Complexity in Peace Negotiations: Insights from Role-Play Designers and Participants

What is it about?

In recent years, the study of peace negotiations has incorporated tools developed for analyzing complex systems. Role-plays have proven valuable for teaching and learning about social systems with many variables interacting simultaneously, allowing participants to become familiar with multiple positions, perspectives, and interaction dynamics. Based on 39 interviews with peace negotiation role play designers, trainers and participants, this paper explores how negotiation complexity is introduced, experienced, and managed in these simulated scenarios. The paper makes two contributions. The first is to show that peace negotiation role plays provide a space where trainers can introduce elements of complexity to allow participants to experience how these scenarios unfold. The second is a set of reflections from peace negotiations role plays that may be worth considering when dealing with the complexity of real-life negotiations: on negotiation planning, on negotiation tactics and micro-skills, and on negotiation strategy. This allows for a better understanding of the complexity of social systems and for the use of role plays as an experiential activity not only in the teaching, but also in the study of complexity, where a key aim is to work across disciplines and share insights.

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