Kissinger the Negotiator: Lessons from Dealmaking at the Highest Level
About this audiobook
Foreword by Henry Kissinger
In this groundbreaking, definitive guide to the art of negotiation, three Harvard professors offer a comprehensive examination of one of the most successful dealmakers of all time, Henry Kissinger, and some of his most impressive achievements, including the Paris Peace Accords for which he won the 1973 Nobel Peace Prize.
Political leaders, diplomats, and business executives around the world—including every President from John F. Kennedy to Donald J. Trump—have sought the counsel of Henry Kissinger, a brilliant diplomat and political scientist whose unprecedented achievements as a negotiator have been universally acknowledged. Now, Kissinger the Negotiator provides a groundbreaking analysis of Kissinger’s overall approach to making deals and his skill in resolving conflicts—expertise that holds powerful and enduring lessons.
Based on in-depth interviews with Kissinger himself about some of his most difficult negotiations and an extensive study of his writings, James K. Sebenius of Harvard Business School, R. Nicholas Burns of the Kennedy School of Government, and Robert H. Mnookin of Harvard Law School crystallize the key elements of the former Secretary of State’s approach. Taut and instructive, Kissinger the Negotiator mines the long and fruitful career of this elder statesman and shows how his strategies not only apply to contemporary diplomatic challenges but also to other realms of negotiation, including business, public policy, and law.
Essential reading for current and future leaders, Kissinger the Negotiator is an invaluable guide to reaching agreements.
About the author
James K. Sebenius specializes in analyzing and advising corporations and governments worldwide on their most challenging negotiations. After years in the private sector (Blackstone) and the U.S. government (Commerce and State Departments), he is now the Gordon Donaldson Professor of Business Administration at Harvard Business School, where he founded the Negotiation unit and teaches advanced negotiation to students and senior executives. He directs the Harvard Negotiation Project at Harvard Law School and is a partner in Lax Sebenius LLC, a negotiations strategy firm.
R. Nicholas Burns is the Roy and Barbara Goodman Family Professor of the Practice of Diplomacy and International Relations at the Harvard Kennedy School of Government. A career officer in the U.S. Foreign Service, he served as under secretary of state for political affairs and as ambassador to NATO and to Greece.
Robert H. Mnookin is the Samuel Williston Professor of Law at Harvard Law School, the chair of the Program on Negotiation at Harvard Law School, and the director of the Harvard Negotiation Research Project. As a mediator, facilitator, and consultant, he has applied his interdisciplinary approach to a wide range of commercial and political conflicts.
