Students listen to the opening speeches at the UN simulation. Photo credit: Megan Morr

Durham, N.C. - The United Nations Security Council came to Duke last week, courtesy of Alexander Downes' political science class on international security.

Students in the class took on diplomatic roles in a simulation of the forthcoming U.N. Security Council debate on Iranian nuclear proliferation. Each student represented a delegate from the 15 member countries of the Security Council or one of the significant parties to the dispute.

For three days, they orated, debated, negotiated and finally came to an agreement that might mirror a real-life solution to a difficult issue that the Security Council will actually soon debate.

Downes, an assistant professor, said the simulation gave the students a different perspective both on the Iranian situation and on resolving security issues in general.

Andrew Tran takes on the role of John Bolton in the UN simulation. Photo: Megan Morr. For an audio report on how the students settled the dispute, click here.

"This couldn't be more real," Downes said. "The
actual meeting that we're simulating now will take
place next month. That's what makes it so exciting. We'll be able to compare the outcomes."

The simulation was developed by Stanford University Professor Scott Sagan, an expert in nuclear proliferation issues. Sagan, who has led class simulations on nuclear proliferation for the past eight years, was on hand to assist.

"This is a great learning tool for students," Sagan said. "For one, they immerse themselves in the political interests and positions of another country. As Americans, they often think that we have the right position and if the others just thought about it more, they'd come around to our side. This shows things are more complicated.

"And the students also learn how these issues are affected by personalities, negotiations and side deals. These are things that are sometimes hard to express in the classroom. But in the simulation, they learn that if you push too hard, sometimes there are consequences."

The students were encouraged to research the personalities of their roles. Andrew Tran, the student portraying U.S. ambassador to the United Nations John Bolton, performed with the same forceful rhetoric as Bolton.

The simulation attempted to recreate reality as close as possible. Downes, Sagan and several Duke and Stanford graduate students took on the roles of national leaders. Each United Nations team was given a special email account and required to regularly report on the status of negotiations and to ask for instructions.

The student teams first met Thursday night to hash out their positions. Sagan said negotiations in the hallways began immediately. The official Security Council session began with the delegates giving five-minute speeches Friday morning in the Sanford Institute. That was followed by an afternoon session. All day long, the students traded arguments and positions in the Sanford Institute hallways and classrooms, reporting back by email to their governments.

By Saturday morning, the students were down to a final argument over wording. A resolution was passed in time for the students to attend the Duke-UNC men's basketball game.

Next for the students: a mid-term essay. Downes established a virtual archive of all of the emails sent during the simulation. Students will now explore the archive to evaluate the goals and strategies of a country with a position substantially different from their own country, he said.

Click here for an audio report by Jennifer Deer on the simulation and how the students resolved the Iranian controversy.