The fifth Global Negotiation Conference took place at the ETH Zurich from the 11-13 July 2018 in partnership with the Chair of Negotiation and the Europa Institute at the University of Zurich. The keynote speech was delivered by Baroness Catherine Ashton, Former EU High Commissioner for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy in which she reflected on her time in office and the challenges facing global diplomacy. 

The conference marked the first partnership with the United Nations Institute for Training and Research (UNITAR) with Julian Calett. Delivering a workshop on multilateral diplomacy, he presented the conference with personal insights on the internal functioning of the United Nations, its previous successes and the shape of its future trials.

The conference program also included presentations and workshops by Chia-Jung Tsay (University College of London), Michael Ambühl and Tobias Langenegger (ETH Zurich), Jack Williams (University of Zurich) as well as Raffael Kellner and Mirza Zabeen from the Schranner Negotiation Institute. The topics of the presentations and workshops covered a range of topics including the psychology in negotiations, the role of game-theory in negotiation, digital negotiations as well as the role of women in negotiations. 

The topic of the simulation on the final day was the One Belt One Road Initiative with students negotiating aspects of the initiative in the context of the Belt and Road Forum. A formidable day of simulating great power-politics centered on whether China’s growing economic strength would encourage new national alliances or break the political resolve of fiscally weaker countries.

The exercise brought considerable challenges to the table, and the participants were encouraged to think through unconventional ways in which they could deploy their resources in their country's long-term interest. 

At the final conference dinner students from the ETH Zurich and the World Trade Institute were commended for their performances during the simulation.