Every negotiation assumes that both sides will honour what they agreed to, or that someone else — a court, a regulator, a contracting authority — can compel them to make good on their commitments. That assumption breaks down more often than we’d like: an employer who reneges on a deal, a supplier who renegotiates after every delivery, a government that reopens a signed agreement.
The challenge grows when the unreliable partner is indispensable — someone you cannot compel but must do business with.
