International Political Analysis

Reflective Essay - Simulation

Ali Zaigham Agha
Section : E-2
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a. 8ole evaluaLlon: LvaluaLe Lhe performance of Lhe characLer you played. 1o whaL exLenL dld
your role achleve Lhe ob[ecLlves seL ouL ln Lhe role proflle? WhaL where Lhe dlfflculLles
encounLered by Lhe role ln relaLlon Lo oLher roles and why? Pow would you evaluaLe your
sLarLlng SLraLegy memo (or forward-looklng [ournal arLlcle) wlLh Lhe beneflL of hlndslghL?
Pow, ln reLrospecL, mlghL you have played Lhe role dlfferenLly? Pow well dld your sLraLegy
lncorporaLe Lhe markeL and nonmarkeL dynamlcs of dolng buslness ln a complex seLLlng?

1he key ob[ecLlve of Lhe role was Lo observe Lhe slLuaLlon and Lo lnlLlaLe sLraLegy ln a way LhaL dld
noL make lL very obvlous. lor Lhls reason we sLarLed off wlLh a mellow fooLhold noL Laklng Lhe
lnlLlaLlve buL raLher respondlng Lo lnlLlaLlons made by oLher parLlclpanLs. 1he role ls known Lo
malnLaln an agenda LhaL ls dlfferenL from Lhe one percelved by Lhe medla and Lhe onlookers. 1he
key of Lhe same was Lo noL do Lhe obvlous l.e. Lo lnlLlaLe conversaLlons.
Cur agenda was slmple whlch was namely Lo secure Lhe nuclear pro[ecL ln our sLaLe. 1he key
obsLrucLlons faced were oLher sLaLes LhaL had slmllar lnLeresLs (confllcLlng agenda's), Lhe medla and
Lhe green corps presenLlng a vlewpolnL ln llne wlLh Lhelr agenda - Lo supporL green energy or Lo
supporL a mlnorlLy LhaL belleves LhaL nuclear energy ls harmful.
WhaL we learnL from Lhe slmulaLlon was LhaL no one was comlng across as a clear person wlLh a
crysLal clear agenda and LhaL lL was evldenL from Lhe very superflclal sLaLemenLs/emalls ln Lhe
lnLeracLlon LhaL Lhere was Lhls form of a mlsslon LhaL every one was worklng ln llne wlLh. 1he roles
malnLalned Lhelr poker face and hence lL was a very clear example of how buslness Lakes place ln Lhe
real world.
ln Lhe real world securlng a deal lnvolves lmmense moblllzaLlon and manlpulaLlon ln order Lo make
people Lhlnk a cerLaln way LhaL ls more ln llne wlLh whaL you acLually wanL. We can Lhlnk of Lhe
same as a nash Lqulllbrlum slLuaLlon.
ln Lhe end we were able Lo secure Lhe pro[ecL parLlally and shared wlLh our nemesls Ms MamLa
8anner[ee. 1hls was noL parL of our agenda and l belleve LhaL we could probably have acLed a llLLle
more sLraLeglcally and convlnced Lhe prlme mlnlsLer how Lhe deal could only Lake place ln
MahashaLra. Pow? lor LhaL we should have secreLly cllnched a deal wlLh Lhe Lender provlders so as
Lo menLlon Lhe pro[ecL was noL a vlable opLlon lf lL were don'L ln WesL 8engal.
l belleve Lhe polnL was ralsed buL wlLh Lhe whole dllemma aL Lhe Llme of Lhe declslon and Lhe
unexpecLed slLuaLlon whereby Lhe prlme mlnlsLer was Lo be voLed ouL caused Lhe dynamlcs Lo
change a llLLle. 1he prlme mlnlsLer [usL wanLed Lo geL Lhe deal done wlLh as hls more lmporLanL
agenda and hence when lL was suggesLed LhaL Lhe alleglance prevenLed Lhe prlme mlnlsLer from
belng over Lhrown he qulckly agreed Lo a consensus LhaL Lhe pro[ecL would Lake place ln Lhe Lwo
sLaLes.
ln hlndslghL l belleve LhaL Lhls slLuaLlon could have been beLLer handled. Powever Lhe way we
approached our conversaLlons wlLh varlous parLlclpanLs lncludlng Lhe medla showlng lnlLlal
lndlfference Lo Lhe proposlLlon of lL Laklng place ln our parLlcular sLaLe buL ldenLlfylng Lhe beneflLs Lo
lndla as a whole was Lhe key sLraLegy. We were ouL Lhere Lo broadcasL our emphasls of lor lndla".
1he second key sLraLegy was Lo emphaslze how unlLed we were as a parLy and Lo handle all
negoLlaLlons ln an lnformal way and noL Lhrough a medlum LhaL may cause poLenLlal explolLaLlon.
llnally l belleve Lhe sLraLegy of wrlLlng Lo Lhe medla LhaL Lhe reslgnaLlon of Lhe key mlnlsLer Cyrus
MlsLery was wrongly publlshed by Lhe medla was agaln an lndlcaLlon of Lhe roles alleglance Lo Lhe
parLy whllsL havlng selflsh vesLed lnLeresLs.
1he supporL for a safeLy commlLLee and Lhe over all lmage of consenLlng Lo sLuff LhaL may concern
Lhe publlc caLered Lo Lhe publlc lmage parL of Lhe role.
1he role LaughL us how a buslness seLLlng ls complex and uncerLaln. lurLher lL also LaughL us Lhe facL
LhaL ln order Lo obLaln a parLlcular ouLcome, Lhe same requlres a Leam efforL and Lhe supporL of
sLakeholders. lurLher Lhe same also ascerLalned Lhe concepL of publlc agenda verses Lhe concepL of
a prlvaLe agenda and how Lhe Lwo coexlsL.


b. SlmulaLlon evaluaLlon: 1o whaL exLenL was Lhe slmulaLlon useful ln undersLandlng Lhe lssues
and dynamlcs explored ln Lhe course? Whlch key concepLs do you now undersLand beLLer as
a resulL of playlng your role ln Lhls slmulaLlon? WhaL are some posslble slmllarlLles or
dlfferences beLween Lhe lA slmulaLlon world and acLual lnLernaLlonal buslness dynamlcs?
WhaL analyLlcal framework would you propose Lo beLLer undersLand Lhe complex world of
dolng buslness ln an lnLernaLlonal conLexL wlLh markeL and non-markeL dynamlcs?

1he slmulaLlon porLrayed Lhe slLuaLlon of deal happenlng ln a developlng counLry namely lndla. 1he
counLry had a poLenLlal declslon Lo make on a deal LhaL also effecLed a counLry LhaL was separaLed
from lL ln 1947. 1he facL LhaL Lhere was an opporLunlLy of conducLlng buslness ln a dlspuLed LerrlLory
namely kashmlr broughL ln Lhe elemenL of lnLerference from aklsLan Lhe nelghbourlng sLaLe - wlLh
whom lndla has shared a hosLlle hlsLory.
1o add Lo Lhe complexlLy of Lhe seLLlng Lhere was Lhe addlLlonal burden of havlng Lo reLallaLe Lhe
opposlLlon from anLl-nuclear masses. lor Lhe sake of analyslng Lhe same crlLlcally we can undersLand
Lhls as belng a slLuaLlon where by ln a buslness seLLlng Lhere wlll always be lndlvlduals or ldeas LhaL
are conLrary Lo Lhe one proposed. ln order Lo successfully cllnch a deal lL ls lmporLanL Lo undersLand
Lhe varlous obsLrucLlons as well as Lhe poLenLlal frlcLlons LhaL may be faced ln order Lo Lackle Lhe
same efflclenLly.
1he parLlcular slmulaLlon also broadcasLs Lhe lmporLanL role LhaL medla has ln a buslness LhaL
lnvolves a parLlcular seLLlng. undersLandlng Lhe sLrengLh of Lhe medla can be parLlcularly useful
when plannlng Lo lnlLlaLe a poLenLlal buslness. 1hls can be for boLh poslLlve ouLcomes and also wlLh
respecL Lo lLs poLenLlal role ln deLerrlng a llne of acLlon.
uurlng Lhe course we learnL Lhe varlous caLegorles of markeLs, some more developed whereby Lhe
lnsLlLuLlons are usually sLrong enough Lo regulaLe acLlon aL leasL ln a ma[orlLy of Lhe cases Lhere by
acLlng as a check on exLernal facLors prevenLlng a regular buslness plan. lor example ln order Lo
conducL a buslness ln a developlng counLry someLlme brlbes are more Lhan [usL a norm and ln some
cases an absoluLe necesslLy. 1he course was also especlally useful ln helplng undersLand an
lmporLanL dllemma LhaL ls Lhe voLlng dllemma and Lhe prlsoner's dllemma we all face durlng Lhe
process. 1he elemenL of Lhe dllemma was hlghllghLed ln Lhe slmulaLlon whereby every acLlon we
made had a poLenLlal consequence and lL was challenglng Lo keep on Lop of Lhe slLuaLlon and noL ln
a slLuaLlon where Lhe only opLlon was Lo agree.
1he Clobal Crder -ulsorder ln Lhe 21
sL
cenLury module was especlally lnLeresLlng where by
undersLandlng LhaL ln Lhe World Loday declslons are noL only made by Lhe counLry LhaL Lhe same
lnvolves buL Lhere ls lnvolvemenL of global powers ln Lhe same. 1he lnfluence of Lhe forces was
evldenL ln Lhe slmulaLlon where by Lhe role of Mr Cbama clearly ldenLlfled hls agenda and how he
wanLed Lo be parL of a deal LhaL was essenLlally Lo beneflL lndla.
1he flnal module of Lhe course dld a good [ob ln evaluaLlng, afLer formulaLlng a base as Lo whaL Lhe
hardshlps are of conducLlng buslness ln a rlsky pollLlcal scenarlo and also Lhe opporLunlLles posslble
wlLh such a deal. 1he slmulaLlon as a whole dld a good [ob ln brlnglng ouL Lhe concepLs learnL ln class
and applylng Lhem and cemenLlng Lhe skllls and knowledge learnL.
1he slmllarlLles wlLh respecL Lo Lhe slmulaLlon and real world are LhaL Lhere was a slmllar slLuaLlon as
one may face ln Lhe real world and LhaL Lhere were hldden agendas ln Lhe background. 1he
dlfference lay ln Lhe sheer volume of lnLeracLlons and posslbly Lhe opLlon of havlng a face-Lo-face
conversaLlon and one on a Lelephone ln Lhe real llfe. l belleve Lhe addlLlon of a vocal slmulaLlon
would add more crlsp and lnLeresL Lo Lhe slmulaLlon.