Breadcrumb

Off the coast of Yemen, in the Red Sea, an enormous oil tanker sat rusting in 2022. The Floating Storage and Offloading Unit (FSO) Safer contained 1.1 million barrels of oil. However, due to the ongoing Yemen civil war between Ansar Allah (also known as the Houthis) and the Saudi-backed, internationally recognised government of Yemen, the tanker had not been maintained since 2015. With the rotting hull deteriorating every day, an oil spill from the Safer was widely considered both inevitable and imminent unless prompt action is taken. The consequences of such a spill would be dire: devastating the ecology of the Red Sea region, disrupting global trade by potentially blocking the Suez Canal for months, and greatly exacerbating the ongoing humanitarian crisis in Yemen. Although the disaster seemed relatively easy to prevent from a technical perspective, political barriers had restricted progress for years and talks between Ansar Allah and the UN broke down completely in 2019. This multi-issue, multi-party negotiation simulation for groups of 6-12 players picks up the story in early 2022 when a change of UN leadership, as well as other developments in the region, had opened the door for new negotiations.
- Practice and reflect upon key negotiation moves, skills and potential obstacles in a multi-party, multi-issue complex negotiation;
- Explore and experience themes related to negotiating in a high-stakes, public-sector setting across conflict lines.