78. Ye-Min Wu - Multilateral negotiations: on the trials and tribulations of building peace

The Voices of War

My guest today is Ye-Min Wu, who is the South & Southeast Asia Director at the Centre for Humanitarian Dialogue. Ye-Min joined HD earlier this year after more than 15 years as a diplomat representing Singapore at the United Nations, World Intellectual Property Organization, UN Framework Convention on Climate Change as well as the World Trade Organisation. She has also chaired UN negotiations and represented the Group of 77 (plus China) in talks on sustainable development issues.

She joins me today to discuss how multilateral negotiations are conducted and explains some of the challenges as well as opportunities inherent in the process. Some of the topics we covered are:

• Ye-Min’s path into diplomacy
• Managing the ‘negotiation theatre’
• Finding the win-win solution
• Building trust and credibility in negotiations
• Connecting to the ‘other’ and the importance of warmth
• How multilateral negotiations are conducted
• The difference between a nation’s bargaining position and its interests
• How to successfully negotiate in Asia
• Challenges of growing militarisation and insecurity in Asia
• How Asian nations are managing China’s rise
• Why peace agreements often fail
• Ye-Min’s greatest fear and hope

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