This year’s annual International Strategic Crisis Negotiation Exercise is being held virtually.
Students will tackle one of the thorniest and potentially lethal issues in international relations today: crisis on the Korean Peninsula. Student-led teams will represent the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea (DPRK, North Korea), Republic of Korea (ROK, South Korea), Japan, People’s Republic of China (PRC), Russia, and the United States (USA). The North Korea International Crisis Simulation Negotiation Exercise (ICSNE) will be delivered in collaboration with the Center for Strategic Leadership at the U.S. Army War College, who has prepared a virtual learning enivornment for the simulation.
“I designed the simulation because it offers a new modality of learning for students to increase their understanding of international relations, diplomacy, and international negotiations,” says Professor Robert Pekkanen, instructor for the simulation. “Focused on the Korean peninsula this year, the simulation offers a unique opportunity to prepare UW students for careers in areas of national strategic importance.”
Each team will have a mentor—a subject matter expert who helps guide them through the exercise and is also is privy to the confidential instructions they are given at the start of the scenario. The mentors use their expertise in diplomacy and international engagement to help the teams implement their negotiating strategies while also reinforcing the importance of adapting and reacting to developments as they occur. In the virtual exercise, mentors will have access to the team meeting rooms so that they can participate in the debriefing after each negotiating session and help the team determine its tactics and goals for the next round. Mentors in this year’s simulation range from retired foreign service officers to former State Department senior executives.