Negotiating Across Cultures
International Communication in an Interdependent World
December 1997
For this substantially revised edition of his 1991 book, Raymond Cohen has added two new chapters, updated previous examples, and added numerous recent ones, especially concerning U.S. trade agreements. Newly added cases include the negotiations over NAFTA, China's most-favored-nation status, the nuclear non-proliferation treaty, and the Okinawa bases. All in all, about 40 percent of the text is new.
Cohen explores how cultural factors have affected U.S. dealings with Japan, China, Egypt, India, and Mexico. He demonstrates that there are two quite different models of negotiation: "low context," a predominantly verbal and explicit style typical of individualistic societies such as the United States, and "high context," a style associated with nonverbal and implicit communication more typical of traditionally interdependent societies. He concludes the book with ten specific recommendations for the intercultural negotiator.
A masterwork of cultural analysis applied to international politics. . . . An insightful and entertaining narrative. . . [Cohen] provides a fascinating set of object lessons on what can, but need not, go wrong in cross-cultural negotiations.
- Orbis
Raymond Cohen
Raymond Cohen is a graduate of Oxford University and received his Ph.D. from the Hebrew University of Jerusalem, where he has been on the department's faculty since 1976.
Dr. Cohen has been a visiting professor at the University of British Columbia and Georgetown University and a research fellow at the U.S. Institute of Peace and the Watson Institute for International Studies at Brown University. Dr. Cohen’s fields of interest are cross-cultural communication, diplomacy in ancient times, conflict resolution and the Christian holy places.