Something interesting happened today in class. I am running @CFR_org's "Infectious Disease Outbreak in Colombia" simulation. Students came up with two very well written (I am extremely proud of them) draft resolutions to be voted in the UNSC. The votes were surprising for me.

The first resolution got the required nine affirmative votes and no vetoes... until the last country the US vetoed dramatically. Then, the second resolution got the exact opposite results, except Saint Vincent voting affirmative for both. Students somehow created two camps.

UK, Germany, Belgium, France, China, Tunisia, Estonia, and Russia in one camp; Niger, Indonesia, South Africa, Dominican Republic, Vietnam and the US in the other camp. The most important division was regarding travel restrictions.

The first camp in favor of restrictions, the second camp against them. The debates before the vote, both in the sidelines (breakout rooms) and the main session also centered on this topic, but I never expected it to divide countries into camps.

The students were amazing despite doing the simulation 100% online on @Webex (absolutely terrible app, but the university uses it), and @SlackHQ (very helpful in simulations, but not available in #China). And the simulation (pre-2020) is shockingly similar to #COVID19.

Just a glimpse of negotiations and debates on Slack before and during the simulation: