National Peace Essay Contest Week '98

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What is a simulation? Simulations are educational exercises which place students in situations of people different than themselves as a way to illuminate the kinds of issues, challenges and conflicts that such people face. When you have to think, debate or make decisions as a Cambodian who is trying to end conflict in his or her country, for example, you often develop insights that are much more than a simple history lesson. Simulations may attempt to recreate a historical event or a hypothetical event. For this exercise, you will simulate a hypothetical event which could actually happen in a similar fashion and which will deal with real problems that are being confronted now in Cambodia. Simulations are useful learning tools and are not restricted to students. They are often used by professionals, including diplomats and military officers, as a way to practice or test certain skills for which they have been trained, or test certain policy options to see what results might occur as a way of determining what actions best suit a given set of circumstances. For the purposes of this exercise, you will be simulating the conflict in Cambodia as a way to deepen your understanding of how societies in conflict have to confront issues of war crimes and human rights violations. This simulation is also a way for you to apply and confront many of the ideas you put forth in your winning peace essays. For the simulation, each student is assigned a role to play. There are fourteen different roles which will be played in three different simulations to be run concurrently. The instructions, roles and setup are exactly the same for each simulation. You will be notified of your assigned role and group in the accompanying packet of materials. In the following pages you will be given information about the conflict in Cambodia, the specific scenario in which each of you will act within your assigned role and descriptions of all the players in the simulation. You may also be given an individualized set of guidelines or suggested strategies that is written for your particular role shortly before the simulation begins. Each of you is being asked to assume the identity of someone who is involved in the conflict in Cambodia. You must try to act as you think that individual would given the circumstances you face in the simulation scenario. Some of the roles are of real Cambodians and some are hypothetical but based on the experiences of Cambodians and others. You must constantly try to stay true to the role you have been assigned. Students from the University of Virginia will facilitate the simulation. They will be available to answer questions, go over the scenario and the specific issues with all the participants, and act as messengers and communicators if necessary. Some of these students will serve as resources and be given the roles of expert advisers who can provide information or advice on issues related to war crimes and Cambodia. At the end of any simulation, there is a debriefing which gives the participants an opportunity to reflect upon what transpired during the simulation and what they learned. This provides an occasion to analyze the actions and arguments of your colleagues and discuss the consequences and implications of what happened. In addition, the debriefing is a time to think about and discuss how the simulation was related to your broader knowledge of the subject matter as well as general theories and propositions you and your colleagues may hold about such topics as conflict, war, accountability, genocide, how to achieve peace, how to reconcile a society in violent conflict, etc. Debriefings will be done in two stages: the first will be small group debriefings within each of the three simulation groups and then all the peace essay contest winners will come together for a larger debriefing in which the three groups can compare notes.