Insights
To Hell with the Cell: The Case for Immersive Statecraft Education
Arvid Bell
When crises don’t play by the rules, training must evolve. Discover how immersive statecraft education is replacing control cells with dynamic, real-world complexity
Crises of statecraft are usually studied in isolation. Diplomats and officers are trained to solve individual problems. But real crises rarely announce their beginning and end. They are marked by deep uncertainty while competing with other simultaneous challenges. Take three examples from the recent past.
Soon after former President Barack Obama heard reports of chemical attacks in Syria in August 2013, he convened a National Security Council meeting to consider US response. In the aftermath of America’s bungled involvement in Iraq, everyone seemed skittish about taking the blame for another Middle East intervention. Yet Obama’s own ultimatum was staring back at him from the abyss of war. Did he want to race into another protracted, costly, and unpopular Middle Eastern conflict without the absolute backing of his intelligence community? Or, would he have to walk back on his commitments as Assad ignored the “red line” and committed egregious violations of international law? All options were on the table—but none were alluring and the clock was ticking.