Middle East Leadership Academy: The Art of Negotiation

MELA 5, DAY SEVEN: 12 MARCH 2014

Two-party negotiation. The art of addressing points of difference between two partners in a dialogue, and crafting an outcome that ideally satisfies both parties.

Red-Blue. A multiple-round negotiation game between paired groups.

Group 5 ("Snake") ponders its opening bid in the game against Group 3 ("Coral").

The view from Group 2 ("Fish") headquarters.

Group 6 ("Sea") makes its move against its opponent, Group 4 ("Horse").

Horse laughs. Horse will not be intimidated by Sea's puny thrusts. Horse snorts in Sea's general direction.

Majid is Fish's scorekeeper.

Faye Crupi tracks the scoring as the game progresses. Julie is the runner for the Horse team.

Fish representative Ali negotiates with his Group 1 ("Star") counterparts Khalid and Majd.

Sea's negotiators Farid and Hamid confer in private conference.

Samira asserts Horse's good intentions and trustworthiness.

Feelings run high as the exercise is debriefed, and the Machiavellian maneuvers which some groups performed in order to win – bordering on treachery, in some people's opinion – are brought to light.

Snake. A dangerous creature, often fanged and poisonous.

Knife in the back. A successful winning tactic in the short run, but fatal to one's long-term reputation.

However, personal rancor cannot survive long within the MELA family, especially as we prepare for our afternoon excursion around Doha.

All dressed up and ready to go.

Faye, Susan Sutterfield and Michael Grant enjoy a blessed breeze by the water.

Johnny and Carolanne Roberts were in Doha, and have the pictures to prove it.

Mortal enemies in the morning... firmest of friends in the afternoon.

We visit the Museum of Islamic Art, and are awestruck by the wealth and elegance of treasures that this part of the world has produced. The earthenware bowl (9th century, Iraq) enjoins the eater to excel in everything he or she does: a fit motto for MELA.