Former South African politician and negotiator Roelf Meyer to teach negotiation and mediation at ASU's Barrett Honors College

Former South African politician Roelf Meyer stridently believes in the power of negotiation in resolving conflicts.

“My contention is that more conflicts, not only in politics but also in business and otherwise, can be resolved if people are prepared to open their minds and to, so to speak, think out of the box,” said Meyer, a former National Party Cabinet minister and a key negotiator for the transition from apartheid to the first democratic elections in South Africa in 1994.

In addition to his work in South Africa, Meyer has advised on peace processes in Northern Ireland, Sri Lanka, the Middle East, Rwanda, Burundi, Iraq, Kosovo, the Basque Region, Guyana, Bolivia, Kenya, Sudan, South Sudan, Colombia, Myanmar, Madagascar, Zimbabwe, and the Central African Republic.

Meyer’s insights into effective negotiation and conflict resolution will be on full display in a course he will teach as part of the Distinguished Global Leader Series at Barrett, The Honors College at Arizona State University this semester.

“I come with practical experience of what it means to negotiate, but I learned the hard way,” Meyer said.

He characterized the negotiations ending the segregationist system of apartheid in South Africa as “one of the most successful examples of negotiations at the political level in the world since World War II” but said it was not easy.

“Apartheid was a system that prevailed for many years and we had to bring it to an end and everybody thought it was going to be a bloody end, in other words that we would end up in a civil war,” he said.

“The fact is that we succeeded through dialogue and negotiations to replace apartheid with democracy in a peaceful way.”

Meyer said he will use his personal experiences to help honors students learn the skills and strategies involved in creating peaceful and lasting solutions for conflict and instability.

The course, from September 16 to October 8, will focus on the art of negotiation, from the first steps of selecting the right negotiators and setting clear mandates, to building confidence with opponents, setting rules for managing breakdowns and developing trust between opponents.

Students also will examine past and current peace processes, participate in negotiations based on real-world simulations, and examine truth and reconciliation processes, which are a form of transitional justice.

Case studies from negotiations of well-known conflicts, including in Northern Ireland, South Africa, Colombia and Sri Lanka will be used.

“The course will cover what constitutes successful negotiations, but also what constitutes failures in negotiations,” Meyer said, adding that his main objectives are to build an interest in the subjects of negotiation, conflict resolution and mediation among students and give them tools to address challenges in their personal and professional lives.

“Dialogue, negotiations and mediation are part of our daily lives. I would like to examine the tools that can be used to bring about peaceful resolution of differences and how to bridge the divides in polarized societies,” Meyer said.

“I hope students take interest and become practitioners in different ways, different fields and different sectors of society.”