Negotiation, Ethics and Effective Leadership - Essay Example

The whole notion of negotiation is built on ethical quicksand. One study found out that 28% of the negotiators lied about at least one issue during the negotiation procedure. Another study found out that 100% of the negotiators either failed to actively lie or reveal a problem during the negotiation process. Although bald-faced lies during negotiations are wrong concealments, omissions, and evasions are very necessary for a negotiation process. Negotiations are often treated as an amoral game where ethical concerns are sidelined for substantive gains (Schneider & Honeyman, 2006, P. 178). Ethically ambiguous tactics are common in negotiation. These are tactics that have more than one connotation regarding what is right and appropriate.

Again the use of deception is very common in negotiation. It is driven by a variety of individual differences and situational factors. It is also driven by negotiators' need to increase their power, availability of tactics that are marginally ethical, opportunities for opportunism, competitive orientation to negotiation, and a variety of situational factors that makes it easier for negotiators to act without any detection. He has made a half-hearted attempt to reach out to Iran which has been short-lived and has actually reverted to Bush`s administration policy towards Iran.

The deception is very clear in the negotiation between Iran and President Obama. Iran has been quite unreceptive to Obamas` peaceful approach although President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad has always told that he is ready for talks with US President Barrack Obama. Iran has always attempted towards making nuclear enrichment plants inside the mountain base of Iranian Revolutionary Guards near the religious center of Qum in spite of receiving several warnings from the US President. Global Nuclear Disarmament treaties have often been violated by rough regimes like Iran. Although Iran claims that it complies with its responsibilities under the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty, it has never resorted to peace.

Obamas` administration policy contrasts largely from that of Bush in his dealing with Iran. He has made several attempts to engage Iran in negotiations on the nuclear issues rather than just focusing on increasing sanctions on Iran. This approach was not significantly altered in spite of the Iranian dispute on June 12 2009 over its election. However, to date, Iran has not agreed to implement its agreement of sending most of its enriched uranium to Russia and France for reprocessing.

Negotiation skills help an individual in getting what they want from others. Negotiation skills help in achieving the goals of the leader. Military professionals use negotiation skills at the operational and strategic levels. It helps them to maintain control over their jurisdiction. They can also use this skill to avert or successfully counter opposition and to negotiate among conflicting interests. It also helps the leaders to exude a sincere belief in the set of goals by engaging others to invest themselves in attaining these goals by forging a consensus on the desirability and vitality o the goals.

Moreover, Tehran`s support of the Lebanese terrorism in 1980 which involved airline hijacking also proved that Iran was not interested in creating a peaceful situation. In this incident, two passengers who worked for the US Agency for International development were shot dead and Iran allowed the airliner to land and remain at the airport as the terrorists killed the passengers and continued making demands.

One of the most important rules of international negotiation between two or more countries is that it cannot abandon diplomatic discussions until some alternatives are available. In the Iranian crisis, this rule was broken. Iran has neglected every situation that was manageable and late remedies have not provided the peace process with an effective cure. It has shown an unwillingness to act when actions could be simpler and effective due to lack of clear thinking, self-preservation strikes, and confusion of counsel until the emergency comes.

The Iran -Us Negotiation process has suffered many threats. During the final negotiation for the release of its hostages, the US realized that Iran had complete control of its hostage situation. The regime's total control over the fate of its hostages became apparent when it tried to extract financial concessions from the US.

The US should adopt a more cautious strategy against Iran. The US should have refused to get involved militarily to rescue Soviets` difficult position in Iraq and Iran. Kuwait's prime interest has been to attract attention to war rather than protection of its exports. To safeguard the interest creation of a UN naval force was very essential.