This document is written in English. I took this course in my minor, completed it with a 7, you had to follow a simulation for the course and then write a reflection on it. You can use this as an example
Section 1: Introduction
This is one of the first times that I have experienced a simulation for a course. The
teacher of this course explained the simulation on the day of the simulation. This
caused a bit of chaos at the beginning and no one understood exactly what needed
to be done. But luckily the teacher had everything under control again and we found
out that the simulation was about a crisis in a country called Docistan. The country
was dealing with a massive famine which was killing thousands of people every
month. In addition, the country was also faced with an anti-government rebel
movement that had recently started a civil war. This civil war caused many civilian
casualties and foreign visitors were regularly targeted by both government and rebel
forces. Different groups were formed among the students who took the course.
These groups were each assigned their own country with public information about
the country (Everyone could find this information) and secret information about their
country (They had to keep this information to themselves, no one was allowed to see
this). The countries had to ensure, among themselves or together, that the crisis in
Docistan should be resolved. They had to draw up a plan together. If a plan was
drawn up mutually or jointly, it had to be voted on. The teacher of this course also
announced some rules of the game. It was already mentioned that you as a country
had also received classified information. You were not allowed to discuss this with
other countries during the negotiations. During the negotiations a few news items
were broadcast by the teacher. These news items led to changes in the process (I
will come back to this later in section 8). If you have a negotiation with a country, you
had to write out a negotiation proposal (this can also contain any additional
conditions that the other party had to agree on). This had to be signed by at least one
representative of the other country.
Before the simulation took place, the groups received an brief intelligence
letter. It contained important information about Docistan and all other 7 countries.
The countries have each been given their own special condition and were set up
similar to countries outside the simulation (I will also come back to this later in section
2). This information about the countries has been decisive for mutual negotiations.
After we formed the groups, we had to write a policy memo together. In this
policy memo, my group and I worked on a negotiation strategy and discussed all
countries. This policy memo was written before the simulation. We felt it was
, important to gain as much knowledge as possible before entering the negotiations.
We have mapped out each country and were able to see clearly with which countries
we would like to enter into negotiations. In our group we divided the tasks of the
policy memo among each other. What I found unfortunate is that we did not compile
the policy memo in its entirety together. Every day someone else did a different part.
Consultation did take place well, but only via Whatsapp. There was also no possibility
to give feedback to each other, because the policy memo had to be finished within a
week. This could possibly be due to our group, because I do not know whether other
groups have experienced the same. I was concerned that these points could affect
our negotiation strategies during the simulation. We wanted to engage in certain
negotiating strategies in the negotiations. But often things went differently than
planned. Certain countries in the field of military and humanitarian aid flew through
the news items. As a result, a predetermined negotiation strategy was often useless.
Section 2: How did you carry out the negotiations (individually and as a team)?
At the beginning of the simulation, my group and I looked at what our goals were.
Our country was considered the leader of the global North, we were known for our
wealth and stability. Our country is a very neutral country with regard to the internal
affairs of other countries. But the situation in Docistan was also alarming for our own
country. Our country was concerned about the use of Cocaine (from Docistan) by our
own citizens. We wanted cocaine production to end. In addition, our country imports
cash crops from the Altiplano region of Docistan. During a meeting of our group, we
looked at whether there were alternatives to the import of cash crops. Our group had
appointed Wout Dijkstra as the leader of the group. He had to constantly talk to the
other leaders of the other countries. Because of this we didn't really talk to Wout very
often. The other group members and I were in a conversation and we spoke among
ourselves with representatives from other countries. My group and I have been smart
enough not to make a deal with every country right away, because country 4 wanted
peace in Docistan first. But a news report found that they were supporting the rebels
who waged a civil war in Docistan. As a result, they had lost our confidence and we
stopped discussing negotiations with them.
I was already in contact with country two and country five individually. I knew
the representatives of these countries personally. Country two immediately
approached me to negotiate. They had offered us cash crops for money. They
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