Model NATO Simulation: A Guide for Teachers

Institutions, ideas and individuals shape the programs intended to promote international peace and security.

Changing circumstances change both the thinking and the decision-makers, but successful institutions are guaranteed a long life.

For more than half a century, an ever-evolving NATO has delivered peace in North America and Western Europe. Currently, NATO wrestles with the implementation of expansion into Central and Eastern Europe, the meaning of the “out of area” concept, especially as it relates to the Greater Middle East and the war against terrorism.

High school students need exposure to such an effective peacekeeping and peacemaking institution.

• Adults, namely Atlantic Councils, high school teachers and Boards of Education, must create opportunities for young people to hear the NATO story.
• Atlantic Councils and simulation organizers must make it a priority to convince classroom teachers to participate.
• A NATO simulation for high school students can demonstrate how a primarily military institution paradoxically plays a crucial role in the delivery of peace and human security.
• As well, the simulation can temper and challenge the natural idealism of youth as it requires them to encounter the realities demanded of a democratic, multinational institution constrained by a consensus mandate.

Download the Model NATO Handbook Guide for Teachers.