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Roger D. Fisher (May 28, 1922 – August 25, 2012) was a Samuel Williston Professor of Law at
Harvard Law School Harvard Law School (HLS) is the law school of Harvard University, a Private university, private research university in Cambridge, Massachusetts. Founded in 1817, Harvard Law School is the oldest law school in continuous operation in the United ...
and director of the Harvard Negotiation Project.


Background

Fisher specialized in
negotiation Negotiation is a dialogue between two or more parties to resolve points of difference, gain an advantage for an individual or Collective bargaining, collective, or craft outcomes to satisfy various interests. The parties aspire to agree on m ...
and conflict management. He was the co-author (with William Ury) of the book '' Getting to Yes'', about "interest-based" negotiation, as well as numerous other publications. After serving in
World War II World War II or the Second World War (1 September 1939 – 2 September 1945) was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War II, Allies and the Axis powers. World War II by country, Nearly all of the wo ...
as a weather reconnaissance pilot, Fisher worked on the Marshall Plan in Paris under W. Averell Harriman. After finishing his law degree at Harvard, he worked with the Washington, DC, law firm of
Covington & Burling Covington & Burling LLP is an American multinational law firm. Known as a white-shoe law firm, it is headquartered in Washington, D.C. and advises clients on transactional, litigation, regulatory, and public policy matters. The firm has addition ...
, arguing several cases before the
US Supreme Court The Supreme Court of the United States (SCOTUS) is the highest court in the federal judiciary of the United States. It has ultimate appellate jurisdiction over all Federal tribunals in the United States, U.S. federal court cases, and over Stat ...
and advising on several international disputes. He returned to
Harvard Law School Harvard Law School (HLS) is the law school of Harvard University, a Private university, private research university in Cambridge, Massachusetts. Founded in 1817, Harvard Law School is the oldest law school in continuous operation in the United ...
and became a professor there in 1958. After having lost many of his friends in the war and seeing so many costly disputes as a litigator, Fisher became intrigued with the art and science of how we manage our differences. Fisher and his students at the Harvard Negotiation Project (founded in 1979) began interviewing people who were known as skilled negotiators in order to understand what made them effective. And he started his study of conflict with the question, "What advice could I give to both parties in a dispute that would be helpful and lead to better outcomes?" This work led to the draft, "International Mediation: A Working Guide" (April 1978), and, eventually, to the international best-seller '' Getting to Yes''. In the late 1960s, Fisher conceived of a court-style debate show that handled one contemporary policy issue each week. ''The Advocates'' premiered in October 1969 on
WGBH-TV WGBH-TV (channel 2), branded GBH or GBH 2 since 2020, is the primary PBS List of PBS member stations, member television station in Boston, Massachusetts, United States. Affiliated stations and facilities WGBH-TV is the Flagship (broadcasting), ...
. Throughout the 1980s and 1990s, Fisher and his colleagues taught courses on negotiation and conflict management at Harvard, but they also worked as advisors on real negotiations and conflicts of all types worldwide, including peace processes, hostage crises, diplomatic negotiations, and commercial and legal negotiations and disputes. Fisher believed that keeping one foot in the real world helping people with real disputes was critical to producing theory and tools useful in the real world. Fisher continued to teach and write until his eighties. Follow-up books expanded his thinking about dealing with relationship challenges (''Getting Together'' with Scott Brown), preparing effectively (''Getting Ready to Negotiate'' with Danny Ertel), tools for dealing with bad actors and challenging parties (''Beyond Machiavelli'' with Elizabeth Kopelman and Andrea Kupfer Schneider), galvanizing a group to do effective problem-solving (''Getting It Done: How to Lead When You're Not in Charge'' with Alan Sharp and John Richardson), and the role of emotions in working relationships (''Beyond Reason'' with Daniel Shapiro). In addition, colleagues at the Harvard Negotiation Project expanded the tradition Fisher founded and led. William Ury published ''Getting to Peace'' (1999), ''Getting Past No'' (1993), ''The Third Side: Why We Fight and How We Can Stop'' (2000) and ''The Power of a Positive No'' (2007). Douglas Stone, Bruce Patton and Sheila Heen produced ''Difficult Conversations: How to Talk About What Matters Most'' (1999). Fisher's 2005 work, ' (with co-author Daniel Shapiro, a Harvard psychologist) identifies five "core concerns" that everyone cares about: autonomy, affiliation, appreciation, status, and role. The book shows how to use the core concerns to stimulate helpful emotions in negotiations ranging from the personal to international. In ''Beyond Reason'', Fisher documents many of his first-hand experiences negotiating around the world, from his involvement in negotiating the
Iran hostage crisis The Iran hostage crisis () began on November 4, 1979, when 66 Americans, including diplomats and other civilian personnel, were taken hostage at the Embassy of the United States in Tehran, with 52 of them being held until January 20, 1981. Th ...
to his advisory role in helping Jamil Mahuad, President of Ecuador (1998–2000), resolve a long-standing international border dispute. Fisher received his bachelor's degree from Harvard in 1943 and his law degree from Harvard Law School in 1948. He taught at Harvard from 1958 to 1992. In 1984, Fisher founded the Conflict Management Group (CMG) in
Cambridge, Massachusetts Cambridge ( ) is a city in Middlesex County, Massachusetts, United States. It is a suburb in the Greater Boston metropolitan area, located directly across the Charles River from Boston. The city's population as of the 2020 United States census, ...
. CMG specialized in facilitating negotiations in conflicts worldwide. CMG merged with the Mercy Corps humanitarian group in 2004. He was a member of the Council on Foreign Relations and of the International Editorial Board of the Cambridge Review of International Affairs.


International work

Throughout his career, Fisher made significant efforts to seek peace in the Middle East. Among these efforts included his involvement in Egyptian President
Anwar Sadat Muhammad Anwar es-Sadat (25 December 1918 – 6 October 1981) was an Egyptian politician and military officer who served as the third president of Egypt, from 15 October 1970 until Assassination of Anwar Sadat, his assassination by fundame ...
's trip to Jerusalem and the
Camp David Camp David is a country retreat for the president of the United States. It lies in the wooded hills of Catoctin Mountain Park, in Frederick County, Maryland, near the towns of Thurmont, Maryland, Thurmont and Emmitsburg, Maryland, Emmitsburg, a ...
summit that led to an Israeli–Egyptian peace treaty. In this latter case, he helped devise a process called the one-text, where a facilitator shuttled back and forth between the parties, refining a proposed document until it could not satisfy the parties interests more effectively, at which point the parties either approve the document or agree to start from scratch. President Carter and Secretary of State
Cyrus Vance Cyrus Roberts Vance (March 27, 1917January 12, 2002) was an American lawyer and diplomat who served as the 57th United States Secretary of State under President Jimmy Carter from 1977 to 1980. Prior to serving in that position, he was the United ...
created 23 drafts in 13 days before they had a proposal to which both sides could agree. He advised both the Iranian and United States governments in negotiations for the release of the American hostages in 1981 where his work helped lead to the breakthrough that enabled the resolution. In the 1980s, Fisher worked to bring peace to
El Salvador El Salvador, officially the Republic of El Salvador, is a country in Central America. It is bordered on the northeast by Honduras, on the northwest by Guatemala, and on the south by the Pacific Ocean. El Salvador's capital and largest city is S ...
. Later in his career, he helped resolve the Ecuadorian–Peruvian territorial dispute. Jamil Mahuad, the president of Ecuador and a former student of Fisher's asked for Fisher's advice soon after taking power in 1998. Fisher, worried that domestic hardliners could cause either president to use the negotiations to posture, advised President Mahuad to avoid the typical photograph of the two presidents shaking hands and instead get a photograph of them sitting side-by-side working off a common document. This photograph helped signal to the public in each country that the presidents would not be taking an adversarial approach to the negotiation and helped lower rhetoric on both sides. In South Africa, Fisher worked on the negotiations and constitutional process that led to the end of
apartheid Apartheid ( , especially South African English:  , ; , ) was a system of institutionalised racial segregation that existed in South Africa and South West Africa (now Namibia) from 1948 to the early 1990s. It was characterised by an ...
. From the 1980s to the mid 1990s, at the direction of then Archbishop
Desmond Tutu Desmond Mpilo Tutu (7 October 193126 December 2021) was a South African Anglican bishop and theologian, known for his work as an anti-apartheid and human rights activist. He was Bishop of Johannesburg from 1985 to 1986 and then Archbishop ...
and Bishop Joseph Seoka, he and his colleagues at the Conflict Management group, the
African National Congress The African National Congress (ANC) is a political party in South Africa. It originated as a liberation movement known for its opposition to apartheid and has governed the country since 1994, when the 1994 South African general election, fir ...
, the National Party, the
Dutch Reformed Church The Dutch Reformed Church (, , abbreviated NHK ) was the largest Christian denomination in the Netherlands from the onset of the Protestant Reformation in the 16th century until 1930. It was the traditional denomination of the Dutch royal famil ...
, the Azanian People's Organization, and the
Inkatha Freedom Party The Inkatha Freedom Party (IFP; ) is a conservative political party in South Africa, which is a part of the current South African Third Cabinet of Cyril Ramaphosa, government of national unity together with the African National Congress (ANC). A ...
taught interest-based negotiation processes to the leaders of all the factions as well as advised them and their negotiators. The lead constitutional negotiators,
Cyril Ramaphosa Matamela Cyril Ramaphosa (born 17 November 1952) is a South African businessman and politician serving as the 5th and current President of South Africa since 2018. A former Anti-Apartheid Movement, anti-apartheid activist and trade union leade ...
and Roelf Meyer, later stated in an interview that the cooperative interest-based negotiation process taught by Fisher and his team was the approach that they, their principals, and their constituencies used to hammer out the new constitution and democratic elections processes.


Preventing nuclear war

Fisher was known for a unique idea towards nuclear deterrence. In a March 1981 article in the ''
Bulletin of the Atomic Scientists The ''Bulletin of the Atomic Scientists'' is a nonprofit organization concerning science and global security issues resulting from accelerating technological advances that have negative consequences for humanity. The ''Bulletin'' publishes conte ...
'', while discussing the importance on reaching a "wise decision", especially in terms of nuclear arms, he suggested implanting the nuclear launch codes in a volunteer. If the
President of the United States The president of the United States (POTUS) is the head of state and head of government of the United States. The president directs the Federal government of the United States#Executive branch, executive branch of the Federal government of t ...
wanted to activate nuclear weapons, he would be required to kill the volunteer to retrieve the codes.


See also

* Program on Negotiation * Vicente Blanco Gaspar


Bibliography

*Fisher, Roger, ed. (1964). ''International Conflict and Behavioral Science: The Craigville Papers''. New York: Basic. *Fisher, Roger (1969). ''International Conflict for Beginners'' (foreword by Senator Edward M. Kennedy, illustrations by Robert C. Osborn). New York: Harper & Row. *Fisher, Roger (1972). ''Dear Israelis, Dear Arabs: A Working Approach to Peace''. New York: Harper & Row. *Fisher, Roger (1978). ''International Crises and the Role of Law: Points of Choice''. Oxford and New York: Oxford University Press. *Fisher, Roger, and William Ury (1981). ''Getting to Yes: Negotiating Agreement Without Giving In''. Boston: Houghton Mifflin. *Fisher, Roger (1981). ''Improving Compliance with International Law''. Charlottesville: University Press of Virginia. *Fisher, Roger, and Scott Brown (1988). ''Getting Together: Building a Relationship That Gets to Yes''. Boston: Houghton Mifflin. ISBN 9780395470992. (Published in 1989 as ''Getting Together: Building Relationships as We Negotiate''. New York: Penguin. ISBN 9780140126389.) *Fisher, Roger, William Ury, and Bruce Patton (1991). ''Getting to Yes: Negotiating Agreement Without Giving In'', 2nd ed. New York: Penguin. *Fisher, Roger, Elizabeth Kopelman, and Andrea Kupfer Schneider (1994). ''Beyond Machiavelli: Tools for Coping with Conflict''. Cambridge: Harvard University Press. *Fisher, Roger and Danny Ertel (1995). ''Getting Ready to Negotiate: The Getting to Yes Workbook''. New York: Penguin. *Fisher, Roger, Andrea Kupfer Schneider, Elizabeth Borgwardt, and Brian Ganson (1997). ''Coping with International Conflict: A Systematic Approach to Influence in International Negotiation''. Upper Saddle River, NJ: Prentice Hall. *Fisher, Roger, Alan Sharp, and John Richardson (1999). ''Getting It Done: How to Lead When You're Not in Charge''. New York: HarperBusiness. *Fisher, Roger, and Daniel Shapiro (2005). ''Beyond Reason: Using Emotions as You Negotiate''. New York: Viking/Penguin. *Fisher, Roger, William Ury, and Bruce Patton (2011). ''Getting to Yes: Negotiating Agreement Without Giving In'', 3rd ed. New York: Penguin.


References


External links


Faculty Directory entry

Harvard Negotiation Project

Beyond Reason website
Full of free negotiation preparation and teaching resources
The Advocates
Full length programs of Fisher's show on PBS {{DEFAULTSORT:Fisher, Roger 1922 births 2012 deaths American instructional writers American social sciences writers Harvard Law School alumni Harvard Law School faculty Negotiation scholars People associated with Covington & Burling United States Army Air Forces pilots of World War II United States Army Air Forces officers 20th-century American academics 21st-century American academics 20th-century American lawyers 21st-century American lawyers