty-four countries, the authors focused on those that had tax treaties signed or amended after 2017 which has narrowed down the scope to the following countries: Angola, Botswana, Brazil, Cape Verde, Congo, Maldives, Thailand, and Vietnam. In this context, the article examines the tax treaty-related BEPS measures that were adopted by these countries in their bilateral tax treaties, addressing the merits and potential consequences of the choices made by non-signatory jurisdictions. Based on the findings of the research, the article concludes that the impact of the MLI varies significantly depending on the tax treaty policy of each country and that, thus far, it has been limited primarily to the minimum standards on dispute resolution. Multilateral instrument, non-signatory countries, tax treaty policy, minimum standard, bilateral tax treaty negotiation, BEPS implementation, hybrid mismatches, treaty abuse, permanent establishment, dispute resolution.

Appellate Body Crisis at the World Trade Organization: View from India

There has been a crisis prevailing at the Appellate Body of the World Trade Organization (WTO) since December 2019. The United States’ (US) refusal to allow the appointment of members to the WTO’s Appellate Body has disturbed the functioning of the entire WTO dispute settlement process. In order to mitigate the effects of this, the European Union (EU) has proposed a multi-party interim appeal arbitration agreement (MPIA) which has been joined by over twenty other WTO members. In the absence of rules-based dispute settlement, countries will most probably resort to bilateral negotiations. This will be prejudicial to the interests of developing countries that have consistently been disadvantaged during bilateral negotiations and fared better in proceedings with third-party adjudication. Though India has expressed concerns about the Appellate Body crisis, it has not joined the MPIA and has stated that it does not intend to do so either. This article explains why India would benefit from joining the MPIA especially given the disputes it has pending before WTO Panels. Joining the MPIA will help India avoid unilateral sanctions at the first instance and increase the likelihood of compliance by other WTO members that are a part of the MPIA. WTO, Appellate Body, India, dispute settlement, multilateralism, United States, European Union

Implementing Environmental and Social Responsibility Programs in Supply Networks Through Multiunit Bilateral Negotiation

Involving suppliers deep in the supply chain is critical for the success of environmental and social responsibility (ESR) initiatives. Administering ESR programs throughout a complex supply network, however, is challenging. In this paper, we apply a multiunit bilateral bargaining framework to coordinate ESR investments in a general supply network and analyze to what extent an ESR initiator should directly engage the higher-tier suppliers as opposed to delegating that responsibility to the first-tier suppliers. Our bargaining framework not only generalizes the conventional Shapley value approach by allowing the flexibility of modeling imbalanced power distribution among the firms but also provides an explicit way of implementing the resulting gain sharing among the firms through negotiated contract terms. We show that the eventual structure of ESR negotiation relationships can be derived by finding a shortest path tree in the supply network with the arc cost defined as the logarithm of the negotiating parties’ relative bargaining power. These developments allow us to analyze ESR implementation in generally extended supply networks. We find that the ESR initiator tends to delegate ESR negotiations to a supplier that is strong in negotiations with higher-tier suppliers. When the supply network is complex (i.e., wide and deep), directly engaging all suppliers can lead to a larger gain by the initiator than fully delegating the negotiations with higher-tier suppliers to the first-tier ones. However, as the network gets increasingly complex, the ESR initiator tends to directly engage a reduced percentage of higher-tier suppliers. We further extend our analysis to situations where the ESR relationships are sequentially formed in a decentralized manner, where the benefit of ESR depends on the collective choice of the firms’ investment levels, where multiple ESR programs are implemented in the network, and where ESR investments depend on the negotiation relationships.This paper was accepted by David Simchi-Levi, operations management.

A Bargaining-Based Model of Security Design

This paper studies how security design affects project outcomes. Consider a firm that raises capital for multiple projects by offering investors a share of the revenues. The revenue of each project is determined ex post through bargaining with a buyer of the output. Thus, the choice of security affects the feasible payoffs of the bargaining game. We characterize the securities that achieve the firm’s maximal equilibrium payoff in bilateral and multilateral negotiations. In a large class of securities, the optimal contract is remarkably simple. The firm finances each project separately with defaultable debt. Welfare and empirical implications are discussed. (JEL C78, D21, D86, G12, G32)

The Bilateral Negotiation or Centralized Bidding? How to Choose the Transaction Mode with Power Users for Power Plants

At present, there are mainly two kinds of transaction modes in the power market: bilateral negotiation mode and centralized bidding mode. Bilateral negotiation mode means users' purchases power directly from power plants, whereas centralized bidding mode means power plants and power users conduct power transactions through a Power Trading Center. This paper adopts evolutionary game theory to model this mechanism and explores the behavioral patterns of different entities at equilibrium. This paper is organized as follows. First, we build an evolutionary game model of this mechanism. Then, we discuss the existence and stability of equilibrium outcomes. Furthermore, we compare the equilibrium results under different conditions. We find that different market supply‐demand conditions lead to different equilibrium outcomes. Besides, we find that the bilateral negotiation mode does not necessarily improve the overall profit of the power market. When the demand exceeds the supply in the centralized bidding market, introducing the bilateral negotiation mode would reduce the overall market profit. In addition, the increase of the bidding heterogeneity leads to the increase of profits of power plants in the market. © 2021 Institute of Electrical Engineers of Japan. Published by Wiley Periodicals LLC.

CONFLICTS BETWEEN RUSSIA AND THE REPUBLIC OF BELARUS IN THE OIL AND GAS SECTOR IN THE CONTEXT OF POLITICAL INTEGRATION PROCESSES IN THE EURASIAN SPACE

The article examines the conflicts between Russia and the Republic of Belarus in the oil and gas sector, presents their background, dynamics and consequences (2004-2019). The authors examine the historical, political and economic relations between the two states. The analysis of some treaties contributing to the development of integration of Russia and Belarus in the Eurasian space is carried out. Against the background of unfolding integration, conflict tensions are growing in relations between the two states in the economic and political sphere. The article presents the true interests, motives and strategy of behavior of Russia and the Republic of Belarus in the oil and gas conflict. Based on the full identification of the interests and motives of the two parties, the authors propose an alternative way to resolve this conflict. When studying the specifics of conflict relations between Russia and the Republic of Belarus, the authors used the systemic and institutional approaches, the case study method. Particular attention is paid to the specifics and nature of the course of conflicts. It is emphasized that the core of this conflict between the Russian Federation and the Republic of Belarus is based on the economic problems of bilateral relations between Russia and Belarus in the field of oil and gas supplies. The purpose of the study is to determine an alternative way of resolving the conflict between Russia and the Republic of Belarus, based on the full identification of the interests and motives of the parties. Against the backdrop of unfolding integration, conflict tensions are growing in relations between the two states, not only in the economic but also in the political sphere. The article describes the true interests, motives and strategy of behavior of Russia and the Republic of Belarus in this conflict. Russia's interests boil down to obtaining a high cost for the production and export of oil, to deepening the integration of the EAEU member states. The Republic of Belarus is interested in raising prices for oil and gas transit through its territory, as well as in developing a multilateral foreign policy, not limited only to cooperation with Russia and the EAEU countries. The lack of results of long-term bilateral negotiations on this issue shows the need to find alternative options for its resolution. The authors see the solution to the problem in mediation. The involvement of qualified conflict experts, professional mediators, lawyers will help not only to reduce the dissatisfaction of the conflicting parties, but also to develop a plan of joint actions.

How to design decentralisation to curb secessionist pressures? Top-down vs. bottom-up reforms

This paper looks at decentralisation as an institutional solution for curbing secessionist pressures by making potentially seceding regions strictly better off by staying in the union. We show that a bottom-up decentralisation reform, where single regions that can opt to assume or not stronger fiscal responsibilities on the basis of bilateral negotiations with the central government, may be more successful in avoiding instability and a secessionist conflict than more standard top-down decentralisation, where the central government assigns identical fiscal powers to all regions. The example of the decentralisation process in Spain over the last 40 years illustrates the relevance of the institutional pattern we analyse in the paper.

An Intelligent System to Ensure Interoperability for the Dairy Farm Business Model

Picking reliable partners, negotiating synchronously with all partners, and managing similar proposals are challenging tasks for any manager. This challenge is even harder when it concerns small and medium enterprises (SMEs) who need to deal with short budgets and evident size limitations, often leading them to avoid handling very large contracts. This size problem can only be mitigated by collaboration efforts between multiple SMEs, but then again this brings back the initially stated issues. To address these problems, this paper proposes a collaborative negotiation system that automates the outsourcing part by assisting the manager throughout a negotiation. The described system provides a comprehensive view of all negotiations, facilitates simultaneous bilateral negotiations, and provides support for ensuring interoperability among multiple partners negotiating on a task described by multiple attributes. In addition, it relies on an ontology to cope with the challenges of semantic interoperability, it automates the selection of reliable partners by using a lattice-based approach, and it manages similar proposals by allowing domain experts to define a satisfaction degree for each SME. To showcase this method, this research focused on small and medium-size dairy farms (DFs) and describes a negotiation scenario in which a few DFs are able to assess and generate proposals.

ANEGMA: an automated negotiation model for e-markets

We present a novel negotiation model that allows an agent to learn how to negotiate during concurrent bilateral negotiations in unknown and dynamic e-markets. The agent uses an actor-critic architecture with model-free reinforcement learning to learn a strategy expressed as a deep neural network. We pre-train the strategy by supervision from synthetic market data, thereby decreasing the exploration time required for learning during negotiation. As a result, we can build automated agents for concurrent negotiations that can adapt to different e-market settings without the need to be pre-programmed. Our experimental evaluation shows that our deep reinforcement learning based agents outperform two existing well-known negotiation strategies in one-to-many concurrent bilateral negotiations for a range of e-market settings.

Anti-suit injunctions for standard-essential patents: the emerging gap in international patent enforcement

The unprecedented success of standardization in the field of wireless telecommunications, with the development of 2 G, 3 G, 4 G and—currently—5G standards, has engendered a market for standards, and standard-compliant products and equipment of global proportions.1 Cooperation between technology developers and contributors to standard development organizations (SDOs) on the one side, and users of standards on the other, for the development of innovative international standards has, however, also entailed disputes regarding the licensing of standard-essential patents (SEPs). Of particular importance in SEP-litigation is the issue of which licensing terms can be viewed as fair, reasonable and non-discriminatory (FRAND). Because patents are territorial rights and major technology contributors hold SEPs in various jurisdictions, it is not uncommon—in case a FRAND outcome is not reached through bilateral negotiations—for FRAND disputes to result in lawsuits being filed in several jurisdictions. In patent infringement actions, national courts routinely review the FRAND-conformity of the conduct of both parties in negotiations before awarding the remedy of injunctive relief.2 Adding to that, the contractual nature of the FRAND commitment provided by SEP-holders to SDOs may give parties to a FRAND dispute cause of action for a declaratory judgment that a given licensing offer is, or is not, FRAND.3 Hence, a situation of overlapping jurisdiction may arise in international FRAND disputes.

Shaping the ground for bilateral cybersecurity negotiations

Shaping the ground for bilateral cybersecurity negotiations