Practising diplomacy through simulations
Simulations are interactive learning activities that reproduce real-world situations giving students opportunities to experiment and develop complex skills (Chernikova et al., 2020, p. 502). They put the responsibility into the hands of students who engage in a simulated situation by applying concepts learned in class and connecting theory with what’s in front of them (Vlachopoulos and Makri, 2017, p. 16).
In INTS10001 International Politics and HIST90024 International History, classroom simulations open a window into the world of diplomacy. These activities give students a chance to act as diplomats and work together to resolve international crises. While INTS10001 International Politics provides an introduction into the workings of the United Nations, simulations in the HIST90024 International History subject gives students an opportunity to develop practical skills of critical thinking and public speaking required in international diplomacy.
Inside the UN Security Council: A deep dive into global politics
Drawing inspiration from Model United Nations, Dr Gonzalo Villanueva, Senior Tutor in Political Science, designed a simulation of the United Nations Security Council for the INTS10001 International Politics subject. The subject introduces first-year students to the actors, institutions and key debates that make up the contemporary international politics, and the classroom simulation in Week 9 extends this introductory understanding by helping students to experience the inner workings of one of the key institutions of global politics – the United Nations.
INTS10001 International Politics is a large subject with upwards of 600 students and over 40 tutorial groups. To deliver a consistent student experience across multiple classes, Dr Gonzalo Villanueva prepared a detailed simulation plan and instructions for the subject’s teaching team and students.
Following a lecture on the history, structure and purpose of the United Nations, the simulation takes place in a one-hour tutorial. A tutor, acting as the president of the Security Council, first introduces students to a real-world high-pressure situation for which the UN Security Council meeting was called. In semester one, 2024, for example, students enacted the deliberations about the armed conflict between the Sudanese military and the paramilitary Rapid Support Forces.
To simulate the UN Security Council meeting, students are assigned roles of the Security Council member states, including five permanent members with veto power and ten non-permanent members. Each role comes with a set of instructions about the country’s stance on the simulated crisis.
By this point in the semester, students are familiar with the key concepts in international politics. The simulation gives them an opportunity to apply this knowledge and express their perspectives, provided they remain consistent to the stance of their represented country.
There are two rounds in the simulation. In the first round, the member states negotiate their response to the crisis with a goal of agreeing on a resolution to vote on. The second round presents an escalation of the crisis in question and insists on the Security Council to decide on a deployment of the UN peace enforcement.
Acting on the instructions provided to them and in the roles of their represented countries, students engage in intense deliberations with a goal of reaching a consensus. This gives them an excellent chance to not only practise their collaboration skills but also engage in critical thinking and real-time problem solving.
The role of the tutor is to guide the flow of these discussions, help students enact their roles and step in when the negotiations are slow to progress. Following the simulation, the tutor also instructs the class to reflect on their experience. Questions for reflection focus on the role of the UN in the global politics and invite students to draw connections between their theoretical knowledge of the UN and simulation experience.
In the video below, Gonzalo Villanueva reflects on the benefits of simulation-based learning and students’ response to the UN simulation in his class.
Replaying crisis talks to develop diplomatic skills
HIST90024 International History introduces students to the historical processes and issues in modern international relations. The subject also gives students an opportunity to apply their historical knowledge and practise skills of diplomacy through participation in two different simulations of international crises: the Munich Crisis of 1938 and the Suez Crisis of 1956.
Dr Ángel Alcalde, Senior Lecturer in History and the subject coordinator for HIST90024 International History, facilitates these simulations not for the sake of re-enacting history, but to get students to think critically about historical circumstances and contingencies. Thus, the simulation design gives the Master of International Relations students, many of whom are aspiring diplomats, an opportunity to explore the constraints and possibilities inherent in historical crises and diplomatic negotiations.
Both simulations are conducted as fictional meetings hosted by an international organisation responsible for global peace and security during a given historical period. Students are assigned to small groups to either represent one of the participating countries or to chair the meeting as the presiding international organisation. Dr Alcalde bases the assignment of roles on students’ interests and skills.
Students prepare for the simulations by engaging in the subject content and working in their groups to develop a negotiation strategy and a foreign policy line grounded in relevant secondary sources. To assist with these preparations, Dr Ángel Alcalde provides each delegation with a reading list specific to their represented country and their role in the simulated meeting.
The simulation of the international meeting culminates this collaborative work, allowing students, acting as their respective delegations, to implement the pre-prepared strategies. To add authenticity to the occasion, the delegations sit at tables marked with their country’s flag.
The first simulation recreates the tensions of the Munich Crisis in 1930s Europe amidst the rise of fascist powers. It runs as a fictional meeting of the League of Nations preceding the Munich negotiations between Britain, France, Italy and Germany that led to the Munich Agreement signed on September 30, 1938 and the German annexation of the Sudetenland. In this fictional meeting, the League of Nations hosts delegations from six countries: Britain, Czechoslovakia, France, Republican Spain, Poland, and the Soviet Union.
A group of students in the role of the League of Nations set the agenda and manage the meeting. Each delegation delivers a 2-minute opening statement, after which free-flowing discussions and negotiations ensue. After the negotiations, each country’s diplomatic team delivers their final statements. It is then up to the League of Nations to summarise the situation and potentially put a joint resolution to a vote.
While students have significant freedom to negotiate agreements in the interest of their represented country, it is important that they demonstrate a consistent foreign policy line grounded in historical knowledge. Students have an opportunity to debrief and assess their delegation’s performance in the following class. This also serves as a chance for them to reflect on what they learned from the simulation about the diplomatic process.
The second simulation of the Suez Crises of 1956 is structured in a similar way. Students play the roles of either different countries involved in the crisis or chair the fictional meeting in the role of the United Nations.
Students appreciate and enjoy these simulation exercises for the chance to apply their historical knowledge and diplomatic skills to a fluid situation.
In the video below, Ángel Alcalde and his students reflect on simulations in the HIST90024 International History subject. In their reflections, students expressed the appreciation for being pushed outside of their comfort zone, applying theories in a real-world context relevant to their future careers, developing communication and negotiation skills, and ability to think on their feet.
References
Chernikova, O., Heitzmann, N., Stadler, M., Holzberger, D., Seidel, T., & Fischer, F. (2020). Simulation-Based Learning in Higher Education: A Meta-Analysis. Review of Educational Research, 90(4), 499-541.
Vlachopoulos, D., Makri, A. (2017). The effect of games and simulations on higher education: a systematic literature review. International Journal of Educational Technology in Higher Education 14, 22