About fifteen years ago the hot spots in the world were Beijing, Berlin and, yes,
Baghdad. At that time I initiated at my institution a new course, International
Communication and Negotiation, which took advantage of a splendid simulation
opportunity offered by the Department of Government & Politics at the University of
Maryland – the ICONS Project.
Since that time, with considerable support from
administrators at my college,
I have regularly integrated into my classroom this
constantly evolving high tech version of a model United Nations. In the past I have
written about these experiences; but, I have not done so for a decade. The purpose of this
paper is to share with my colleagues accrued insights into teaching international politics
through Project ICONS in particular and the simulation technique in general.
In today’s
post 9/11 world, using various approaches to helping our students understand complex
international and transnational politics is especially vital.
In ICONS students on their home campus do research to role play an assigned
country’s diplomatic delegation. Using modern technology they correspond and
negotiate with their peers at institutions who are portraying government missions from
other nation-states. A simulation is divided into three phases devoted to research,
negotiation and debriefing.
Real-time conferences are invariably the highlights. During
these hour-long sessions country teams from all over the world (literally and figuratively)
are free to negotiate in English on predetermined agenda items. Typical subjects include:
conflict resolution, terrorism, Third World trade & debt, global ecology, world health and
human rights.
Phase One
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Convention