Question 5 Are there any common interest in the following ex

Question 5: Are there any common interest in the following example. If so, what? The Hostage: A hostage taker are holding five ladies hostage at a bank and threaten to kill them all and himself if he/she is not allowed to leave the bank unarmed with $1 Million. He further stated that if he is injured or captured when leaving a bomb will be detonated in an unknown building, killing all inside You are the negotiator. You are in cell phone contact with the hostage taker Could there be any common interests? If so, what?

Solution

Common interest refers to point on which both the negotiator and the hostage taker agrees. Being a negotiator,  I would suggest that the most viable resolution to this problem is that the hostage taker should be allowed to leave the bank unarmed with 1 million dollars. This is the best common interest as it will save the lives of five hostages and will also save entire building to be bombed which would save lives of numerous people who will be working in that building. This will minimize any damage caused by hostage taker to the people who are around him. Because if he is not allowed to go unarmed out of the bank, it can cause devastation to lot of people and if the bomb explodes in the unknown building, it can cause fire and can also affect the surrounding if there are vehicles parked around the building, also it will badly effect the other buildings in the neighbourhood to a great extent. This can cause fire on large scale and more loss of lives and property. Thus, for me if the hostage taker is allowed to go with 1 million dollars, it will be the least amount of damage caused by him. This should be done in order to save the lives of innocent people.