Country X

Partner(s): Aldo Civico School of International and Public Affairs Access: Private Released: April 2009 VIEW PROJECT

Country X is a web-based educational simulation created in response to challenges surrounding the training and education of prospective genocide prevention practitioners. The simulation, developed in partnership with Professor Aldo Civico of the Center for International Conflict Resolution, takes place in a fictitious nation experiencing rapid instability called Country X. Students work in groups of four, with each student assuming the identity of one of four characters representing the perspectives of diplomatic, intelligence, military, and civil society communities.

After analyzing a starting condition, players must address the situation from within their role by independently making a strategic policy decision and providing a rationale for it. The combination of player decisions at each phase of the simulation determines a resulting condition for Country X for better or worse. Students work through three such decision phases and then confront and attempt to deconstruct a final condition. The simulation was created to work in an integrated way with class discussions facilitated by an instructor. It is being used in Professor Civico's genocide prevention seminar and will also be available to other courses at Columbia.

Related project categories:
Political Science and Social Policy | Simulations