International Strategic Crisis Negotiation Exercise (ISCNE)

The International Strategic Crisis Negotiation Exercise is a series of events run annually by the United States Army War College in which faculty from the USAWC guide students at some of the United States’ top-tier universities through a simulated crisis negotiation. The program began in 2003, when a USAWC fellow attending Georgetown University was asked to conduct an exercise for the Edmund Walsh School of Foreign Service.

Since its inception in 2003, the program has grown to include 12-14 iterations each year. These are high-impact events, with an average of 720 students participating yearly, with 40-100 students in each iteration. The USAWC provides three personnel for each iteration of the ISCNE: An Exercise Director, an Operations Officer, and a Senior Controller.

Exercise scenarios are based on “hot spots” in the world. Current scenarios include the Arctic, Central Asia, Cyprus, Jammu Kashmir, Korea, and the South China Sea. Most universities provide a retired US Ambassador to role-play a United Nations Special Representative who is “hosting” the crisis event for scenario purposes.

ISCNE Scheduling App