Between Worlds, by Bill Richardson: on Foreign Policy

Clinton administration negotiated North Korea nuclear freeze

North Korea did have one claim to modernity that earned it the enmity of the US and other Western countries: It had a fairly sophisticated uranium-enrichment program dating back to the 1980s that was not limited to uses permitted under the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty. By the early 1990s, in fact, it was clear that North Korea was prepared to produce nuclear weapons and might even have made a couple of them.

Pres. Bill Clinton engaged North Korea in a long and arduous set of negotiations aimed at ending its nuclear-weapons program. In Oct. 1994, the two countries signed an agreement to freeze and eventually unplug the North Korean nuclear facilities that were capable of making atomic weapons.

First to visit Aung San Suu Kyi under Burmese house arrest

In Feb. 1994, I became the first non-family member permitted to visit Aung San Suu Kyi since her arrest. I urged the military junta leader to open a dialogue with her, and I volunteered to mediate. She is the key to Burma's reputation in the international community, I said, particularly in the US. I said at a press conference that she should be released without condition. She was released in July 1995 and since then has been in and out of house arrest--mostly in.

Aung San Suu Kyi is the Nelson Mandela of the Burmese people, and one day, she will lead a new democracy movement in her country.

Negotiated with Castro to halve fee to emigrate from Cuba

At that time, Cuba charged $600 for exit documents. This was prohibitive to thousands who wanted to leave. The "Richardson Agreement" cut that figure in half for up to 1,000 Cubans per year who could demonstrate financial hardship. Castro suggested, without making a promise, that we could build on this agreement, perhaps leading to the relaxation of restrictions in other areas. I also succeeded in returning home with several imprisoned dissidents.

I am no fan of Castro's politics and the repression he has visited upon Cubans for the past 46 years. But all in all, he was probably the best-informed foreign leader I met during that period in the mid-1990s.

When negotiating, focus on goals, not locale or format

Richardson's Rules
• Know where you can settle. Identify eight essential goals and achieve five.
• Learn as much as possible about your adversary.
• Give up the locale. Don't insist on neutral ground, but go to his or her turf. It's the substance that counts, not the place where you negotiate.
• Give up the little things. The other guy wants to hold a press conference? Fine.
• Don't be intimidated.
• Don't concede absolutely everything the other side is requesting. Get something in return, even if it's minor.
• Find common ground and establish a personal connection.
• You can walk out, but only if you're prepared to walk back in later.
• Take advantage of the goals you share. Agree on them and move on from there.
• Carry a bunch of nice pens. When your opponent admires one, give it to him.
• If you are negotiating an endgame, allow a dignified way out.
• Talk about it. It is always better to have a conversation than not to talk.