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State Department Orders Crash Course on Negotiating Week After Iran Deal

Training on ‘making and receiving concessions wisely’

John Kerry
John Kerry / AP
April 8, 2015

Less than a week following the framework of a nuclear deal with Iran that allows the Islamic Republic to continue operating core aspects of its program, the State Department is looking for a new training course on how to negotiate.

The agency released a solicitation for "Negotiations" on Wednesday, revealing that the State Department is seeking a class for U.S. diplomats on "making and receiving concessions wisely."

"The overall course teaches the essential skills, knowledge, and attitudes for U.S. diplomats to succeed in any of 275 overseas posts performing the full spectrum of political and economic work," the solicitation said. "This module will focus on the complex art of negotiating across diverse cultures to find common ground for advancing mutual interests."

The training is meant to increase "understanding and effectiveness" of negotiations between foreign powers.

The State Department said upon completion of the course diplomats will be better able to describe "basic, universal negotiating concepts and vocabulary," and identify "objectives and underlying interests of negotiating parties."

"Preparing relevant strategies for diplomatic persuasion," and "analyzing ‘Lessons Learned’ through debriefing to improve future outcomes," are other goals of the course.

The three-week course also seeks for State Department diplomats to understand "cultural considerations" and "building trust" between their foreign counterparts.

"Applying appropriate negotiation techniques to a given scenario, including but not limited to: clarifying assumptions, generating and evaluating alternatives, making and receiving concessions wisely, understanding cultural considerations and behavioral preferences, building trust, representing one's own and others' interests, and being aware of assumptions," the solicitation said.

America’s top diplomat, Secretary of State John Kerry, extended his stay last week in Lausanne, Switzerland, past the March 31 deadline to reach a nuclear agreement with Iranian Foreign Minister Javad Zarif.

The framework for the agreement, agreed to by the United States, the European Union, and the "P5+1" nations, allows Iran to continue to run major portions of its nuclear program and will terminate economic sanctions against the country.

"We will continue enriching; we will continue research and development," Zarif said following the agreement.

Zarif accused Kerry and the Obama administration of lying hours after the framework was released, saying that the United States had promised sanctions would be immediately terminated, not lifted gradually.

Published under: State Department