Weekend Brings Peace Theorists to Cambridge

For six hours Saturday, 22 Harvard undergraduates resisted to nuke the world.

The students, participants in a "Strategic Nuclear War" simulation were role-playing officials from the Soviet Union and the United States, and negotiated peacefully instead of waging war. The simulation was sponsored by the Student Advisory Committee (SAC) of the Institute of Politics (IOP).

The simulation used computer software and a written scenario, which were recently developed by William Martel, a strategic modelist, and Lt. Col. Ret. Paul Savage, a professor of political science at St. Anselm's College.

Although each delegation had a computer and software available, they made very little use of them. Instead, they chose to negotiate.

Leah A. Dickerman '86, Chair of SAC, and Charles Trueheart, Associate Director of the IOP, who organized the simulation, said they had hoped this would occur.

The scenario plunged the students into an international conflict in which both sides had already used nuclear weapons.

Within the first 20 minutes of play, the students established a cease-fire that lasted the duration of the game.

Martel and Savage participated by playing the part of "Control," introducing elements to the game that "changed the negotiating situation." At one point, Control cut off communication between the two groups, attempting to push them into war.

"To be perfectly honest," said Dickerman, "we didn't even need the computers for the game."

Theresa A. Amato '86, who chaired the Council of Ministers for the Soviet Union, said the computer software added an element of realism to the negotiations. "You could see the destruction on the screen," she said.

"I felt the scenario was biased towards people with American sentiments," said Nadine H. Parker '85, who was in the U.S. delegation, explaining that the Soviet delegation continually appeared to be the aggressor.

Despite criticisms of interference by Control and the drastic positions of the initial scenario, most people felt they had learned a lot through the simulation.

"Now I understand more of the degree of self-centeredness that is necessary in international negotiations. It is not easy," said Michael G. Golder '86, who played the U.S. Vice President, "Listen, I'm a biochem major, I don't think about this very much."

At the first test of the software and scenario at St. Anselm's College, Control successfully pushed the students to war. According to Martel, this resulted in the destruction of 3/4 of the world. That simulation also took about 6 hours.

"The game will be marketed eventually," said Martel, "and you'll be able to kill thousands in the privacy of your own home."