Mock Arms Control Negotiation

As part of the Public Policy School’s International Security class, I recently had the opportunity to participate in a mock arms control negotiation with a delegation of Russian students visiting the United States. The goal of the exercise was to have a U.S. delegation and a Russian delegation of students come to some kind of agreement about how to take steps to lower the nuclear arsenals of both countries.

I have worked in groups before, but, in this case, was struck by how infinitely more complex the task becomes when you have to not only deal with dynamics within your own group, but also dynamics between two groups from different countries. Words were chosen extremely carefully. Sentences were stopped midway, as people would self-censor their ideas. One could chalk up this dynamic to the normal cultural barriers that exist between citizens from different cultures or awkwardness that exists when strangers are thrown into a room together and forced to work together, but, in this situation, there seemed to be a different dynamic at play, which was the perception that we were also representing the broader interests of our countries.

If one was to put 15 competent people with background knowledge of an issue in a room and asked them to come up with a solution to a problem, it might be difficult, but they would likely be able to come up with a proposal. However, because there were intra- and inter- group dynamics, as well as broader political and cultural pressures, the task was nearly impossible.

Further complicating this effort was the issue we were seeking to address. The United States and Russia each posses thousands upon thousands of nuclear weapons, more than 90% of those that exist in the world.  Part of the original reason both Russia and the United States developed their arsenals was because of deep seeded distrust and hostility between the two nations. Although the Cold War is over and most of the people who participated in the class exercise were not adults during the Cold War, there was a palpable tension in the room. Coming to agreement on this goal, not to mention implementing it, would require an enormous amount trust, transparency, and effective communication between the parties. These elements were barely a part of our mock negotiation. I can only imagine how difficult an actual negotiation must be. 

For anyone interested in participating in this exercise, it is part of the International Security course taught in the Spring, not in the Fall.