INTERNATIONAL RELATIONS SIM
The most innovative digital IR teaching tool in the world.
Your students become the world leaders and experience first-hand the complex mix of international and domestic pressures that must be balanced to run a thriving country. Active learning demonstrates course concepts on a personal level and the addictive gameplay creates intense engagement. As a result students achieve a deep understanding of global politics.
Statecraft IR empowers you to transform your class into an immersive, unforgettable learning experience you’ll enjoy just as much as your students.
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Statecraft is the future of educational engagement
Getting kids engaged in ideas is important. I don’t want kids to be passive receptacles of knowledge that they sit back in a test and two or three weeks later they promptly forget and never use [the information] again. Statecraft helps make learning sticky. I’ll use it again.
STUDENTS BECOME WORLD LEADERS
When you launch Statecraft IR, the whole class is transported to an addictive online world where students are grouped into countries and take on the roles of world leaders. The objective of the game is to gather as many points as possible and cultivate the most impressive country!
Students both collaborate and compete to execute their country strategy and achieve the simulation goals. Throughout gameplay they must simultaneously balance both domestic and international factors to care for their citizens and navigate global chaos.
Strategy
To gather points students can pursue a myriad of strategies: from avoiding conflict for domestic wellbeing to cautiously collaborative strategies that maximize economic synergies while carefully checking other countries' imperial motives. It is possible that every country could get a perfect score and all thrive; however (just like in the real world) that rarely happens.
Goals
Each turn students try to achieve three types of goals: (1) Cooperative Global Goals that are shared with the entire world such as ending world hunger; (2) Competitive Country Goals for excelling in a certain area such as “Most Environmentally Friendly” or “Safest” and finally (3) Country Development Goals based on domestic factors such as citizens' health, welfare, environment, safety and education.
Domestic Factors
Every turn countries will produce resources students must decide how to invest; they’ll bump up against the classic “guns vs. butter” conundrum. They’ll also get a Quality of Life score that equates to points for their citizens' health, welfare, environment, safety and education. Unhappy citizens riot! Unhealthy citizens die of famine!
International Factors
There are pirates terrorizing the world! Ice Mountain is melting and threatening to flood the entire globe! Should they participate in the U.N.? What about that crazy country over there trying to build a nuclear weapon? Both simulation events and classmates create drama and excitement and demonstrate how intertwined the world truly is.
Statecraft IR creates situations where students are experiencing course concepts on a personal level and must apply the lessons they’ve learned in class to succeed. Along the way they’ll have questions about situations in the simulation like the security dilemma or the collective action problem that will become prime teachable moments.
Statecraft empowers you to transform your class into an immersive, unforgettable learning experience you’ll enjoy just as much as your students.
Course concepts covered
The multidimensional International Relations Simulation program covers over 50 course concepts within major IR sub-categories. Using the simulation creates new opportunities to demonstrate how course concepts come to life. Students are experiencing lessons first-hand so they’re more engaged and develop personal opinions about what they’re learning. Instructors report being able to have more productive lessons and more interesting conversations with students.
Global Environmental Politics
Levels of Analysis
International Political Economy
Two Level Games
International Security
Globalization
Theoretical Perspectives
Human Rights
Human Security
Terrorism
Foreign Policy
Alternative Theoretical Perspectives
"ALLOWED THEM TO APPLY THE CONCEPTS"
I used Statecraft in my large (150 person) Introduction to International Relations, and the simulation was a great hit with my students. It allowed them to apply the concepts that we were learning in class to their on-line Statecraft world and to grapple with the difficult decisions foreign policy leaders face on a daily basis. Students came away from the experience not only with an enriched understanding of international conflict and cooperation, but also with a better grasp of the nexus between domestic and international politics. More than anything, participating in Statecraft made students think critically about their own prior beliefs about international politics. It was also fun! The students got to meet one-another (a daunting task in a room of 149 other first year students), and I frequently spotted students playing Statecraft all around campus. I’m looking forward to using Statecraft again!
"EXTREMELY HELPFUL TEACHING TOOL"
I used Statecraft in my introductory International Relations course, and it was a big hit among my 150 students. Statecraft is an extremely helpful teaching tool that helps to engage students who have different ways of learning, and brings a fun element into the classroom. Not only did they get to experience IR from an entirely new perspective, they also got to know each other really well and develop a sense of camaraderie. Their Statecraft country groups turned into study groups and helped them to get more involved in the course in general. I highly recommend Statecraft!
"A VERY USEFUL ACTIVE LEARNING TOOL"
I use Statecraft whenever I teach the Introduction to International Relations course. Statecraft has been a great teaching tool to reiterate important concepts from the text that makes the learning experience enjoyable for students. It enables greater interaction in the classroom and generates interesting debates on competing domestic and foreign policy goals. Students come away with a better understanding of the complexities and challenges of policy making. It is a very useful active learning tool that students can benefit from tremendously.
effective, fun & helpful
Demonstrate Course Concepts
Students experience important IR concepts such as security dilemmas and collective action problems first-hand and personally feel how complicated leadership truly is. In order to succeed in the simulation, they’ll have to apply course-related knowledge.
Engage Students
Game-like play sucks students into the simulations where they must take ownership of their learning experience. They’re empowered to excel to their own personal limits and shine. Engagement enhances the knowledge acquisition process and makes it fun!
Save Time
The simulation is easy to set up and runs itself. You have a new tool to draw connections to course concepts and spark dynamic conversations. All-unique simulation scenarios every semester promote academic honesty. Instructor tools do tasks like grading for you.
use statecraft 100% ONLINE OR IN-PERSON
Easily create an unforgettable, dynamic online class
- Fully-automated: Once launched, the system prompts students and moves them through the simulation without any instructor action required
- Online chat & online messaging systems: to allow full class communication, student-to-student messaging and team collaboration all within the product interface
- 24/7 live asynchronous design: students can play whenever they want on their schedule without needing to coordinate class time
- Customer Support: available 7 days a week and ready to answer any and all online class questions!
This is a great choice for you if you’ve recently moved a class online and need an easy, effective way to spark student interest, create engagement and foster participation. It’s also a great choice if you’re unsure of what your class format will be next semester: these simulations will easily transition with you whether your class is 100% online, in-person or a blend.
how Statecraft ir works
Easy Set-up & Launch
- Easily adaptable for small classes under 20 students or for large classes up to 600 students running multiple worlds; each world will have six to 108 students
- Run through an easy 3-minute configuration and get the code for students to activate their simulation
- When students sign up with the code they’ll pay for the simulations
- The Foreign Policy Attitude Survey automatically groups like-minded students together into countries when they sign up, ensuring variation in countries’ views and policy approaches
- You set the start date plus the number and duration of the “turns”; commonly teachers launch the simulation in the third week of the semester and run it for seven to 10 turns/weeks, however you have complete control to set the optimal timing based on your class needs and schedule
- There will be six to 12 countries in each world with up to nine roles per country
- Students receive a comprehensive instruction manual and their first quiz asks key questions from the manual to make sure they understand how to play
- During the preparatory “Turn Zero” students configure their country and personal roles
An immersive digital world commences
Once the simulation launches, students meet as a country and their first action is to choose a country name, city names, and positions for each student. They also select a government type and two attributes which will bestow special country abilities and constraints. Students’ initial decisions about their country type and attributes are the foundation for their strategy and affect the way they’ll be able to operate in the simulation.
Every regime type has bonuses and drawbacks. For example, in a democratic regime the country’s embrace of freedom yields educational and scientific benefits and makes the population happier. The downside is increased crime, a coarser culture, and limits to rapid military mobilization.
Regime type and country attributes factor into the country’s Quality of Life scores each turn, which significantly impacts points earned. That means dedicating resources to building up the country’s health, welfare, education, and other domestic ratings is a critical part of overall success in the simulation. Leaders must keep their people happy and healthy!
Student Positions
- President
- Secretary of State
- UN Representative
- Secretary of Defense
- Director of National Intelligence (DNI)
- Director of Science and Industry
- Trade Representative
- Chief Political Strategist
- Domestic Affairs Adviser
Regime types
- Democracy
- Constitutional Monarchy
- Communist Totalitarian
- Military Dictatorship
Screenshot showing the constraints when students choose the “Constitutional Monarchy” regime:
Country attributes
- Industrial
- Green
- Militaristic
- Pacifist
- Scientific
Screenshot of “Scientific” attribute bonuses:
Playing the Simulation
- Students are playing to earn points by achieving both the world collective goals and their individual country goals
- Everything is prompted by the system; it tallies points for performance and participation and calculates grades for you at the end of the simulation
- The simulation runs live 24-7 so students can play anytime without you needing to schedule class time or a computer lab
- At the end of each turn the decisions or “moves” students made during the turn actually happen and they can see the results of their actions
- Every turn each country produces resources that can be used to buy military units and domestic structures, trade with other countries, research technology and invest in big projects like Alcatraz or the Louvre
- Students also make strategic decisions such as drafting treaties, forming alliances, engaging in espionage or launching a military attack
- Global issues such as terrorism and climate change will affect all of the countries in the world, requiring collaboration to resolve
Strategy: Peace, Development or Dominance?
Throughout gameplay, students are working towards cooperative goals, country development objectives, and competitive goals . Each turn, they’re confronted with a myriad of choices, all of which have consequences that require thought and strategy.
Some students will make exemplary strategic moves and thrive in the simulation. Many other students start with ambitious goals but make mistakes due to bad planning, not thinking through the reactions of others, poor communication and poor diplomacy… and they may fail miserably. These students learn valuable lessons by failing and thankfully this is a low-stakes digital environment where they can still get a good grade for participating fully. They’re able to take these lessons and apply them to their real life where it really matters!
Cooperative Global Goals
End World Hunger, Global Peace Award, Wipe out Terrorism and Save the Planet! These are common goals for the entire world; either all of the countries work together and everyone receives the points or no one achieves the goal.
Country Development Goals
This is based on the country’s development of domestic factors: citizens’ health, welfare, environment, safety, culture, and education. Every turn each country receives a Quality of Life score that can be anywhere from Despicable to Incomparable.
Competitive Country Goals
Healthiest, Most Educated, Safest, Greatest-Poverty-Fighting Country, Most Environmentally Friendly, Most Cultured, Most Scientifically Advanced, Most Militarily Powerful and Most Politically Astute.
The Instructor's Role
- Watch as the students collaborate and compete with one another to be successful and gain the most points
- Act as an executive consultant to help guide students and answer questions about how real-world countries deal with similar challenges through diplomacy, international organizations, economic statecraft, and military action
- Statecraft help desk will assist students with any technical questions or troubleshooting
- Use the simulation events as learning opportunities to draw correlations to course concepts
- See all of the events happening in the simulation by looking at the global map and tracking tools
- Offer students 30+ minutes of class time to meet in their country groups each week to decide on big world moves (recommended but not required)
- If needed you can use a master account to make “godlike” decisions should there be world crisis; as the instructor you always have ultimate control over your simulation world
Reality: challenges, opportunities, and tradeoffs
Students start out with aspirational goals and a strategy to achieve greatness, yet reality quickly demonstrates great plans are difficult to achieve! They must grapple with a complex mix of domestic and international factors as they experience first-hand how maddeningly complicated global politics truly is. They’re presented with conundrums such as guns vs. butter. Suddenly there’s a mountain melting that could flood the world, terrorists are attacking and their population is rioting because of famine – ACK!
This “controlled chaos” affects students on a personal level: they’ll experience real emotions like excitement, frustration and shock! You’ll find a wealth of teachable moments and students will be asking you intelligent questions as they try to figure out what to do. Working through these issues is how real learning happens and it’s the reason the Statecraft IR Simulation is so effective.
Many Possible Strategies,
Including:
- Wealth-building strategy
- Empire-building approach
- Diplomacy seeking world peace
- Isolationist maximizing quality of life
- Militaristic domination by force
National Decisions Required Concerning:
- Resource Scarcity & Trade
- Domestic Political Factions and Their Demands
- Investment in “Guns” vs. “Butter”
- Immigration and Refugees
Global Issues that Cannot be Ignored:
- International Organizations and Treaties
- Impacts of Climate Change
- Espionage and Terrorism
- Cybersecurity
- Nuclear Proliferation and the Military Balance
Conclusion & Grading
- When the last turn ends global goal points are given, individual country points are tallied, awards are bestowed and grades are issued
- The system provides a gradebook showing students’ final point totals in a table that is easily exportable to Excel
- Statecraft also offers suggested assignments (quiz/exam questions, paper topics, and discussion questions) that can count toward students’ course grades
- We recommend a final debrief in which countries present their version of “what happened” so the class and the instructor have insight into all perspectives
- Students can still receive a good grade for participating fully in the simulation even if their country and world collapse due to poor choices (but instructors can modify grades based on apparent effort)
- There are unlimited outcomes possible for the simulation! Every run of the Statecraft IR Simulation result is unique
- Since every class experience is unique, it is difficult for students to “cheat” by relying on outside help or past students’ experiences; In this way, the simulation encourages academic honesty and makes assessments easier for you
If you’re looking for even more detailed information, see the Resources page for the instructor manual, sample syllabus and other helpful documentation.
"STUDENTS ARE BUILDING VALUABLE SKILL SETS"
I have been using Statecraft in my Introduction to International Relations course for five years, and each semester is different! The benefits, however, are consistent. For the instructor, using Statecraft establishes the classroom as an interactive experience from the beginning, which spills over into class periods where we are discussing course content. The students are building valuable skill sets that they transfer to other academic and professional settings, particularly related to working within groups and negotiation tactics. And no matter what paths students take in navigating their way through the game, they will utilize and apply concepts in international relations. It’s not just that students are learning the course content, they are experiencing how challenging it can be where there are multiple things coming at you at all times that must be dealt with. This provides context for a better understanding of the decision-making process in current events.
"STUDENTS APPLY ABSTRACT CONCEPTS IN A FUN WAY"
Statecraft is an engaging educational tool that I used in my Introduction to International Relations course. Through Statecraft, students were able to apply otherwise abstract theoretical concepts in a fun way and it helped them understand theories’ relevance in the ‘real world’. Not only has Statecraft broadened students' understanding of international relations, it has also given me multiple opportunities to relate theories to students' actions in the simulation. This made lectures more engaging and concepts easier to explain. I chose to read and grade all memos and give students extensive feedback, which is optional, but other than that Statecraft basically ran itself and left me with lots of time to prepare lectures. I added several in-class ‘Statecraft Summits’ to give the different countries a platform to negotiate in person, feel tensions and come to agreements with multiple countries. Students wrote Reflection papers after the simulation ended and I was pleased to see that students indeed very much enjoyed the simulation and that it also challenged them intellectually and improved their interpersonal skills. I most certainly will use Statecraft again in the future.
"AN EXCELLENT LEARNING RESOURCE"
I have used the Statecraft International Relations simulation in five of my IR classes in the past year and a half, and my experience has been overwhelmingly positive. Statecraft encourages students to work together and cooperate, just as the professional and political world requires them to do. Moreover, Statecraft is another valuable tool that can help bring the concepts and ideas discussed in our lectures to life. It is a well-known fact that students learn best by applying their knowledge, and Statecraft, with all the dynamism and appeal of a video game, allows learners to do just that. However, Statecraft is more than just a game, and indeed students often take their participation in the simulation very seriously. Just like real-world politics, passion and competition often result in some surprising and unpredictable situations – alliances, betrayals, rescues and invasions, even full-blown wars! Students have always reported that they enjoy the simulation, and that it really makes them think about international relations in a practical way. Statecraft is an excellent learning resource for the 21st century classroom, and I wholeheartedly recommend it.
Let's do this! Experience Statecraft for Yourself
Book your personal demo today! We’ll answer your questions, show you how these cool features work and help you set up your first Statecraft IR Simulation.
an immersive virtual world
The Statecraft World Map is where all of the action happens! Students can log in via a desktop computer or a mobile device. The map illustrates the geographical layout of the world showing resource centers, deserts and mountains as well as the climate situation. The colored lines delineate territory zones belonging to each country. The icons mark cities, military units, landmarks and terrorist occupations. Once a student spies on a foreign country those cities and military units will also be exposed. Clicking on the icons reveals more information and there’s a detailed legend key to offer extra map guidance.
In the nav bars at the top students can access all of the critical information for their world as well as look at their intelligence data for other countries. They’ll be able to access their Diplomacy, Military, Intelligence, Domestic and Research activities as well as manage their Resources.
Tour the Statecraft World Map Student Interface:
Diplomacy
- Build International Organizations
- Collaborate to solve global issues like climate change, world hunger, terrorism, and human rights
- Construct Treaties
- Exchange Ambassadors
Military
- Enhance military technological capabilities
- Strategically build their national defense strategy
- Build and maintain a navy, air force, and army
- Forge collective security alliances
Intelligence
- Spy on other countries' domestic politics, economy, and military capabilities
- Build counter-intelligence capabilities to limit spying in their own country
- Run covert operations to sabotage and undermine other countries
Domestic
- Enhance your Citizens' Healthcare and Unemployment System
- Improve your Justice System and Environment
- Invest in Public Education and University Systems
- Foster your country’s unique culture and gain tourism points!
Research
- Gain new, powerful technologies that can enhance domestic ratings such as health, safety, the environment, or improve national security
- Trade technologies with other countries to more rapidly develop their Quality of Life and National security
Resources Bar
- Manage economic resources
- Budget for enhancing domestic infrastructure or security
- Trade with other countries and develop relationships with countries that produce needed resources
INTRO TO IR SIMULATION PRODUCT TOUR
Click through the visual product tour below to see the Statecraft Intro to International Relations Simulation in action! You’ll see snapshots from the student experience on how they deal with International Trade, Security Issues, Global Environment, and International Organizations. Plus the tour explains how the “currency” system, domestic politics, technology, how goals appear, how notifications work and how students make moves in the simulation. Enjoy!
Time-Saving Instructor Tools
Student Assignments
Statecraft automatically assigns students to roles based on a brief attitude test designed for optimum role fit and student collaboration during the initial signup process.
Automated Student Prompting, Feedback & Calculations
Professors report an average of 13% time savings by using simulation tools that automatically prompt students, issue feedback, and guide outcomes.
Automated Grading
The Statecraft system tracks all choices and outcomes and automatically reports final grades to the instructor in an excel exportable format for your convenience.
Reasons the Statecraft IR Simulation is so effective:
- An innovative way to teach concepts beyond traditional lectures
- Concepts become personal and experienced by students
- Students are engaged and participating both inside and outside of class
- Engagement enhances the knowledge acquisition process
- Students take ownership of their experience and are empowered to shine
- Teaches career skills like leadership, teamwork, negotiation and strategic thinking that help them become more employable
- Students must apply course knowledge and do context-based problem solving to succeed
- Working in teams on common goals fosters student collaboration and relationship building even in large lecture classes
Results you’ll experience:
- Heightened student engagement & greater attendance
- Quality student questions and requests for strategy consultation
- Students are able to discuss course concepts intelligently and develop strong opinions that spark interesting class conversations
- More camaraderie among the students, social connections, sense of community
- Students will form study groups and you’ll hear students speaking about topics such as enforcing UN resolutions or the security dilemma outside the classroom
- Statecraft Simulations promote academic honesty: since every simulation experience is completely unique it’s practically impossible for students to cheat
- Your class popularity will increase due to previous student recommendations
"STUDENTS BENEFIT GREATLY FROM PLAYING"
Statecraft allows students to experience first-hand the complex mix of international and domestic pressures that states face in the international system. I've seen my students benefit greatly from playing the game, as they emerge with a much more sophisticated understanding of course concepts. It's one of the best simulations I've found.
"A REMARKABLY RICH SIMULATION"
Statecraft accomplishes the difficult feat of simultaneously engaging student interest and exemplifying important principles of international relations theory. It provides a remarkably rich simulation of world politics that practically runs itself with no need for time-consuming instructor intervention, while still allowing teachers of more specialized courses ample opportunity for customization. I recommend Statecraft without reservation to all instructors of undergraduate international relations.
"GOOD BALANCE OF PLAYABILITY + MULTI-DIMENSIONALITY"
Statecraft is a good simulation for undergraduate courses in International Relations where you want to explore the connections between domestic and international affairs. It offers a good balance of playability + multi-dimensionality. It’s not just about diplomacy; it’s about balancing internal and external factors that feed into your capabilities.
4.85
out of 5 stars
Instructors rated Statecraft Customer Service 4.85 of 5 stars in the Spring 2022 User Satisfaction Survey
Excellent Customer Support
- We're here from set-up to implementation with assistance along the way when you need us
- Students and Instructors ask for both technological and strategic support
- We're 7-days a week from 7am to 11pm EST and try to answer fast. No matter what, we always get back to you within 24 hours
Two Pricing models
Per Student
Schools that have fewer students or classes who are engaging in Statecraft.
Per Teacher
Schools that have multiple teachers or larger class sizes using Statecraft
Get started today to experience how Statecraft brings International Relations to life in your course!
You can sign up online now to get started immediately or book your personal demo! We’ll give you a complete product tour, answer all of your questions and help you configure your first Statecraft IR Simulation.
Statecraft Simulations are used at 70 high schools and over 475 universities
Statecraft Project LeaderMaker
As a company, we are passionate about student success! Our mission is to engage students in social science topics in a way that ignites their curiosity, excitement for learning, and social skills regardless of their learning styles or socio-economic disadvantages. In the spirit of this mission, we founded the Statecraft Project LeaderMaker, which donates simulation accounts to low-income high schools. Contact Joe at [email protected] to learn more about the program.
How it works:
- Colleges use Statecraft Simulations in social science classes
- Statecraft donates simulation accounts to low income high schools
- At-risk students are reengaged in school and gain employability skills
- More students graduate high school with leadership and employment skills
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