GU-Q students tackle crisis in Libya at annual crisis simulation

Some of the participants in the crisis simulation exercise.

A total of 35 students took part in the annual Crisis Simulation diplomacy exercise at Georgetown University in Qatar (GU-Q), Qatar Foundation partner. This allows participants to practise the intensive, multi-party negotiations required to reach an international agreement on how to resolve current issues facing the world today. This year’s scenario is a UN-led peace talk aimed at solving the ongoing conflict in Libya that has cost lives and created national and regional instability. Negotiation simulations prompt students to engage in collaborative problem solving and teach valuable negotiation skills, said Dr Christine Schiwietz, GU-Q assistant dean for academic affairs and the programme organiser. “The simulation has students step into the shoes of key players facing a real diplomatic challenge, an unparalleled hands-on experiential learning activity. Students learn how to build coalitions in a multilateral context and learn the critical role mediators can play in global policy negotiations.” The exercise is co-organised by James Seevers, director of studies at the Institute for the Study of Diplomacy (ISD) at Georgetown University in Washington, DC. Reflecting on this year’s first-ever virtual simulation with GU-Q, he said, “With a few modifications, we successfully adapted ISD’s negotiation simulations online. This change ensured a continuation of Georgetown’s diplomatic training activities, and is a reflection of the new demands facing diplomats in a pandemic, with global leaders also conducting some of their critical diplomatic work online.”