Negotiations Essay

Negotiations are the less costly means to resolve a dispute. They are an intermediary step that gives people or states an opportunity to achieve their goals through peaceful means. Negotiations give us an understanding of our position and that of our enemies. They make us aware of our strengths and weaknesses and they clarify the enemy’s intentions, interests and their potentials. Knowing that war is a certain outcome of a dispute, wouldn’t it be more convenient to first engage in peaceful talks and negotiations? Even though we might have the necessary resources to win the war, would we still be as better off as if we would solve our disputes through negotiations? We would still lose lives and incur material costs if we go to war, regardless if we are on the winning or losing side. Why then would we not advocate using negotiations to resolve disputes? Why do we need to go to war when there is another way to resolve a dispute? Overall, “war does not determine who is right - only who is left.” (Bertrand Russell) And “who is left” should not be the ultimate goal of our society. It is attaining justice and fairness for all that should concern us.
History shows that negotiations might fail due to the difference of the justice and fairness definitions. The Melos- Athens conflict proved that negotiations might only be a step that delays war, rather than a peaceful way out of the dispute. However, reality and experience indicates that the outcomes of negotiations are subject to circumstances, timeframe, and people’s ideologies. People’s mentality has changed and they have become more open-minded, tolerant and more educated to understand that war is the last resort of solving a dispute. Reality and circumstances have also changed and war...

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...ption of fairness, but at least they are a better option than that of going straight to war. This is why we should advocate using negotiations to resolve disputes. We should encourage dialogue to prevent further escalation of disputes, be that in the Ukrainian context or Iraq’s war if we could go back in time. We should encourage peaceful ways to resolve tensions and crisis because a miscalculated decision to go to war might initiate a Third World War and who knows what will happen then or how many lives will be lost. We can give thousands of reasons to advocate the usage of negotiations, but there are very few if no reason at all that would advocate against it. If we all believe in justice and fairness, no matter how diverse our definitions might be, I believe there is no need for war. And if each of us holds this belief than I doubt there will be any future ones.