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Negotiation Strategies September 2019 Contact Us

The Greenland Purchase That Wasn't (or The Artlessness of the Deal)

Dear Clients and Friends, Last month, President Trump attempted to make a deal to buy Greenland. The deal of course never materialized. In this September '19 edition of Negotiation Strategies , we analyze what he did wrong; how he might have done better; and lessons for our own negotiations.  For your reading convenience, this column is also summarized in the Lessons Learned bullet points at the bottom of the page. With Best Wishes Raphael Lapin

The Greenland Purchase that Wasn't (or The Artlessness of the Deal)

Introduction

Last month, President Trump made a seemingly impulsive decision to buy Greenland. He put out word of his intention which was met with a definitive, unequivocal and final message from Queen and Country of Denmark that “Greenland is open for business, not for sale!” That brief two-way volley was the extent and the death of those negotiations. The President’s approach lacked grace, finesse, and dare I say skill, and brought to mind images of a “bull in a china shop”.  Negotiation is seldom a quick event, but rather a journey with some twists and turns until the final destination is reached. A solid negotiation structure needs to be carefully constructed before a productive and optimal outcome can be ensured. How then, might have these negotiations been approached differently in a way that would better have accomplished the interests of the United States?

Why Greenland

In early preparation for these negotiations, the first question that needed to be asked, understood and articulated is: “What specifically are the United States' interests in Greenland?” Greenland lies within the Arctic Circle and is situated where the Atlantic Ocean and Arctic Sea meet. Due to climate changes and massive ice melts, new shipping routes have opened up between the Bering Straits and the Atlantic Ocean through the Arctic Sea. This gives both China and Russia quick and unfettered access between Eastern and Western hemispheres, of which both are taking advantage militarily and economically. Although the U.S does have the Thule air force base within one thousand miles of the region, a U.S. interest might be to have a stronger presence in the area where east meets west to help balance Chinese and Russian footprints and influences there. A second important interest of the U.S in Greenland might be its rich supply of rare earth elements such as terbium, dysprosium, neodymium, praseodymium and natural uranium. These rare earth elements are widely used in technology, military, electric cars and wind turbines. Until recently, these minerals were inaccessible due to ice sheets of nearly two miles thick. With a loss of 280 billion tons of ice a year since 2002 due to global warming, mining areas in the coastal regions have become revealed and ready for extraction. China already has a near monopoly over the global rare earth market there, and they have not missed the opportunity to threaten the U.S in the current trade war with an embargo on the sale of these elements to American companies. This would pose not only an economic threat to the U.S., but a security one too. To gain a tactical advantage, it would be imperative for the U.S to obtain significant rights in those strategic mining fields.

A Different Approach to the Negotiation

Having understood what the real U.S. interests are in Greenland, the purpose of these negotiations should have been to search for feasible, possible ways of meeting those specific interests, rather than a sweeping, general, offensive and unrealistic proposal to buy Greenland. President Trump would have been better advised to engage the Danish Government with something along the lines of: “In an effort to protect our economic and security interests and to maintain a safe balance of power in the world, we perceive Greenland as playing a pivotal role. We would like to have some dialogue with you about this and explore some ideas of how we may cooperate in a way that U.S., Danish and Greenland’s interests are better addressed”. This would have been less threatening and offensive to Denmark; it invites them to be collaborative partners and active participants in crafting any accords or agreements; such an overture would have served as the foundation to the negotiation structure upon which to continue building; it would have afforded Denmark, recognition, dignity and respect – a cheap concession in any negotiation. In addition, President Trump’s approach of offering to buy Greenland, allowed for only two options – either purchase or no purchase. The result was predictably no purchase. By approaching the negotiation as searching for ways to meet the specific interests as this article suggests, there is no telling as to the innovative, creative and value-creating ideas that might have been generated. This would have presented a range of highly feasible options from which to design an optimal and integrated agreement that addressed the interests and concerns of all parties.

Lessons Learned

Negotiation is seldom a quick event, but rather a journey with some twists and turns until the final destination is reached. A solid negotiation structure needs to be carefully constructed before a productive and optimal outcome can be ensured. In preparation for any negotiation, breakdown and be acutely aware of our specific needs and concerns that will need to be addressed and met in the negotiations. Speak about those needs and concerns in the negotiation as opposed to our demands. Affording the other side recognition, dignity and respect is a cheap concession in any negotiation. Work to broaden the range of possible options in any negotiation, rather than trying to narrow the gap between the rigid positions.

About Lapin Negotiation Services  Lapin Negotiation Services offers training, consulting, advising and executive coaching in negotiation, business diplomacy and dispute resolution services. Our proprietary and aggressively results oriented services are designed to help your leadership, teams and individuals master the essential negotiation, relationship-building and conflict management skills that increase revenues, decrease the high cost of conflict and build strong working relationships. Learn more about Raphael Lapin's book, "Working with Difficult People" by clicking on the image above

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