Applying Negotiation Theory to the Interrogation of Detainees

Abstract

This article seeks to apply negotiation concepts to the interrogation of detainees. Specifically, Richard Walton and I worked on a project sponsored by the Intelligence Science Board (ISB) to develop protocols for interrogation that would take the high road and be true to our human values. We focus on “The Man in the Snow White Cell” — a true story that took place during the Vietnam War, with the arrest of a high‐level intelligence officer (Tai) serving the North Vietnamese espionage forces. The analysis highlights the failure of either torture or superficial kindness to deliver results and outlines the elements of a constructive approach—one that would have been both more morally acceptable and more likely to deliver results. A mutual gains process using the forcing and fostering strategies would have been such an approach.