Negotiating at the United Nations: A Practitioner's Guide

This book offers a comprehensive practitioner's guide to negotiating at the United Nations.

Although much of the content can be applied broadly, the guide focuses on navigating multilateral negotiations at the UN. The book is a tool to help new UN negotiators, explaining basic negotiation concepts and offering insight into the complexities of the UN system. It also offers a playbook for cooperation for negotiators at any level, exploring the dynamics of relationships and alliances, the art of chairing a negotiation, and the importance of balancing the power asymmetries present in any multilateral discussion. The book proposes improvements to the UN negotiation process and looks at the impact of information technologies on negotiation dynamics; it also shares stories from women UN delegates, illustrating what it means to be a female negotiator at the UN. This book is an exploration of the power of the individual in any negotiation, and of the responsibility all negotiators have in wielding that power to speak for a better world.

This book will be of much interest to students of diplomacy, global governance, foreign policy, and International Relations, as well as practitioners and policymakers.

Rebecca E. Webber Gaudiosi represented the United States at the UN from 2006–14, leading on US engagement with over 25 organizations focused on environment and sustainable development. She has also worked with several UN specialized agencies and on bilateral environment issues. Her most recent assignment was at the U.S. Embassy in Cairo.

Jimena Leiva-Roesch was at the Permanent Mission of Guatemala to the UN in New York, from 2009-15, where she last served as Counselor. She was the lead negotiator for Guatemala in the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) and UN climate change negotiations. She is currently a Research Fellow with the International Peace Institute.

Ye-Min Wu has worked with the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Singapore for over a decade. While at the Permanent Mission of Singapore to the UN in New York, she chaired UN negotiations as well as represented the Group of 77 and China in UN negotiations on sustainable development issues.