For Immediate Release, December 4, 2013
Contact: Allison Sturma, 202-429-3869

(Washington) – Six weeks before representatives of Syria’s warring factions are set to meet in Geneva, leading foreign policy thinkers will convene in Washington to game out “the best possible peace for Syria.” Today, the U.S. Institute of Peace (USIP) and The FP Group (FP) announced the participants in their inaugural PeaceGame, set for December 9 and 10 at USIP headquarters.

“What if we approached the achievement of peace with the same kind of time, energy, resources, and realism with which we approach preparing for wars?” David Rothkopf and Kristin Lord wrote recently. “What if we viewed peace not as the cessation of hostilities, a coda to the serious work of projecting force, but rather as the achievement of the political, economic, social, environmental, cultural, and other factors that lead to stability, organic growth, and conflict resolution -- within rather than apart from a system of laws?”

Rothkopf, CEO of Foreign Policy, and Lord, the executive vice president of USIP, are the co-conveners of the PeaceGame.

Participants in the inaugural PeaceGame will begin with a discussion of potential scenarios for peace in Syria and the steps and conditions necessary to achieve it. Throughout the day and a half-long Game, participants will assume roles representing different stakeholders in the Syrian war.  They will explore four scenarios representing different phases of a peace process: Achieving a Near-Term Political Solution; Pacification; Transformation and Institutionalization; and Stabilization.

Game Participants include: Peter Ackerman, Henri Barkey, Esther Brimmer, Daniel Brumberg, Ambassador Maura Connelly, Paula Dobriansky, Andrew Exum, Nelson Ford, Ambassador Edward “Skip” Gnehm, Karen House, Lise Howard, Steven Heydemann, Ambassador James Jeffrey, Murhaf Jouejati, Ambassador Ted Kattouf, Mark Katz, Kemal Kirisci, Steven Koltai, Ambassador Daniel Kurtzer, George Lopez, Kristin Lord, Colum Lynch, Firas Maksad, Robert Malley, Sharon Morris, Robert Mosbacher, Jr., Ambassador George Moose, Mouaz Moustafa, Manal Omar, Carina Perelli, Kenneth Pollack, Ambassador Mitchell Reiss, David Rothkopf, Paul Saunders, Mark Schneider, Jeremy Shapiro, Randa Slim, Julianne Smith, Andrew Tabler, Ambassador William B. Taylor, James Traub, Casimir Yost.

All PeaceGame attendees will contribute to the conversation through live, interactive polling and through microphones set up throughout the room.

A detailed agenda is available online and the event will be live-streamed at usip.org/webcasts.

The event is open to credentialed press. Pre-registration for this event is required. All credential requests for “PeaceGame” must be submitted by 3:00 p.m. EST on Friday, December 6, to the USIP Media Desk, interviews@usip.org, or 202-429-3869.

Next week’s PeaceGame launches a twice-yearly, global joint-planning exercise to bring together principals from public and private sectors to game out alternative futures for some of the world’s most volatile and important regions. The PeaceGame initiative envisions three objectives. It first seeks to discover new approaches to resolving conflicts that threaten lives, livelihoods, and human dignity.  Second, the Game will seek to uncover new perspectives by engaging not only senior foreign policy leaders, but also business leaders, civil society, investors, technologists and young people. Third, the PeaceGame seeks to upend and then reframe how leaders think about peace.

###

About The United States Institute of Peace (USIP)
The United States Institute of Peace is an independent, nonpartisan conflict management center created by Congress to prevent and mitigate international conflict through nonviolent means. USIP saves lives, increases the government’s ability to deal with conflicts before they escalate, reduces government costs, and enhances national security. USIP is headquartered in Washington, DC. To learn more, visit www.usip.org.

About The FP Group (FP)
The FP Group is a division of Graham Holdings Company and an internationally renowned source for real-time insight and analysis on global affairs. Products and services of the group include ForeignPolicy.com, Foreign Policy magazine and FP Events. http://fpgroup.foreignpolicy.com.