Throughout the course of the simulation, I played a couple different roles as a representative for the Foreign Ministry of Gilbia. Mainly, I did more behind the scenes work than anything else, especially on the first day of the simulation. I typed up the main points of all the countries and organizations’ opening statements so that we could look back on them at the start of informal negotiations. This helped us to figure out who might be able to help us and who would pose the greatest trials against us. Additionally, by typing up the opening statements, it allowed us gain insight and remember points stated by other groups that weren’t listed in the materials we were given. The second and third sessions, I did more negotiating during informal negotiations with all groups involved in an effort to come to a resolution.
I’d say I felt pretty prepared for the simulation itself. I wrote up our opening statement the weekend preceding the simulation so I had done my research on our position as well as other countries based on the papers that had been provided. Of course, it took a few minutes to figure things out in the classroom, but that was because it was our first time doing a simulation. We unfortunately didn’t accomplish much of anything since we weren’t able to come to a resolution. We had some good ideas going, but in the end we couldn’t come up with the funding which is a necessary part of any solution.
I enjoyed the professional aspect of the simulation, I thought it made it seem more realistic to have the moderator and the placards for permission to speak. I liked informal negotiations more than formal because representatives of the different groups seemed to be more civil and willing to try and figure something out. I struggled during formal negotiations because it seemed that representatives became considerably more stubborn, making them harder to negotiate with and iron out details that weren’t discussed during informal negotiations. It was also difficult at times because it would appear that we’d come to a solution but then a group would get picky and try to tweak something that probably would’ve been fairly successful.
The only thing I would change would be to start the simulation with brief informal negotiations instead of jumping right into formal. That would give groups a chance to feel out the situation better and talk to their allies before going into formal negotiations. I learned that diplomats’ jobs are a lot harder than I expected. I never thought it was a cakewalk, but this simulation really opened my eyes as to how it can be impossible sometimes to come to a compromise. At the end of the day, you have to look out for your country, but also be willing to give up some of your interests for the good of everyone. The hard part is finding the balance between those two concepts.