Scenario:
This eight-party development diplomacy simulation, set in late 2024, places students in a complex negotiation to revive the stalled regional energy infrastructure project known as CASA-1000. This transmission line seeks to create a regional energy market among four developing nations in Central and South Asia, transmitting seasonal excess hydroelectric power from the Kyrgyz Republic and Tajikistan to energy-starved buyers Afghanistan and Pakistan. After years of careful diplomacy, funding negotiations, and significant construction progress, work on CASA-1000 stalled in 2021, when the World Bank paused all operations in Afghanistan following the return of Taliban rule.
In this simulation, the World Bank--the primary funder of CASA-1000--has agreed to hold an emergency meeting to discuss whether and how to resume financing the critical Afghanistan portion of the CASA-1000 project. There are eight parties engaged in the meeting: two funding entities (the World Bank and USAID); representatives from the four CASA countries (Tajikistan, the Kyrgyz Republic, Pakistan, and DABS--Afghanistan's energy utility, acting as a proxy for the interim Taliban authority); a delegation from neighboring India, and a coalition of civil society groups. Though all eight parties want to keep the project afloat, their diplomatic, political, and economic priorities vary. Can they convince the World Bank to release its hold on the project funding, and can they agree on a shared set of terms?
Major Lessons:
Identify stakeholder interests in multi-party negotiations involving inter-party and intra-party dynamics that shape decision-making in politically complex environments.
- Assess the political, sectoral, financial, ESG, and development risks for each party that impact policy options.
- Develop strategic policy options to advance complex energy infrastructure while weighing security and political challenges.
- Grapple with the real-life restrictions, protocols and dynamics of development diplomacy spaces, such as a ministerial-level meeting.
