Cadets Engage with Experienced and Professional Negotiators

The West Point Negotiation Project conducted a trip section to engage with experienced and professional negotiators across the government and the private sector. On October 3, 16 cadets conducted a day-long engagement with the FBI's Hostage Rescue Team (HRT) and Crisis Negotiation Unit (CNU) to understand the role crisis negotiators serve in resolving critical response events in the U.S. On Oct. 4, cadets engaged with Ambassador Roger Carstens '86, the Special Presidential Envoy for Hostage Affairs, and the Hostage Rescue Fusion Cell. During the engagement, cadets discussed building relationships to facilitate negotiations and government processes for negotiating with state and non-state actors. Finally, cadets finished the trip section by meeting Mr. Ron Shapiro at his office in Baltimore. Ron is a New York Times bestselling author and prominent negotiation expert. Ron discussed his processes for a successful negotiation and shared lessons learned from his fifty years of experience as a lawyer and prominent baseball agent. Out-of-classroom opportunities like this visit are made possible by donors supporting the Margin of Excellence.