MA students at European Studies programme
Amsterdam, the Netherlands
October 14, 2021
Our second trial of the game took us to Amsterdam’s outstanding canals. With the picturesque engineering marvels as our backdrop, MA students of European Studies at Universiteit van Amsterdam (UvA) played 'How to Win Brexit?’.
This game was exceedingly intense and competitive. There were multiple divisions internally and between teams; as such, the negotiations were dynamic, with no clear and immediate prospect for getting an agreement. The turning point was when both leaders decided to gamble and tried to agree on their final terms. They went behind doors for direct talk and came back with a proposal of a Withdrawal Agreement which was not previously consulted with the remaining team members.
As a result, team members felt neglected and did not support the leaders’ version of the Withdrawal Agreement. As a result, they all ended up with No Deal, and the puzzling question arose: what is a victory in Brexit? Nevertheless, their overall reaction to the first trial version of the game and its concept was very enthusiastic!
