APA style 2500 words Case TOPIC: https://www.pon.harvard.edu/daily/international-negotiation-daily/top-10-international-negotiations-of-2013-canceled-talks-between-the-u-s-and-russia/ FILES ATTAC

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Introduction

Negotiations are part and parcel of our everyday life, and since time immemorial, people from different backgrounds, cultures, gender, and social status, have been involved in negotiations. Negotiations help people, countries, or businesses build better relationships, find solutions to problems, or end conflicts. In our report, we will analyze the U.S.A-Russia negotiation in 2013 between President Barack Obama and Vladimir Putin, the Russian president, which, unfortunately, reached an impasse. Our analysis of the talks will be rooted in the topic ‘Challenges and Solutions in Cross-Cultural Negotiations.’ Russia and America have different cultures, although the two countries are rich countries, with large economies, and socially and culturally diverse, our report will show how cultural differences played a part in the failed negotiations.

According to Thompson (2020), cross-cultural negotiations are challenging, and the differences in behaviours, values, and beliefs of the parties affect the possibility of reaching integrative agreements. U.S-Russia negotiation is an excellent example of such a situation. To illustrate, the U.S.A.'s values and beliefs regarding the LGBTQ community, for example, affected the negotiation process.

Through research, the report will highlight the difference in culture between Russia and the U.S. A when it comes to their involvement in international negotiations with people from other cultures and builds a case analysis on why the 2013 summit was cancelled between the two nations. The analysis will show how the talks could have improved and possibly create a solution to the issues and recommendations of what should have happened using negotiation concepts and strategies based on cross-cultural negotiations.

Case Summary

Barack Obama, the serving president of the United States of America in the years 2009 to 2017, was involved in a negotiation in the year 2013 with the president of Russia,Vladimir Putin, who assumed the position in 2012 and is still is the President of Russia to date. The negotiation issues comprised arms control, human rights and civil society, trade and commercial relations, and proposal to cooperate in the Syrian war and missile defense (Tapper & Cohen, 2013). The two presidents, however, did not reach an agreement and, according to Pon Staff. (2017) on August 7, 2013, Barack Obama announced the cancellation of the summit that was due in September the same year, revealing that he was disappointed in how the negotiation was progressing. Putin's assistant also announced during a press conference that Putin was equally disappointed by Obama's decision. Still, they were ready to continue working together to solve the bilateral and multilateral issues at hand.

Barack Obama’s Reasons for Cancelling the Talks

Barack publicly revealed why the U.S. administration was unwilling to continue with the talks. Firstly, the president announced gaps of trust between the two countries that had not yet closed, making the negotiations hard. Obama, for example, identified the anti-gay laws that Russia had recently passed. He termed the move as “a way to mistreat the LGBTQ” community (Marcus, 2013). The law did not favor the two countries' shared plans to tackle issues that revolved around human rights, which created a trust issue. Obama also acknowledged that Russia was a U.S. potential ally. Yet, they had offered Edward Snowden a one-year asylum in Moscow and continued to provide him with a three-year residency. Snowden, an ex C.I.A. employee, and an American citizen facing espionage charges in the U.S., disclosed highly classified National Security Agency (N.S.A.) to the Americans and fled the country (Marcus, 2013). Russia's decision to offer him asylum was not taken by the U.S. kindly as it was an indication of a cold war mindset by Russia (Tapper & Cohen, 2013). Snowden owned U.S. surveillance information that could be used against the country, thus creating trust issues between Washington and Moscow.

Secondly, Obama also revealed his administration had not identified significant progress when it came to the bilateral agenda with Russia (Tapper & Cohen, 2013). The White House had before Putin's term been involved in negotiations with the then-president Dmitry Medvedev, and some progress had been observed. On the other hand, Putin's term had proven futile regarding negotiations with the U.S. (Tapper & Cohen, 2013). The statement suggests Putin’s administration may have been not cooperative, or Putin's perceptions about the U.S. president may have been misconstrued.

Lastly, Obama was serving his last term, and he wanted to concentrate on other issues affecting Americans instead of engaging in talks that he felt were 'unlikely to advance' (Pon Staff, 2017). The decision may have been a strategy to sway Russia's decision. The president may also have had a heuristic and cognitive bias when it involved Putin, considering he had made progress with Dmitry Medvedev.

Vladimir Putin’s Perceived Reason why Obama Cancelled the Talks

The Russian president believed his country's decision to house Snowden was the main reason as to why the U.S. administration cancelled the summit that was to be held in September 2013 (Tapper & Cohen, 2013). Additionally, according to Tapper & Cohen, (2013), Putin believed the move to cancel the talks was an indication by the U.S. that they were not ready to 'build equal relations with Russia.'

References

Marcus, J. (2013, August 7). Russia "disappointed" bilateral talks with the U.S. cancelled. B.B.C. News. https://www.bbc.com/news/23608052.

Pon Staff. (2017, February 8). Top International Negotiations: Canceled Talks Between the U.S. and Russia. https://www.pon.harvard.edu/daily/international-negotiation-daily/top-10- international-negotiations-of-2013-canceled-talks-between-the-u-s-and-russia/.

Tapper, J. Y. J. & Cohen, T. (2013, August 8). Obama cancels talks with Putin ahead of the G- 20 summit - CNNPolitics. CNN. https://edition.cnn.com/2013/08/07/politics/obama- putin/index.html.

Thompson, L. L. (2020). The Mind and Heart of the Negotiator (7th ed.). Pearson Education, Inc.