Earlier this semester, Tech Policy Institute Senior Fellows Paul Lushenko and Keith Carter guided a bipartisan national security threat simulation hosted by the Brooks School’s Institute of Politics and Global Affairs (IOPGA) at the U.S. Capitol Visitor Center with congressional staffers.

This year’s simulation, “Great Power Competition in the Arctic Ocean,” explored how the United States might respond to mounting strategic challenges in the Arctic using non-military policy tools.

Lushenko and Carter were joined by Iris Ferguson, former Deputy Assistant Secretary of Defense for Arctic and Global Resilience, who helped lead participants through a realistic crisis shaped by Arctic competition, fragile alliances, and emerging technologies.

Cornell students played a central role. Anna Brubaker, a junior in the ILR School, served as a student expert on underwater cable disruption, while Adrianna Zawojek, a first-year Brooks School student and DC Start Scholar, supported the effort as a research assistant, helping build the scenario’s historical and geopolitical foundation.

The event was held with support from the Carnegie Corporation.