Playing with Ire

August 27, 2006 - 9:24 PM by Sarah

There are a lot of people who are saying to themselves, at this very moment, “Anyone could be a better Prime Minister than Olmert . . . my CAT could be a better Prime Minister than Olmert.”

But, is it true? Do you REALLY want all those life-and-death decisions in your hands? Do you really KNOW what you would do in his position, if you held his position? Are you sure you realize all the complicated factors to consider when making the decisions he has to make?

Well, some graduate students from Carnegie Mellon University can help you to find out!

They are developing a new video game called Peace Maker, soon to be available for a fee on the web.

The game’s synopsis:

PeaceMaker is a one-player game in which the player can choose to take the role of either the Israeli Prime Minister or the Palestinian President. The player must react to in-game events, from diplomatic negotiations to military attacks, and interact with eight other political leaders and social groups in order to establish a stable resolution to the conflict before his or her term in office ends.

Goals of the project:

The game aims to educate future global citizens by allowing them to experiment with “what if” scenarios and experience events as seen from the other side’s perspective. In addition, in high school, college classrooms and community events, teachers can use PeaceMaker as an engaging and fresh way to involve their students in discussing current events.

In case you are wondering how the game deals with the teeny tiny terrorist question, here’s a hint:

Although a peace game, the player is not automatically penalized for committing military actions. In some occasions, a judicious use of military actions against extremists might achieve an overall positive progress.

You know, it just might work . . . Forcing people to consider ALL the issues, in a non-life-threatening environment, might open a few eyes, in both directions.

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