Since 2019, in partnership with the U.S. Army War College’s Center for Strategic Leadership (CSL), the University of Pennsylvania Carey Law School has hosted an International Strategic Crisis Negotiation Exercise (ISCNE), the unique experiential learning opportunity designed to engage and educate law students in the process of crisis negotiation at the strategic level.
The U.S. Army War College is located two hours from Philadelphia in Carlisle, Pennsylvania, and trains officers in the U.S. military and from militaries around the world for leadership roles.
“One of the students I had in my JD/MBA summer class—he and his father had both been at the War College,” Theodore K. Warner Professor of Law and Professor of Real Estate Michael Knoll explained. “He came to me and suggested it would be a great idea to offer one of these simulations at Penn Carey Law, and I thought, absolutely.”
Knoll’s student was Aaron McKenney L’19, WG’19, now a Lecturer in Law at the Law School; his father is Adjunct Professor of Law Colonel (Ret.) Paul McKenney. Together with Knoll and Ambassador (Ret.). and Lecturer in Law Daniel Shields, they have formed the core teaching unit of the Army War College course at Penn Carey Law since its inception.
One of the most unique aspects of the course is that it isn’t designed solely for students interested in careers in national security or the government.
“This is a pure simulation, interactive course,” said Knoll. “A fair amount of material is provided in advance, both written and from prerecorded lectures to get students up to speed. They then work together in nine different teams, ranging in size from about 6 to 10 students over the course of two days at a simulated UN conference to try to resolve an international crisis.”
Aaron McKenney emphasized that the course offers law students the opportunity to “see behind the curtain of the military and diplomacy” and learn important negotiating skills.
“[Students] quickly realize that the military is more than just a war-fighting function,” he said. “That is the primary and core function of our military, but they do so much more than that, and one of the things they do is deter and prevent conflict and conduct negotiations. And so, this is a key opportunity for law students to get this experience—the only one in the country, actually, with the War College—where they’re actually learning on teams how to negotiate with another party. So that has obvious implications for attorneys.”
Col. McKenney highlighted the role that leadership plays in the course.
“A lot of people don’t realize leadership is a very comprehensive sort of topic,” he said. “And to be a good leader, you need to be able to negotiate. You need to be able to communicate effectively. You need to be able to manage teams and do teamwork. And this course offers all of those opportunities to develop those soft skills, to make a student a better leader.”
Each year, about 75 students enroll in the course. For the two-day exercise, they are organized into nine teams, each representing a different nation, to resolve a challenging international dispute in the South China Sea with diplomatic, informational, military, legal, and economic factors at play.
“We do the challenges in the South China Sea, where China is expanding its claims beyond what international law in the past has sanctioned,” said Knoll. “This is a critically important issue today, and it becomes more and more important as we see our post-World War II rules-based system of international law sort of dissolving into a system based more on power than it was before the Second World War. The South China Sea is at the heart of it, and it involves many major countries. However this ultimately develops, it is going to affect the lives of our students for decades to come, and this exercise gives them a real chance to learn about this issue.”
Throughout the exercise, students are supported by volunteer participants—mentors, faculty members, teaching assistants, and additional U.S. Army War College staff members.
Other U.S. Army War College participants have included Major General David C. Hill, Commandant of the U.S. Army War College; Colonel Mike Stinchfield; and Ed “Cliffy” Zukowski, Wargame Analyst.
“It was certainly clearly evident to me how incredibly sharp the students are,” said Hill. “It was fun to see them energized by the exercise in the scenario, and to see them really actively step into the roles that they’ve been assigned in this and really start to just enjoy an experience. [It’s a] learning activity that is particularly rewarding, I think.”
Team mentors play an especially important role in the exercise, providing vital insights to students in the course in areas such as leadership, organization, strategy, and team dynamics. Mentors include experienced attorneys, State Department professionals, and retired military officers, and the mentorship often continues well beyond the course and is greatly appreciated by the students.
“My favorite aspect of [the course] is actually the student interactions with me,” said Zukowski. “I play every delegation’s foreign minister or secretary of state. And so, I get to work with each student or each student team on this exercise. And to hear their creative ideas, to hear them reevaluating their strategies and interacting amongst each other is really intoxicating for me because I see learning happening in real time. And in my role, I get to do that with every single participant in these exercises.”
Students are often so inspired by the mentors in the ISCNE that they request to take part in future exercises at Penn Carey Law.
“We get volunteers from previous students that say, ‘Hey, can I come and help?,’” said Col. McKenney. “That’s a wonderful recognition that the program’s working and it’s effective. And, you know, people are not just enjoying it, but they’re learning valuable skills from it—and knowledge.”
Original source can be found here.