Diplomacy and War De-Briefing Paper

 

Risk Reserve Readings on strategy:http://www.home.earthlink.net/~selgart/smith/risk.html

Risk (Hasbro) directions: http://www.hasbro.com/risk/original/index.html

 

This simulation utilizes Parker Brothers’ 1959 board game Risk to highlight various aspects of military strategy and international relations more generally.  It is based on a map of the world in the 1880s.  While obviously a degree of luck is involved with the rolling of dice (as in war itself), much of the game is predicated on strategies employed by the individual players and the constraints of the system that they establish.  The assignment will help you gain a better understanding of some fundamental theories and concepts within international relations, especially the connections between theories of security and cooperation.  That is, this game is as much about diplomacy as it is about outright military conquest.  It will also serve as the basis for your 6 to 7-paged, typed de-briefing paper.  Per the syllabus this represents 10% of your final grade and is due both in class as a hard copy and as submitted online through the www.turnitin.com website.

            Think about your course readings and our discussions in class as you play the game and, subsequently, prepare your paper.  As you develop your own experiences as a “practitioner” in international politics, analyze the relative significance of some core concepts from class, i.e. realism and power, liberalism and cooperation, general decision-making determinants, balance of power, collective security, the causes of war, the security dilemma, deterrence, and regime theory.  Some specific questions to keep in mind include:

 

What did you interpret the goal of the game to be?

What objectives, both general and specific, did you have?

What strategies did you apply?

What caused conflict in the game?

What fostered cooperation?

Did your game resemble any historical events or even current events?

How did the rules of the game dictate play?

 

Like all models, this simulation is not a perfect representation of world affairs.  Some aspects of international relations are sacrificed in order to examine security issues.  What is left out in this model?  Does this limit the explanatory power of the exercise?  How might you compensate for this deficiency?  Also, at any time, you may change the rules of the game if you wish.  This is only possible, though, if all members of the simulation agree to the change.  If you do change the rules, remember to consider the impact in your de-briefing papers.

            As you play the game, I encourage you to take one or two breaks to jot down notes that relate to the questions above.  Treat these as timeouts or a half-time period of sorts where you can collect your thoughts.  At the close of class today, your group must exchange email addresses and agree on the next meeting period to begin your simulation.  Please note actually playing this game will likely take 3 or 4 hours. The game will be on 24-hour reserve at the Olin Library.

            Grades on your de-briefing paper will be based upon the ability to integrate the core concepts mentioned above, critical analysis of these concepts, creativity, and general writing mechanics. The A de-briefing paper meets all four criteria below, the B only three, etc.  These criteria are:

 

1.      Well-organized, stylistically effective, and mechanically sound (see Strunk and White’s The Elements of Style).

2.      Outlines the core concepts of international security discussed above as they relate to your particular simulation.

3.      Strong critical analysis of these core concepts, i.e. when does one particular concept better explain an event than another and why?

4.      Shows imagination and creativity in individual insights.