Bilateral & Multilateral Geopolitical Stability Negotiation Unit

Mission & Operational Scope

Negotiating the Agreements That Keep Great Power Competition Below the Threshold of War

The post-Cold War international order is under severe stress. Great power competition between the United States, China, and Russia has intensified across every domain — military, economic, technological, and ideological. Regional powers are asserting themselves in ways that challenge established norms and create new flashpoints. The multilateral institutions designed to manage interstate competition are strained by the very rivalries they were built to contain. The risk of miscalculation — of a crisis escalating to conflict not because either side wants war but because neither side has adequate communication channels or de-escalation mechanisms — is higher than at any point since the Cold War.

This unit develops the bilateral and multilateral frameworks that manage geopolitical competition — negotiating confidence-building measures, establishing crisis communication channels, and building the stability agreements that reduce the risk of inadvertent escalation.

Governing Doctrine

Frameworks & Standards

• UN Charter Ch. VIUN Charter Chapter VI — Pacific Settlement of Disputes framework establishing negotiation, mediation, and arbitration as primary tools for resolving interstate disputes
• Helsinki Final ActCSCE Helsinki Final Act — foundational confidence-building measures framework establishing military transparency and notification requirements between adversarial states
• Vienna DocumentOSCE Vienna Document — military confidence-building measures framework requiring notification of military exercises and providing for inspection and verification
• Incidents at Sea AgreementUS-USSR Incidents at Sea Agreement — model bilateral framework for preventing dangerous military encounters from escalating into armed conflict