CONN 316 | Dangerous Games: Negotiation and Strategy in World Politics

International politics is a high-stakes game where bluffing, bargaining, and miscalculation can shape world events. This course explores why leaders take risks, why cooperation breaks down, and how strategic choices ripple outward. Students also build practical negotiation skills¿tools for analyzing incentives, managing uncertainty, and navigating strategic interactions across many professional and civic settings. The course centers on three immersive simulations: the Cuban Missile Crisis, the Partition of India, and contemporary disputes in the South China Sea. Drawing on game theory, negotiation studies, history, and film and literature, students examine how decisions made in closed rooms profoundly affect those without seats at the table, revealing the human consequences behind abstract strategy.