The Model Arctic Council: Simulated Negotiations as Pedagogy and Embodied Diplomacy |
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| Authors: | Leah Sarson Val Muzik Brandon Ray Glenn Gambrell Leehi Yona Robert Comeau |
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| Affiliation: | 1. Department of Political Science, Dalhousie University, Halifax, Nova Scotia, Canada;2. Department of Political Science, University of British Columbia, Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada;3. Jackson School of International Studies and School of Marine and Environmental Affairs, University of Washington, Seattle, WA, USA;4. Arctic and Northern Studies, and Homeland Security and Emergency Management, University of Alaska Fairbanks, Fairbanks, AK, USA;5. Emmett Interdisciplinary Program in Environment and Resources, Stanford University School of Earth, Energy, and Environmental Sciences, Stanford, California, USA;6. College of Law, University of Saskatchewan, Nunavut Arctic Campus, Iqaluit, Nunavut, Canada |
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| Abstract: | This article draws on the perspectives of students and organizers involved in recent iterations of the Model Arctic Council (MAC), an experiential learning simulation designed to expand students’ knowledge and understanding of the Arctic and its governance. While much of the discourse related to simulations such as the MAC emphasizes its pedagogical and networking benefits, this article leverages participant-based ethnography to argue that the MAC also affects multi-track diplomatic outcomes in addition to serving as a site for diplomatic engagement. Applying an interpretive approach driven by the onset of practice-tracing in international relations, we demonstrate that the MAC both produces and constitutes diplomacy. Such a reimagination elevates the diplomacy of non-state actors and exposes false binaries between state diplomacy and non-state diplomacy. |
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| Keywords: | Model Arctic Council diplomacy pedagogy international relations Arctic Council |
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