Diplomacy as Pedagogy, Pedagogy as Diplomacy: Diplomatic Simulations, Constructivism, and the 2030 Sustainable Development Agenda
Selim, Sawsan Hatem
Citations
Abstract
Diplomatic simulations, or simulations of international or regional organizations (i.e. Model United Nations), present great opportunities that extend beyond the pedagogical value suggested by limited literature. Operationalizing constructivism as both a pedagogical and international relations theory illuminates the implications of diplomatic simulations on participants, diplomacy, and multidisciplinary research. To accomplish this, this exploratory study first performs a thorough literature review to synthesize relevant works. An exploratory content analysis is then employed on documents in a Model United Nations simulation to investigate its utility in accomplishing the United Nations’ 2030 Sustainable Development Agenda, particularly Sustainable Development Goal (SDG) 4: Quality Education. Findings suggest that while diplomatic simulations develop skills and knowledge of international relations, they also impact actual diplomacy by disrupting ethnocentrism, exporting political agents, and norm diffusion. Diplomatic simulations can also be used as nontraditional data sources and research methods, providing a unique solution to resource-constrained research endeavors.
