The Statecraft Simulation and Foreign Policy Attitudes Among Undergraduate Students

ABSTRACT

Professors of international relations are increasingly realizing that simulations can be a fun and effective way of teaching the complexities of the field to their students. One popular simulation that has emerged in recent years—the Statecraft simulation—is now used by more than 190 colleges and universities worldwide. Despite Statecraft’s popularity, however, little scholarship has attempted to assess its impact on learning objectives and students’ perceptions of the real world. This article attempts to help fill that void by evaluating Statecraft’s influence on foreign policy attitudes among undergraduate students. It finds that, while participation in Statecraft did not generally change students’ foreign policy preferences, it did have the effect of inducing foreign policy moderation among students who were initially very hawkish or dovish in their foreign policy orientations. The most important individual characteristics predicting foreign policy attitudes include a student’s political orientation and interest in the Statecraft simulation itself. The article concludes with some potential avenues for future research.

KEYWORDS:

• Active learning
• Statecraft
• simulations
• international relations
• foreign policy attitudes

Notes

Scores were reversed for Question #8.

An analysis of scores of students who did not participate in Statecraft reveals that there is no evidence that the individual characteristics of the nonparticipating students led to the preference for more hawkish or dovish policies by the end of the semester.

Additional information

Notes on contributors

Nilay Saiya

Nilay Saiya is an Assistant Professor of Political Science and Director of International Studies at the State University of New York, Brockport. His research concerns the influence of religion on global politics. His scholarship has appeared or is forthcoming in Conflict Management and Peace Science, Holy Land Studies, International Journal of Human Rights, International Journal of Business Analytics, Journal of Political Science Education, PS: Political Science and Politics, and several edited volumes. He earned his PhD from the University of Notre Dame in 2013.