Mushrooms and Other Persian Delicacies

Analysis Question 2:
The United States is currently engaged in very sensitive negotiations with Iran over Iran's nuclear program. The State Department asks you, as a consultant in cross-cultural communications, to give them some tips on how their diplomats should plan their negotiations. To answer this question, think about what factors might influence the communication (setting, non-verbals, language, etc.) and give what you think is the most important advice. You don't have to be an Iranian culture or politics expert, but you can tell them what to look for as something to be concerned about.

There are many things that a State Department diplomat would need to take into consideration during any negotiation. I'd say that the most important thing to focus on would be the high-context-low context differentiation. If a diplomat were to truly fail on this issue they could end up destroying both negotiations and millions of lives. Almost as important, or possibly more important would be the issue of language. If the diplomat does not have a complete handle on language with its intricacies and non-verbals then negotiations could quickly break down. Examples of this are known to have caused many wars throughout history, on multiple continents. Other factors that they would need a keen understanding of would include setting(including the culture, practices, and other aspects of Iran and Iranians). By not understanding any single one of these, given the wrong circumstances and incentives, a war could easily erupt. This would be key to any diplomat, it's not enough to simply have a full understanding of one aspect of cross cultural communication, they need all of them. Every one of these could be a poison pill during sensitive negotiations. Needless to say, the consequences of an absence of full understanding are grave.

Nick