ABSTRACT
This chapter presents a practical example that illustrates the interaction between the willingness and ability to negotiate and their collective impact on the decision to negotiate. Collecting information on the willingness and ability of key people to negotiate inevitably requires face-to-face contact with people in the system. This contact means that an analyst will cross the line between neutral observer and engaged intervener. The best example of the power of a negotiation frame comes from South Africa and concerns the relationship that developed between the two chief negotiators for the two main parties in the talks: the National Party government of F. W. DeKlerk and the African National Congress (ANC) headed by Nelson Mandela. The willingness and ability of key actors from the Congolese Rally for Democracy (RCD) and Mayi-Mayi militia provide a rich understanding of the obstacles to the parties changing their interconnections and thereby potentially changing the stuck negotiation subsystem.
