DIPLOMATIC AND CROSS-CULTURAL ASPECTS OF CONCLUDING INTERNATIONAL COMMERCIAL CONTRACTS
Abstract
The article examines the diplomatic and cross-cultural aspects of concluding international commercial contracts. The relevance of the study is determined by the fact that international business agreements are formed not only within the legal and economic framework, but also in the context of intercultural communication, negotiation practices and diplomatic coordination of interests. The paper substantiates that an international commercial contract should be considered not merely as a formal legal document, but also as the result of interaction between parties that may belong to different legal systems, business cultures and communicative traditions. The study proposes the concept of diplomatically sensitive sections of an international commercial contract. These are understood as contractual provisions whose content and wording significantly depend on the status of the parties, the level of mutual trust, cultural context, negotiation history, linguistic accuracy and the potential conflict sensitivity of specific terms. The article identifies four groups of such provisions: status and representative provisions, substantive commercial provisions, conflict-regulatory provisions, and communicative and linguistic provisions. Special attention is paid to those parts of the contract that may generate misunderstandings or disputes: the preamble, definition of the parties, subject matter, payment terms, delivery conditions, guarantees, claims procedure, liability, force majeure, dispute resolution, contract language and official communication channels. A matrix of diplomatic sensitivity of contractual provisions is developed. It links specific sections of the contract with potential cross-cultural, negotiation and communicative risks and may be used during preparation for negotiations, contract drafting, legal review and final verification before signing. It is concluded that consideration of diplomatic and cross-cultural factors helps reduce misunderstandings, strengthen trust between partners and ensure more stable performance of international commercial obligations.
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Copyright (c) 2026 Людмила Франко, Артем Пожар, Світлана Туль
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