Acknowledgments
At its core, negotiation involves conversations. Many people over the years have been generous enough to have conversations with me, all of which have helped bring this book to fruition.
I was enormously fortunate to have been mentored by Jim Fearon and Ken Schultz at Stanford University. Many days were spent bouncing back and forth between their two offices, absorbing their thoughts. Both individuals were instrumental in pushing my ideas forward, providing perceptive feedback, asking sharp questions that clarified my thinking, and highlighting the importance of knowing your own data. I do my best to emulate their patience and to be even a modest fraction of the scholars that they are. As the core of this book began to emerge, I was pleased to receive additional advice and support from Mike Tomz, Justin Grimmer, and Jonathan Bendor. My entire journey at Stanford was also made much richer by my friends and colleagues: Jonathan Chu, Marc Grinberg, Azusa Katagiri, Melissa Lee, Lizhi Liu, Rebecca Perlman, and John Young. During my final year at Stanford, I was grateful to have the support of the Center for International Security and Cooperation (CISAC), where I received additional encouragement from Jooeun Kim, Rochelle Terman, Harold Trinkunas, and Amy Zegart.
This book would be a mere shadow of itself without the generous assistance of several individuals who participated in a workshop for an early manuscript: Hein Goemans, Dani Reiter, Alex Weisiger, and Amy Yuen. They all went beyond my expectations in providing enormously valuable feedback that fundamentally changed the structure of the book and helped several seemingly disparate pieces fall into place. I owe a great deal to these scholars, both for their contributions in the workshop and for the inspiration their research provided me over the years.
I am deeply privileged to have a wonderful community at UCLA, filled with numerous people who have offered both emotional and intellectual support. Worth particular mention are Graeme Blair, Michael Chwe, Leslie Johns, Debbie Larson, Barry O’Neill, Maggie Peters, Art Stein, Dan Thompson, and Rob Trager. Their advice regarding my book as well as academia in general was vital to facilitating my transition to life as a professor. I also thank Ohnha Ro for her excellent research assistance, which made the quantitative analysis in chapter 6 possible.
I presented assorted parts and versions of material in this book at conferences and workshops over the years. I thank numerous attendees at several meetings of the American Political Science Association, International Studies Association, Midwest Political Science Association, and Peace Science Society for their engagement. I am also deeply indebted to audiences at Stanford (both in the Department of Political Science and at CISAC), the Christopher H. Browne Center for International Politics at the University of Pennsylvania, Korea University, the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT), the University of Chicago, and the University of Wisconsin–Madison.
Many individuals read parts of my manuscript, provided material and comments, and shared guidance along the way. I wish to thank Rosella Cappella Zielinski, Austin Carson, Jason Davis, Taylor Fravel, Ryan Grauer, Michael Joseph, Tyler Jost, Josh Kertzer, Erik Lin-Greenberg, Anne Sartori, Rob Schub, Paul Staniland, and Hohyun Yoon.
Portions of chapter 2 were previously published in Eric Min, “Talking While Fighting: Understanding the Role of Wartime Negotiations,” International Organization 74, no. 3 (2020): 610–32, and “Interstate War Battle Dataset (1823–2003),” Journal of Peace Research 58, no. 2 (2021): 294–303. Portions of chapter 6 were previously published in Eric Min, “Painful Words: The Effect of Battlefield Activity on Conflict Negotiation Behavior,” Journal of Conflict Resolution 66, no. 4–5 (2022): 595–622.
It has been a fantastic experience to work with Jackie Teoh at Cornell University Press. I thank her, as well as two anonymous reviewers, for their thoroughly constructive feedback and confidence in my work.
The path leading to this book would never have taken form without several additional mentors who shaped the person I am today. Chris Riffer (who in my mind will always be “Mr. Riffer”) was the coach of the debate and forensics teams at Blue Valley High School in Stilwell, Kansas. It was through his direction and truly excellent teaching that I discovered my voice and my desire to collect, explore, analyze, question, and communicate information about the world. He was responsible for my decision to major in political science in college. Bruce Bueno de Mesquita and David Stasavage, who instructed me in seminars and my senior thesis as an undergraduate student at New York University, saw potential in me. Their support was essential to opening the doors into the world of academia.
My parents, Young and Natalie Min, arrived in the United States with two suitcases each in 1985 so that my father could earn a master’s degree at the Ohio State University. Their original plan was to return to South Korea after he graduated, with potential plans to pursue a doctoral degree. When I was born right as my father was graduating, my parents decided to remain in a foreign country and work tirelessly so that their only child could have better opportunities in the States. It is only as I have grown older that I have better understood the gravity of the sacrifices they made for me. I am endlessly grateful to them and hope that my actions help them feel that their difficult choices were ultimately worthwhile.
Finally, I close by acknowledging and thanking my wife, Christina. I met Christina within two months of arriving in Los Angeles. It is impossible to overstate how lucky I was for that to somehow happen. On every dimension I can fathom, I have been transformed for the better because of her boundless energy, humor, encouragement, and love. I cherish every moment I get to share—often laughing—with her. I could not be more eager for all the conversations we will have for years to come.