Commercial · The à la carte of the Tokyo Round versus the single block, In the GATT trade negotiations, the Tokyo Round (1973-1979) operated on a deeply fragmented "à la carte" approach: countries negotiated the codes (subsidies, standards, customs valuation, etc.) issue by issue and chose which to sign. This fragmentation made it possible to advance on technical subjects without requiring a total agreement, but it produced a patchwork of variable-geometry commitments. As a direct response to these limits, the Uruguay Round imposed the "single undertaking" (all or nothing). The contrast perfectly illustrates the fragmented technique: it unlocks partial advances where the block fails, but at the cost of a less coherent whole and less pressure to conclude on the hard points.
Political · Salami tactics analysed by Schelling, Thomas Schelling, in his analysis of the Cold War, theorised the offensive version of fragmentation: salami tactics. He describes how a party "begins its intrusion on a scale too small to provoke a reaction, and increases it by imperceptible degrees, never presenting a sudden and dramatic challenge that would trigger a committed riposte". Each slice, negotiated or imposed separately, is too minor to justify a confrontation; their accumulation nonetheless effects a major shift of position. This case shows the side of the technique to watch: fragmenting makes it possible to have accepted piecemeal what would be refused as a block.
Diplomatic · Camp David and step-by-step diplomacy, The Camp David Accords (September 1978) illustrate diplomatic sequencing. Faced with the impossibility of a global settlement of the Arab-Israeli conflict, American mediation progressively refocused the negotiation, leading first to a bilateral Egypt-Israel framework rather than the simultaneous resolution of all the disputes. The "step-by-step" logic, interim agreements, partial frameworks, setting aside the most divisive points, made it possible to secure a concrete result where the ambition of a total agreement had failed. The approach was extended by the phased approach (interim agreements before permanent status) that would go on to structure other later peace processes.
Judicial · The settlement item by item, In a complex commercial dispute submitted to judicial mediation, the parties refuse any global agreement, so unbridgeable does the gap on the total amount appear. The mediator fragments the dispute: first the acknowledgement of the undisputed facts, then the fate of the services already delivered, then the penalties, and finally the financial balance. Each item settled is recorded in a partial minute. Once five points out of seven have been decided, the parties, having already invested so much in the agreement under construction, find on the balance a margin for compromise that seemed impossible at the start. The scenario, representative of mediation practice, shows how the breaking-down turns a blocking disagreement into a series of surmountable decisions.
Business · The merger negotiated brick by brick, In the coming-together of two companies, an immediate overall agreement would be unmanageable: governance, valuation, org chart, sites, brand, redundancy plan. The project management sequences the negotiations into thematic working groups, each closing its subject with a partial term sheet. It starts with the high-consensus subjects (technical integration, complementarity of the offerings) to install a climate of cooperation, before addressing governance and valuation. Each partial agreement raises the psychological and financial cost of an overall failure. This kind of deal conduct, common in mergers and acquisitions, illustrates the building of momentum through the accumulation of intermediate agreements.
Everyday life · The inheritance division eased by breaking it down, Three siblings must divide an inheritance and the tension rises as soon as "settling everything at once" is mentioned. On the notary's advice, they fragment: they first allocate the objects of sentimental value (photos, their father's watch), then the furniture, then the investments, and keep the family home for last. The first agreements, easy and charged with positive emotion, restore dialogue; each of them has now "won" something and wishes to preserve the harmony. When the house comes up, the initial distrust has given way to a logic of continuity, and the financial compromise, unthinkable at the start, becomes acceptable. A scenario representative of conflictual inheritances.
