Our country, number 5, started out as the weakest country on the board. Realizing this immediately, we quickly formed an alliance with group 6, which was the second weakest country. The reason this alliance was formed so quickly was because we both realized how risky it was to stand alone against the other countries, especially since they were very powerful compared to us.
Seeing that country number 4 had the most starting economic units, we decided that we should quickly erase them from the picture so we would not have another powerful country to worry about. Our group had an idea to form a coalition with group 6 and group 2, and then declare war on group 4. Group 2 was the most powerful country on the board, and we were already allied with group 6.
Before war was declared, the simulation ended, and we discussed the path of the simulation in class. It was very interesting to hear the different angles and treaties each country had, and what could have potentially happened if the simulation continued.
If I were to go back and redo the simulation, I would definitely reconsider war with 4, as group 2 said that they would cut off our treaty with us, and we could have potentially lost the war, resulting in our elimination. However, it seems that war was inevitable, as countries 1 and 2, the most powerful countries, were looking to have every country eliminated besides their own, and then fight for world domination.
Great point at the end regarding the inevitability of the war.
ReplyDeleteIn my opinion, war was not inevitable if a single, global alliance was created. I think that this is the direction the simulation was initially headed in. That said, as soon as country 4 refused to ally with the more powerful nations, the simulation immediately headed towards conflict since there were now two competing entities. I'm not sure if I agree with the point that countries 1 and 2 would eventually go to war with each other, since they were about equal in power and the war would just be a waste of resources for both sides.
ReplyDeleteI agree with Dan that war could have been avoided had a global alliance been made. Our group brought up that idea, but we decided against it because a country as small as us would have very little impact on the decisions of the other countries. I think that this "global peace" treaty would have had to be proposed by one of the stronger countries to actually make an impact.
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