Kissinger’s geopolitical insights, controversial policies, and individual negotiations have been extensively analyzed. Yet perhaps surprisingly, no serious cross-cutting study of Kissinger’s overall approach has extracted its lessons for current diplomatic and business negotiations.

Kissinger undertook his most crucial negotiations in a national atmosphere of rancorous political and social antagonisms, especially over the Vietnam War. In this challenging context, the former secretary of state and Nobel Peace Prize winner played central negotiating roles in key U.S. foreign policy achievements: the opening to China after decades of mutual hostility, détente and the first nuclear arms control treaty with the Soviets at the height of the Cold War, the Paris peace accords with North Vietnam after years of bitter conflict (though the deal collapsed after two years), and Egyptian and Syrian disengagement deals with Israel following their 1973 war—that have largely endured to this day. In addition, Kissinger worked out a significant but largely forgotten agreement with Rhodesia’s Ian Smith to accept black majority rule years before the end of apartheid in South Africa.

This book draws on the authors’ extensive interviews with Kissinger as well as careful study of his writings and those of many others, both critical and supportive. In an engaging narrative, it answers several questions that offer valuable lessons for today’s negotiators: How did Kissinger do these deals? What strategies and tactics worked and what failed? Why, how, and under what conditions? What ethical challenges does this approach present?

This book neither aims to judge Kissinger nor to set the historical record straight. Rather, by plumbing a career of extraordinary effectiveness, it seeks to learn as much as possible, extracting useful insights into the art and science of negotiation from Kissinger’s dealmaking at the highest level.

Stephen A. Schwarzman, Blackstone Chairman and CEO: “exciting . . . required reading” [more]

John Chambers, former Chairman and CEO, Cisco: “I highly recommend. . .” [more]

James A. Baker, III, US Secretary of State: “keen insight for anyone interested or involved in negotiations at any level” [more]

Walter Isaacson, Kissinger biographer and best-selling author: “lessons from his most complex endeavors” [more]

JAMES K. SEBENIUS specializes in analyzing and advising corporations and governments worldwide on their most challenging negotiations. After years in the private sector (Blackstone) and the U.S. government (Commerce and State Departments), he is now the Gordon Donaldson Professor of Business Administration at Harvard Business School, where he founded the Negotiation unit and teaches advanced negotiation to students and senior executives. He directs the Harvard Negotiation Project at Harvard Law School and is a partner in Lax Sebenius LLC, a negotiation strategy firm. Read more about Jim...

R. NICHOLAS BURNS is the Roy and Barbara Goodman Family Professor of the Practice of Diplomacy and International Relations at the Harvard Kennedy School of Government. A career officer in the U.S. Foreign Service, he served as under secretary of state for political affairs and as ambassador to NATO and to Greece.

ROBERT H. MNOOKIN is the Samuel Williston Professor of Law at Harvard Law School, the chair of the Program on Negotiation at Harvard Law School, and the director of the Harvard Negotiation Research Project. As a mediator, facilitator, and consultant, he has applied his interdisciplinary approach to a wide range of commercial and political conflicts.

HENRY A. KISSINGER (foreword) is an American diplomat and historian. He served as national security advisor and later, concurrently, as U.S. secretary of state in the administrations of Presidents Richard Nixon and Gerald Ford. For his actions negotiating the end of U.S. involvement in Vietnam, Kissinger received the 1973 Nobel Peace Prize. Since retiring from government service, his advice has been sought by top business executives and world leaders, including subsequent U.S. presidents.

1. In a nutshell, why I should read this book? [answer]

2. What led you to write this book? [answer]

3. Was Kissinger really a remarkable negotiator? Why study him? [answer]

4. What part of this book would I find most unexpected and informative? [answer]

5. Are lessons from Kissinger’s 1970s diplomacy really useful for my negotiations today in business, law, or public policy? [answer]

6. Why glorify Henry Kissinger, given that some people hold deeply negative views of his role in places such as Cambodia or Chile? [answer]

When discussing being stuck in a "win-win vs. win-lose" debate, most negotiation books focus on face-to-face tactics. Yet, table tactics are only the "first dimension" of David A. Lax and James K. Sebenius' pathbreaking 3D Negotiation^TM approach, developed from their decades of doing deals and analyzing great dealmakers. Moves in their "second dimension"—deal design—systematically unlock economic and noneconomic value by creatively structuring agreements. But what sets the 3D approach apart is its "third dimension": setup. Before showing up at a bargaining session, 3D Negotiators ensure that the right parties have been approached, in the right sequence, to address the right interests, under the right expectations, and facing the right consequences of walking away if there is no deal. This new arsenal of moves away from the table often has the greatest impact on the negotiated outcome. Packed with practical steps and cases, 3D Negotiation demonstrates how superior setup moves plus insightful deal designs can enable you to reach remarkable agreements at the table, unattainable by standard tactics.

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