Blog Post 5 - Elise Coakley

 For my final blog post, I wanted to discuss our game of Risk in class, and reflect on what I learned from it. To begin, I have never played Risk before, so even with reading the directions I was pretty much in the dark about what was going on. However, after playing the two rounds, I found it interesting how the game can be applied to real life, and how important information plays in international relations.

I was in the Blue group, so off the bat we sort of had a "target" on our backs that put us at a disadvantage because we had the largest army. Our army was no secret, so it made us vulnerable because other countries immediately wanted to engage in war with us. Our objective was to occupy Ukraine and to have World Council sanction to do so. This was a difficult task, because due to the size of our army and global hegemon, I think it caused the other teams to be wary and suspicious of our goal. 

Through the course of two rounds, our team was mostly occupied with working on the offense, and obtaining Ukraine. While this was happening, however, we lost sight of the fact that other countries had their own objectives and secret weapons, and we failed to operate on the defensive. This is where the problem of unequal information comes into play. When countries are not fully knowledgable to the potential actions of other countries, it is easy to fall victim to their actions and objectives. The Yellow team was able to quietly win the game because every other team was occupied with their own objectives, and failed to pick up on the fact that the Yellow team was winning. 

I think this game, along with being fun, can teach a lot about international relations and how the best ways for countries to interact can be. Rather than hastily entering into wars without knowing the potential secret powers that other countries may have, it may be better to negotiate and communicate with other countries and come to agreements that benefit both parties. Otherwise, there is chaos and each country is occupied with their own objectives, and fail to realize the potential dangers that other countries pose. 

Comments

  1. Keri GilliganDecember 10, 2021 at 2:12 PM

    As a fellow member of the blue team, I completely agree with the points you made in our post. Similar to our case, I think states are so fixated on their own objectives that they fail to recognize the needs of others, and this may result in either chaos. The world has competing interests so it is important that we take a step back to see all of the actors. I think this lesson can also be applied to our day to day lives; people are so focused on what they want to do, what is best for them, that they lose sight and it may even sabotage them.

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