Fundamentally, negotiation is a process for making decisions and is rhetorical since it is open to view and to rhetorical constructs. The rhetorical construct related to negotiation is invention, the finding of the materials, the arguments, for the discourse. For cross-cultural negotiation, one must display empathy for the varying cultures, recognize the role of government, understand the decision-making characteristics of other countries, and recognize personal relations and personalities. Futurists can assist in preparing for negotiations by identifying goals to be achieved and strategic pathways to the achievement of those goals. Two forecasting tools that relate to goal- and contingency-creating with applicability to the rhetoric of negotiation are the Relevance Tree and Morphological Analysis. The Relevance Tree method can assist in the determination of several alternative goals for negotiation (the formula), while the Morphological Analysis can assist in creating several pathways to the goals by identifying and incorporating the details. Rhetorical analysis can aid the negotiator in discovering and utilizing arguments not in a fixed, invariant manner leading to bargaining impasse, but to a contingent, flexible plan leading to agreement. (HOD)