U.S. FOREIGN POLICY SIM

Students take on key government roles and must apply foreign policy course concepts to navigate complex political dilemas and achieve sim goals.

Launch the Interactive Tour to
see the sim interface in action
and learn how gameplay works.

Launch the Interactive Tour
to see the sim in action and
learn how gameplay works.

DIGITALLY TRANSPORT YOUR CLASS TO THE HALLS OF POWER

When students launch the U.S. Foreign Policy Simulation for the first time they’ll take an aptitude test that evaluates defining personality characteristics, such as extroversion and conscientiousness. Then they’ll receive position options that match their core strengths and contribution potential. Your class will represent the whole U.S. political system embodying key influencer roles such as:

Executive and Legislative:

President, Speaker of the House, Senate Majority Leader, Chair of the House Foreign Affairs Committee, Chair of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee Chair, House Majority and Minority Whips

Media Members:

Journalist, Reporter or Editor for the New York Times, Fox News, and CNN

Defense & Security Positions:

CIA Director, Director of National Intelligence, Secretary of Defense, Army Chief of Staff, Chief of Naval Operations, Air Force Chief of Staff

Interest Groups:

ACLU President, Executive Director and PR Director

Students have goals that correspond to their position and they accumulate points through accomplishing these goals every week. Some goals are competitive and others are collaborative. This dynamic requires students to work strategically with their classmates while pursuing their personal agenda; because that’s how real life works! Regardless of their role or title every student has the potential to dramatically affect the outcome of the game through their strategic moves.

effective, fun & helpful

Demonstrate Course Concepts

Students become part of the U.S. Political System so they experience first-hand how U.S. Government works. 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.

"STUDENTS EXPERIENCE DECISION-MAKING HANDS-ON"

I teach Foreign Policy, and Statecraft is a great way for students to actually put themselves in the position of foreign policy decision-makers. Rather than merely learning theories of decision sciences in lecture, Statecraft allows the students to experience decision-making hands-on. My lecture incorporates elements of foreign policy decision from studies in International Relations, other sub-fields of Political Science, and Psychology, and Statecraft gives students a unique opportunity that just reading and writing about materials from all these fields cannot — a real chance to grasp the dilemmas and difficulties in making decisions, as well as diplomacy and political interaction and communication between and within countries. In this sense, I think Statecraft is a must in a Foreign Policy class. Students really get into the game very quickly, so it also makes class much more interesting!

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see the student interface

This is the exact screen the student in the role of Chair of Senate Foreign Relations Committee will see. Every student has the “Position Goals” and “Simulation Events” controls at the top of their screen, but depending on the position the other actions they can take – the icons running down the left side of the screen – will vary.

When you are the Chair of Senate Foreign Relations Committee one of your biggest goals is to keep your constituents happy so that they’ll reelect you at the end of the simulation! You can see on the screen below that you’re being asked to make a big decision whether or not to support a controversial war effort in Syria. If you choose correctly and your vote aligns with the citizen’s vote you’ll get points, but if you vote against your constituent’s desires you’ll lose points and your job could be in jeopardy. How do you make the right decision!? Start by gathering more info!

Role Spotlight: Chair of Senate Foreign Relations Committee

Position Goals

Simulation Events

Gather Info

Chair of Senate Foreign Relations Committee Student view; depending on the student’s role the action options vary.

Media Abilities

Call for Vote

Campaign

Time-Saving Instructor Tools

Student Assignments

Statecraft automatically assigns students to roles based on a brief assessment 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.

how it works

Easy Set-up & Launch

Launch the simulation the second half of your semester
Run through an easy 3-minute configuration to set the number of students and get the code for students to use to activate their simulation
When students sign up with the code they’ll pay for the simulation
You can have a minimum of 5 students per simulation with a maximum of 40; for larger classes you can run multiple simulations simultaneously to accommodate classes 1000+ students
Students take a brief assessment and the system assigns them a role that aligns with their personality and interests
Each role has personal goals to advance one's virtual "career" as well as organizational and/or national objectives

Playing the Simulation

Everything is prompted by the system; it tallies points for moves and participation and calculate 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.
You’ll play for five weeks with turns or “periods” every week
Period 0: students learn about their position abilities, current simulation events and how they gain simulation point
Period 1 and 2: they gain new abilities and goals as they see the impact of their Period 1 choices and must make major decisions with important consequences
Periods 3 and 4: students deal with the repercussions of their decisions and continue working towards their secret goals
The goal is to maximize points and complete their goals before the end of the 4th period when the simulation concludes

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 factual and strategic questions
Statecraft help desk will assist students with any technical questions or troubleshooting
Use the simulation events as learning opportunities to draw connections to course concepts
If needed you can use your master account to make executive decisions, such as vetoing a bill

Ending the Simulation & Grading

The simulation culminates in a final election where all the student's choices, strategy and alliances play out with ultimate results
There are currently over 100 outcomes possible for the simulation! Every class experience is completely unique
The system will offer instructors student’s final points to be considered in their course grade
Students can still receive a good grade for participating fully in the simulation even if they technically “fail” at their role’s goals
Instructor tools include paper assignments and class debriefing questions that are recommended after the conclusion of the simulation
In the debriefing students are grouped and present their version of “what happened” so the class and the instructor gain insight into all perspectives
Instructors often count the debrief exercise towards the final grade and report it to be a valuable and revealing class activity

If you’re looking for even more detailed information, see the Resources page for the instructor manual, sample syllabus and other helpful documentation.

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 U.S. Foreign Policy Simulation.

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Course concepts covered

The multidimensional U.S. Foreign Policy Simulation covers the entire U.S. Foreign Policy curriculum. Using the simulation creates new opportunities to demonstrate how course concepts come to life. The events presented in the simulation are 100% inspired by events that have actually happened at some point in U.S. history. Your students will get a taste of how dramatic and exciting politics can actually be! This is not dry, boring material; students will be shocked and challenged working through the complicated dilemmas that U.S. leaders have to navigate every day.

Experiencing lessons first-hand means students are more engaged and they develop personal opinions about what they’re learning. Instructors report being able to have more productive lessons and more interesting conversations with students. This teaching tool empowers you to transform your class into an immersive, unforgettable learning experience you’ll enjoy just as much as your students

Constitutional Powers of the President vs. Congress in Foreign Policy

Role of Interest Groups

The War Powers Resolution

Relationship between Media and Government

Civil-Military Relations

Role of Political Parties and Ideology

Challenges and Politics of Intelligence Analysis

Institutional Checks and Balances & Judicial Review Concepts

Bureaucratic Politics & Organizational Routines

Reasons the U.S. Foreign Policy 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 be 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 the checks and balances of the bill of rights outside the classroom
Your class popularity will increase due to previous student recommendations

Costs much less than a textbook

Students pay

$24.75

 4.6/5

4.72

out of 5 stars

Instructors rated Statecraft Customer Service 4.72 of 5 stars User Satisfaction Surveys

Excellent Customer Support

You have help at every step of the process: from set-up to implementation with quick assistance for any questions you have along the way
Both you and students can reach out to us directly at any time
Our customer support is available 7-days a week from 7am to 11pm; we try to answer fast and always get back to you within 24 hours
We’ll take care of students' technical questions so that you just handle the political questions
Teachers who reach out and ask questions report some of the best overall simulation class experiences, so we highly encourage you to contact us!

"a powerful active learning tool"

Statecraft allows my students to experience, personally and vividly, concepts such as the security dilemma and the collective action problem. It is a powerful active learning tool that captures students’ imagination, draws them into a rich fictional world, and often keeps them strategizing and negotiating with classmates all week outside of class. Beyond mastery of course content, the degree of individual student engagement, “soft skill” development (e.g., teamwork, leadership, and communication) and relationship building is unmatched by other pedagogical activities, especially for large classes. I’ve often had alumni return to campus and report how much they learned and still reflect on lessons from the Statecraft simulation, years after graduating.

Get started today to experience how Statecraft brings U.S. Foreign Policy 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 U.S. Foreign Policy Simulation.

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.

How it works:

The number of accounts donated is determined by evaluating school’s free lunch percentage and unique budget constraints. Contact Joe at [email protected] to learn more about the program.

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U.S. FOREIGN POLICY SIM​

See the Student Interface​

How it Works

Course Concepts Covered

Costs $24.75 per Student