As a bonus tip, I suggest that, besides looking for skilled negotiators which seem to favor your nation over others, I also recommend SAFE OPENINGS. That way, if shit happens you always can more or less come back on your feet. Those below are my personal favorites; there are many others though, and each of them relies on *who* you are most scared of.
England: A Lvp-Yor, F Lon-NTH, F Edi-NRG
(Only opening that guarantees a build).
France: A Mar-Bur, F Bre-MID, A Par-Gas.
(Gascony shields all three centers; Burgundy either guards it or gives you leverage over Belgium; there are at least two units poised to take Portugal and Spain while also guaranteeing that you can protect Brest from F ENG or Marseilles from A Pie.)
Germany: F Kie-Den, A Mun-Ruh, A Ber-Kie
(You *can* afford to lose Munich, the most versatile supply center on the entire board. If you don't wish to, you can spare A Kie to do the job while also getting two centers.)
Italy: A Ven H, A Rom-Apu, F Nap-ION.
(You can hit Turkey through the Lepanto or Austria through the Illyrian; send F ION to Tun instead of convoying and you can make a surprise attack on France by F Tun-WES, F Nap-TYN, A Ven-Pie next Spring. Quite versatile!).
Austria¹: A Vie-Tri, A Bud-Ser, F Tri-Alb
(As good as you can get. Guarantees two centers from Serbia and Greece and cancels out the dreaded Trieste Gambit. Otherwise, with three armies adjacent to Trieste thanks to builds at Budapest and Vienna and an army already in Serbia by next Spring you should sort it out)
Austria²: F Tri-Ven, A Vie-Gal, A Bud-Ser
(If you are an absolute paranoid coward, do it. Protects *everything*, nets you a build, and can gift Greece away to either Italy or Turkey)
Russia: A Mos-Ukr, A War-Gal, F Sev-BLA, F StP-BOT
(Guarantees two units on Rumania, gives shot at Sweden, guards both Galicia and Black Sea.)
Turkey: A Con-Bul, F Ank-BLA, A Smy H.
(Gets Bulgaria, protects Black Sea, enables flexible Fall moves of F Ank-Con/A Smy-Syr or F Ank-BLA, A Smy-Arm if Russia does not play along).