Question

Why did British employ war and negotiation very cleverly

Answer 1

Explanation:

This series of articles is extracted from a longer article titled, “Of War and Negotiation,” and originally developed from a keynote address presented at the European Mediation Conference in the City Hall of Vienna, Austria, September 28, 2007.

The place and setting could not have been more auspicious or meaningful; Vienna has been in the center of wars and treaties from the earliest days of the Roman Empire, the hosting the 1814-15 Congress of Vienna that re-stabilized Europe during the Napoleonic reign, through to the present day where it serves as the base of operations for the International Atomic Energy Agency.

Answer 2

This series of articles is extracted from a longer article titled, “Of War and Negotiation,” and originally developed from a keynote address presented at the European Mediation Conference in the City Hall of Vienna, Austria, September 28, 2007.

The place and setting could not have been more auspicious or meaningful; Vienna has been in the center of wars and treaties from the earliest days of the Roman Empire, the hosting the 1814-15 Congress of Vienna that re-stabilized Europe during the Napoleonic reign, through to the present day where it serves as the base of operations for the International Atomic Energy Agency.

The architecture of the City Hall, while perhaps not exceptional by European and Vienna standards, where every block is dense with 18th and 19th Century buildings, still had a bearing that made my presence feel small but honored just to be present. Wandering through huge carved stone colonnades into massive ballrooms, one can’t help but ponder who has danced the Waltz, or was involved in hushed corner discussions concerning some political intrigue of the day. The history of books, too easily dismissed, began to take on a current relevancy. Here, thinking about the connections between war and negotiation, could not have a richer or lusher backdrop, especially in light of present day geopolitics.

And if that history were not enough, Vienna is in the heart of the European Union, the founding of which required complex negotiations across multiple cultures and in the face of difficult and sometimes tortured histories. Ironically, despite the United States’ youthful and exuberant devotion to the future and the idea of progress, and let’s face it, not a little American hubris, old Europe appears to still have a few lessons to teach the United States.

The approach to mediation practice that appears to be taking hold in Europe reflects, dignifies and furthers that history. While they may have taken a few hints early on from the work of mediators and conflict managers in the U.S., they are well on their way to developing their own unique and effective approach to mediation. It is largely a pragmatic and functional approach unencumbered by ideological belief. In the same way Europeans acknowledge the intellectual work of Sigmund Freud, whose home and office on Vienna’s Bergasse Street remains prominent, but have resisted making- over his psychodynamic theory into a quasi religion, they have taken the best of mediation practice without feeling obliged to imbue it with transformational properties.