PIN-Negotiation

The Processes of International Negotiation (PIN) Program is a non-profit group of scholars and practitioners that encourages and organizes research on a broad spectrum of topics related to international negotiation seen as a process. Its objectives include the dissemination of new knowledge about negotiation as widely as possible, and developing networks of scholars and practitioners interested in the subject, for the purpose of improving analysis and practice of negotiation worldwide.

The PIN network includes more than 4,000 scholars and practioners of international negotiation. The organization is presided over by a Steering Committee, who organizes the many activities and edits the newsletter PINPoints.

The secretariat of PIN is based at the German Institute for Gobal and Area Studies (GIGA) in Hamburg, Germany. There are currently eight PIN SC members and two associate members. Members are Dr Mark Anstey, Nelson Mandela University; Dr Rudolf Schüssler of Bayreuth University; Dr Guy Olivier Faure of the Sorbonne; Dr Amrita Narlikar of GIGA German Institute for Global and Area Studies and University of Hamburg, Moty Cristal of NEST Consulting, Dr Fen Osler Hampson of Carleton University; Dr Paul Meerts of Clingendael; Dr Valerie Rosoux of the Catholic University of Louvain; Dr Gunnar Sjöstedt of the Swedish Institute of International Relations; and Dr I. William Zartman of the Johns Hopkins University-SAIS. Associate members for specific projects are Dr Mordechai Melamud of CTBTO for the CTBT project, and Dr Mikhail Troitskiy for Caspilog.

Every year the Steering Committee conducts one to two workshops devoted to the analysis and improvement of the practice of negotiation, involving scholars from numerous countries, in order to tap a broad range of international expertise. Normally authors are invited to draft papers for these workshops. After the workshop these papers are revised for publication. PIN has published a book a year out of these workshops, using various English-language publishers, and its books have been translated into a number of languages, including an active Chinese translation program.

Topics generally fall into one or both of two categories: conceptual issues, often bringing together another conceptual area that has hitherto not been combined with negotiation, and current issues. Power and Negotiation (2000), Escalation and International Negotiation (2005), Negotiated Risks (2009) and Diplomacy Games (2009) (on formal modeling) are examples of the first; Negotiating the Comprehensive Test Ban (2010), Negotiating European Union (2003), and Climate Change Negotiations (2010) are examples of the second.

The Steering Committee also offers mini-conferences on international negotiations in order to disseminate and encourage research on the subject. Such "Road Shows" have been held at the Argentine Council for International Relations, Buenos Aires; Beida University, Beijing; the Center for Conflict Resolution, Haifa; the Center for the Study of Contemporary Japanese Culture, Kyoto; the School of International Relations, Tehran; the Swedish Institute of International Affairs, Stockholm; the University of Cairo; University Hassan II, Casablanca; the University of Helsinki; and the UN University for Peace, San Jose, Costa Rica.

The PIN Network publishes a semiannual newsletter, PINPoints, and sponsors a network of over 4,000 researchers and practitioners in negotiation. Past projects and the program have been supported by the William and Flora Hewlett Foundation, Smith Richardson Foundation, the US Institute of Peace, UNESCO, Carnegie Corporation and Carnegie Commission for the Prevention of Deadly Conflict.