Thursday, April 9, 2015

State Department Orders Crash Course on Negotiatin'

 Training is Meant to Increase Understanding and Effectiveness 

"Mr. Secretary Would You Like to Lead the Class in the Pledge of Allegiance?"

After disastrous negotiations with Iran in which they were allowed to run the table and call the shots, the Obama State Department has decided it just might be time to learn the fine art of not getting the floor mopped with their faces when dealing with adversaries.  

"Less than a week following the framework of a nuclear deal with Iran that allows the Islamic Republic to continue operating core aspects of its program, the State Department is looking for a new training course on how to negotiate.  The agency released a solicitation for “Negotiations” on Wednesday, revealing that the State Department is seeking a class for U.S. diplomats on “making and receiving concessions wisely.”
“The overall course teaches the essential skills, knowledge, and attitudes for U.S. diplomats to succeed in any of 275 overseas posts performing the full spectrum of political and economic work,” the solicitation said. “This module will focus on the complex art of negotiating across diverse cultures to find common ground for advancing mutual interests.”
The training is meant to increase “understanding and effectiveness” of negotiations between foreign powers.
The State Department said upon completion of the course diplomats will be better able to describe “basic, universal negotiating concepts and vocabulary,” and identify “objectives and underlying interests of negotiating parties. Preparing relevant strategies for diplomatic persuasion,” and “analyzing ‘Lessons Learned’ through debriefing to improve future outcomes,” are other goals of the course."
The three-week course also seeks for State Department diplomats to understand “cultural considerations” and “building trust” between their foreign counterparts."
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I guess this should come as no surprise to any of us that this bunch have no skills and couldn't negotiate their way out of an open box, considering the previous Secretary of State spent 5 years doing nothing but fly around wearing out government aircraft, having cocktails with world leaders and reminiscing about the Bill Clinton years....