Participants

The process

“This is a wonderful and exciting exercise that requires attention, skills and responsibility. Every word, every concession made me feel like it was real. I felt as if I had been taking part in the Palestinian-Israel negotiations, looking by all means to satisfy my community by making reasonable concessions.”

Participant, Hamas-Israel cease-fire simulation, Geneva Center for Security Policy

“Gradually I became aware of the enormous gulf that separates those of us who view the conflict from afar – whether from our perch on liberal newspapers or in well-meaning think tanks – from those who have actually to solve the problem. From this distance, the solution might seem painfully obvious: any cool-headed moderate can see where the midpoint between the two sides lies. But that is to reckon without the pressures on the negotiators within their own team, from a public opinion always ready to cry sell-out, and from the US. And that's even before you get to the demands of the other side."

Jonathan Freedland, Journalist, the Guardian

“The simulation was a holistic, in-depth, immersion approach, and the link to “real time” conflict made it very vivid and cutting edge. We felt how knowledge is power if you can use most up to date information to enhance your argument.”

Elizabeth Drew, Research and Policy Officer, Conciliation Resources  

“A Track 4 simulation is like being warped into another dimension. Suddenly, words form on your tongue that were previously not part of your conscious vocabulary; intricate, multi-layered visualisations of the conflict appear before you as the political, historical, emotional, cultural and geographical maps of the conflict are weaved together in the course of the simulation; emotions take over you which you previously deemed yourself immune to; thoughts – at times left unspoken – cross your mind that contradict what you believed before entering your role. The experience shook us all deeply, as the process was as much about individual transformation as it was about collectively sharing and undergoing that transformation. The thickness of the experience was greatly enhanced by the sensitive, incisive and intelligent debriefing offered by the TRACK4 team.”

Sabina Stein, Researcher Assistant/Program Officer, Mediation Support Team, Center for Security Studies, CSS ETHZ, participant in ‘The Amersham Talks’, March 2012

“The moment when the agreement was to be signed was crucial – it suddenly became real, I had the revelation of how it feels to put your signature and become responsible for the fate of thousands of people. Suddenly, it was not a game anymore.”

Participant, Hamas-Israel cease fire simulation, Geneva Center for Security Policy

“We’ve all heard that we are supposed to learn as much from other students as we are from our teachers or our own studies, but I think I had unconsciously dismissed this notion in the past. I didn’t really understand what it meant until I partici¬pated in a simulation, where I realized the connection between my own intellec¬tual development and my ability to work productively with and learn from others.”

Kerstin M, Israel/Palestine simulation, GPIA

“What is so striking about this negotiation exercise and differentiates it from other negotiation experiences is its contagious sense of reality. It puts you in the heart of a conflict that has accompanied almost all of us during almost all of our lives. You can almost feel the pulse of the real negotiations that are going on simultaneously outside the classroom.”

Philip Lang, Geneva Graduate Institute Executive Masters Program

“The simulation had the most major impact in two areas. First, whilst the extensive background reading materials were necessary in order to set out the basic arguments, it was only through the act of negotiating that I was able to internalise, and really come to grips, with the thought process of my adversary. Even though I did not agree with it all, the ability to understand was an incredible breakthrough for me. The second is the analytical improvement that comes from fast-paced, intellectually challenging simulations. The very act of negotiating with sharp minded individuals, and attempting to come to some kind of agreement (whilst not reneging on one’s own argument) gave me the ability to shrewdly sift through conjecture and boil down the oppositions arguments into its main points. At the same time, I learned to calculate a response with great speed. I have found the raised level of my analytical ability, and its rapidity, useful in both professional and wider forums.”

J.J. Hodari, ‘The Amersham Talks’, March 2012

“The simulation is not just about reciting lines but about reacting as if you were really the negotiator at the table, you have to learn and understand and know how to react at a level that I think is much more profound. After many weeks, I felt real dismay, real disbelief, real anger. Suddenly, I wasn't just sitting across the table from this friend or colleague. I was actually looking at the injustice and at a painful process in history – in the present, in the face.”

Tania H., Regional Middle East Negotiation simulation

“Initially I thought I could be the best student and out-research the other students and win. But I realized that negotiation is 80 percent strategy and 20 percent information; if you don’t have a strategy then you are not going to be an effective negotiator.”

Adriana Y., Middle East Regional Peace Process simulation

“What is to be celebrated about Track4 is not a single moment or particular aspect, but rather the comprehensive experience.  From the preparatory materials and meetings to discuss strategy followed through to debriefing about how the negotiations went and how viable documents were with feedback from coaches who are true participants in the Middle East Peace Process, the process in its entirety has proved to be invaluable training.  Few, if any, other programs demonstrate the same degree of organization, thoughtfulness, and engagement.”

Rachelle Plotkin, ‘The Amersham Talks’, March 2012

The Content

“I came to Track 4 with scarce knowledge of hard security issues and military strategizing. Once thrown into the simulation, however, the conflict’s security geography emerged before me like a three-dimensional map. Feeling confident and eloquent enough to engage on hard security questions – referring to the range of distinct weaponry, mobilization schedules, security topographies, and the military logic behind my arguments – made TRACK4’s incredible effectiveness as a didactic tool clear to me. I doubt that any other learning tool would have allowed me to acquire such practical knowledge in such a short period of time.”

Sabina Stein, Researcher Assistant/Program Officer, Mediation Support Team, Center for Security Studies, CSS ETHZ

“I can honestly say that the class was the most practical and useful one I took at GPIA. In terms of learning skills and understanding the issues, it drove the concepts home better than reading alone or even a paper could have. Having a safe, intimate setting to really dive into such sensitive and complex issues does not compare to the traditional classroom style learning techniques. Also, we had to read very closely in order to make our cases during the simulation, so even the way I read the texts was more effective than the traditional classroom (not to mention all the additional reading that I was inspired to explore).”

Sheila A., Ibuka Leader, Rwanda simulation

“I think I realized that what the parties want and need is not static. It changes with the political winds. So I learned the 'when' is as important as the 'who' and more so than the 'how'. And I learned to decipher between critical demands (red lines that the sides cannot and will not cross) and preferences (bargaining chips).”

Max A., Regional Middle East negotiation simulation, GPIA

“In order to argue well against our opponents, we needed to research their position as well as our own... in the process we internalized legal language and concepts in a way we could not in a traditional classroom setting. We experienced how every word counts, every phrase can make your argument valid or invalid.”

Ilir D., Burma simulation, GPIA

“This exercise helped me develop the art of listening and appreciating other people’s positions of a subject. My skill as a team player was truly tested. My previous knowledge of the Palestinian/Israeli conflict was based on emotions and newspaper sensationalism and this simulation gave me the opportunity to gain a better understanding of this rather sad conflict. Sad because, I cannot see a “fair” and immediate solution".

Pearl Darko, Senior Corporate Marketing Officer, The Global Fund

“More than any other educational experience the Burma simulation demanded an extraordinary amount of self education; the crucial difference here is that you cannot hide. If you aren’t fighting to manage the volume of information available you probably don’t understand exactly how much information there is.”

Andy T., Burma simulation

Impact on Personal/Professional Life, Transferability of Skills

"The greatest potential value I saw was in applying the method to the contexts we work in, particularly where we deal with very secretive and elitist peace talks and societies therefore have very low conflict literacy and easily inflamed understandings. The simulation addresses many different things at once (knowledge of issues, cross-conflict empathy/understanding, negotiating skills, leadership etc) that tend to be compartmentalized among different kinds of NGO/civil society intervention. In that sense it is a real short-cut through to the heart of a slew of issues."

Laurence Broers, Caucas Project Manager, Conciliation Resources

“It helped me to find my voice. I felt I had to stand up and speak because there was so much at stake; a whole population whose lives—or quality of life—were at stake, and a delegation that counted on me to be a leader.”

Sophia Salguero McGee, Senior Research Fellow, Center for Ethnic, Racial and Religious Understanding, Queens College

“Four months on from my first simulation, I can still feel the effects of it in my daily life. I find I am more open-minded, less quick to jump to conclusions about people, more willing to question my preconceived notions. I learned more about the Israeli-Palestinian conflict in those two and a half days than in years of following news, reading articles, and talking to people. The simulation forced me to develop well-formulated arguments based on facts rather than general rhetoric, and ultimately helped me to strengthen my own position when it comes to the conflict.”

Participant, ‘The Amersham Talks’, March 2012

“ Following the simulation I began to fully understand the value of being a good listener. 'To be an effective communicator you first must seek understanding before you are understood' – the meaning behind this simple but elusive maxim was the most important transferable skill I took away from the negotiations. Without going through the simulation I may have never fully understood the art of listening, which since has positively impacted every aspect of my life.”

Jules Robinson, 'The Amersham Talks', March 2012

“In the Rwanda/Gacaca simulation I discovered much about myself as a student and as a potential conflict resolution practitioner. I learned the complexity of keeping memory alive without keeping hate alive, and was gripped by the tension between disillusionment and empowerment as I faced a continual barrage of counterarguments by my peers. I learned about the incredible obstacles to attaining a more peaceful and just world, a lesson I will carry with me in future conflict resolution-related work.”

Sheila A., Rwanda simulation, GPIA

“I'd always considered myself to be balanced and fair and understanding, but it was only through the simulation that I began to understand what I knew and didn't know: what I had "learned" without thinking, and how the things I'd been told my whole life seeped into what I previously thought I'd figured out through careful consideration.”

Tania H., Middle East regional simulation, GPIA

“The simulation exposed me to many things I would encounter later especially in my current work where I constantly find myself in negotiations with officials at the World Bank and government ministries, on the powerful end, and local NGOs and consultants on the less powerful side. The simulation gave me experience in utilizing leverage and at the same time showed me the value of connecting on a personal level with friends and foes alike...Leverage is the real key, but demeanour, I have learned, can be the difference between getting better than one had hoped for or getting worse.”

Max A., Middle East Regional simulation

“The depth with which I explored my role caused a unique transformation; from knowledgeable student of the Karen and Burma, to emotional empathizer, to advocate.”

Scott B., Burma simuation