How Negotiators Navigated the Thorny Issue of Water Rights Between Mexico and the U.S.
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The Negotiators: A 2012 Colorado River deal became a blueprint for talks over resource scarcity.
You may have heard about the Colorado River negotiations that ended in May. In a monumentally important agreement, several U.S. states along the Colorado River agreed to cut water use. We will cover that deal in next week’s show.
But for today’s episode of The Negotiators, we hear about an earlier round of Colorado River talks between the United States and Mexico. These binational talks from 2007 to 2012 tell us something about resource scarcity and the delicate negotiations required to address the issue.
Bruno Verdini, a negotiation expert at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology and Harvard University, followed the talks closely and interviewed just about everyone involved for his book Winning Together: The Natural Resource Negotiation Playbook. Host Jenn Williams talks to Verdini about how the agreement not only reduced water consumption but also benefited each side in multiple ways.
The Negotiators is a collaboration between Doha Debates and Foreign Policy.
About The Negotiators: Conflicts don’t just get resolved on their own. Most are settled through a grueling process of give and take, usually behind closed doors. On the podcast The Negotiators, Foreign Policy is teaming up with Doha Debates to put listeners in the room. Hosted by FP deputy editor Jenn Williams, each episode features one mediator, diplomat, or troubleshooter, describing one dramatic negotiation. You’ll hear about a nuclear standoff, a hostage crisis, a gang mediation, and much more: successes and failures that shaped people’s lives. See All Episodes
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More The Negotiators episodes:
The Maestro of Mediation
The Negotiators: William Ury has helped resolve some of the world’s most intractable conflicts. Here’s how he does it.
From Humanitarian Catastrophe to Peace in Yemen?
The Negotiators: As warring factions inch closer to a deal, mediators in Yemen describe what it takes to end a grueling war.
Why Israeli-Palestinian Peace Plans Fail
The Negotiators: The story of one promising initiative known as the Road Map is telling.
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