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  • February 1, 2019
  • Article
  • Harvard Business Review (website)

What Theresa May Might Learn from Woodrow Wilson's Failed Negotiations in 1919

By: Deepak Malhotra
  • Format:Electronic
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Abstract

On December 13, 2018, UK Prime Minister Theresa May met with her European counterparts in an attempt to renegotiate the “Brexit deal” she had reached with them only weeks earlier; the deal was facing harsh criticism and almost certain rejection at home. Perhaps only the keenest students of history could have noticed that when she landed in Brussels, it was precisely 100 years—to the day—after another world leader, U.S. President Woodrow Wilson, had visited the continent in the hopes of saving it. Both the parallels and the perpendicularities between the negotiation sagas of Theresa May and Woodrow Wilson are stunning. As May tries to negotiate the Brexit endgame, she might well consider three lessons from Wilson’s futile diplomacy during his last year in office.

Keywords

Brexit; Negotiation; Negotiation Deal; Learning; History

Citation

Malhotra, Deepak. "What Theresa May Might Learn from Woodrow Wilson's Failed Negotiations in 1919." Harvard Business Review (website) (February 1, 2019).
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About The Author

Deepak Malhotra

Negotiation, Organizations & Markets
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