Review EssayNegotiate to Win – The 21 Rules for Successful Negotiation by Jim ThomasWin-win negotiation is not about altruism, morality, or ethics. I practice it and preach it for a simple, unsentimental reason: it's the only thing that works. This is the only way to pursue, conclude and maintain rewarding agreements. Jim Thomas Part One: The World is One Big Blue Negotiating Table Jim Thomas opens the book with a very insightful overview of how negotiation is present in our daily lives and how globalization has developed. the need for us to negotiate effectively due to a higher level of communication between countries due to work or leisure. He then demystifies several traditional approaches to negotiation, such as the academic approach, where negotiators attempt to understand the true underlying meaning of the other party's stated position, as well as the body language approach, which recommends negotiators to act and react solely based on the other party. Party body language. An in-depth look at how the Americans and Japanese negotiate then follows, with Thomas recommending to the reader how to take inspiration from the Japanese, whom he hails as the greatest negotiators of all time. Part Two: The 21 Rules of Negotiation The most widespread rule is that a negotiator must always seek a compromise for each concession he makes. The other rules build on this and take the reader step by step to understand negotiation and thus (hopefully) be better than it. Third part: The practice of negotiation. The ethics of negotiation are discussed with Thomas asserting that “ethical negotiation is the ONLY form of negotiation. A selective article highlighting the different cultures of different countries (mainly a comparison between Eastern and Western countries) is presented to the reader, highlighting why a negotiator must constantly adjust their approach and attitude. Negotiating to Win” is essentially a guide that aims to teach the reader how to achieve a desirable outcome in negotiations. What really sets it apart is the fact that Jim Thomas approaches common trading practices with an Ockham's Razor: I read everything I could find on the subject. And the more I read, the more frustrated I became. Almost nothing passed the Razor test. Much of the material was naively theoretical, or focused on physical pitfalls (table shape, clothing, seating protocol, etc.), or preached intimidating or unethical behavior, or worse. More recent works repeat earlier works. Instead of practical advice, I found theory, folklore, anecdotes, clichés and war stories..