International Crisis Negotiation Exercise

This exercise will provide students with an opportunity to craft an acceptable and viable conflict termination solution for the nearly decade-long Syrian civil war. Participants from the Middlebury Institute and several other area educational institutions are divided into delegations representing the seven active belligerents -- the Syrian regime, Turkey, Russia, Iran, and the United States, as well as political/military factions representing Syrian/Arab opposition forces and the Kurdish populations within Syria. Under the mentorship of faculty and guest experts, students organize their delegations then plan, strategize, and negotiate while promoting national and ethnic interests in an attempt to forge a lasting resolution to the conflict. Under the guise of a UN-sponsored peace conference, students are afforded the opportunity to learn and apply skills in regional situation analysis, negotiation techniques, strategic thinking, leadership, planning, crisis management, decision-making, and team-building.