In early May, several state department heads and political figures gathered in the UCCS Academic Office Building for a National Security Council meeting – or rather, students held a mock version.
National Security Organization and Policymaking, a political science class at UCCS, had students acting as various members of the U.S. Federal Government in policy positions for a replica national security council facilitated by Instructor John Mohr.
Mohr, who worked as a director for the National Security Council in 2015, has many years of experience in the intelligence field and served a tour as a country director on the White House National Security Council staff from 2014 – 2015.
With his firsthand experience, Mohr sets the students’ mock council up to closely mimic the governmental version. Relocating his class to a conference room, Mohr assigns roles to each and offers a scenario based on real-life events from a few years back for accuracy and relevancy. This semester’s setting was how the U.S. could help bring a resolution to civil war in Yemen, brought on by a political transition disrupted by a local insurgent group.
“This mock National Security Council meeting aims to put students inside the White House Situation Room where they deliberate U.S. national security options to a budding crisis in the Middle East,” said Mohr. “This simulation is a fun culminating event for students, who have spent the semester studying the U.S. government agencies involved in national security policymaking.”
During the session Mohr provides context and prompts, like if the students’ appointed roles would have them traveling to the White House or teleconferencing in, what their positions’ likely concerns would be about and which other organizations or individuals would need further consultation based on a suggested course of action.
While Mohr gives some input and clarification, the students largely conduct the conversation themselves and base their responses and ideas on what they learned all semester. They go through the pros and cons for each proposal, with Mohr occasionally interjecting to give a note on how a specific department head might react. In one such instance, a student suggested peace talks in a neutral location and Mohr followed up with clarifying questions and points they should consider, like the distance between Yemen and the neutral location options, what departments would need to be consulted for assessing those options and possible obstacles for the various suggestions.