Origins of negotiations

All negotiations aim to serve a purpose. The objective may be to manage or resolve a conflict or dispute, or it may entail developing a collective project, such as drafting and adopting a declaration or resolution on an issue of concern to the world community. In both cases, a broad spectrum of events or developments is usually responsible for precipitating a negotiation. These developments may be revolutionary in nature, such as a sudden, natural catastrophe (e.g. earthquake, flood, or tsunami), industrial accident or armed invasion. Or they may be evolutionary in nature, such as growing awareness or scientific evidence that a problem (e.g. land mines, ozone depletion or endangered species) can only be addressed effectively through collective action. In either case, events almost always trigger a response, which very often takes the form of intergovernmental negotiation.