This year, MSC Student Conference On National Affairs (MSC SCONA) hosted its 68th annual conference, titled Hanging in the Balance: American Leadership in Global Crisis. This three-day event brought together 120 delegates from more than 20 universities across the country to discuss important policy issues at roundtables with topics ranging from energy independence to relations with NATO. As a part of these roundtables, delegates are responsible for the writing and creation of a policy paper and presentation. Roundtables are guided by a group of subject matter expert facilitators, which include leaders from across the military, academia, and industry. MSC SCONA’s keynote speakers this year included Colonel Michael E. Fossum '80, USAFR (Ret.); General Tod D. Wolters, USAF (Ret.); and Major General Michelle McGuinness of the Australian Army. Gen. McGuinness won the Olin “Tiger” Teague award for best speaker. The conference allows students a chance to explore complex topics and collaborate to generate solutions for pressing national issues.
This year, Bush school professor Greg Vogle and former U.S. ambassador to Palau, John T. Hennessey-Niland, served as policy judges. The winning policy paper, titled Now You Know What I Know: A Framework for Strategic Intelligence Sharing was from the roundtable “Stuck in a Sunflower Field: Lessons Learned from Russia’s Invasion of Ukraine,” and advocated for the creation of a new, open-source intelligence agency. The winning presentation, titled Implementing C3PO within the Emerging Biodefense Domain was from “Drop of a DIME: National Security Strategy in Different Domains,” and focused on the enhancement of biosecurity and defense protocols in the new domain of biodefense. A delegate from the winning presentation team, Roman Parker, said “Even as an engineer, I have always enjoyed looking at international relations and policy. MSC SCONA 68 provided me an amazing opportunity to work with so many amazing people,” highlighting how MSC SCONA unites students from across different academic majors and backgrounds.
ISCNE
Each year, the MSC SCONA committee in partnership with the United States Army War College, hosts the International Strategic Crisis Negotiation Exercise (ISCNE). This two-day event has delegates acting in the roles of various countries in a global crisis scenario under the guidance of a high ranking military official as their ISCNE mentor, who helps them navigate the complexities of global relations and behave as their country would in the real world. This year's scenario was set in the South China Sea, involving seven countries from southeast asia, or countries with strategic interests there. The exercise explored issues related to China’s military outposts, the territorial claims of many countries in the region, as well as the involvement of the United States and Japan in the sea. Throughout this process delegates hold negotiation sessions and work together towards the goals of their assigned nation.
The ISCNE is one of the most memorable events each year and is especially popular among delegates. Delegate Colm Grove said, “The ISCNE was an indispensable tool that allowed leaders of all backgrounds to gain a unique insight into the current global and political climate and the challenges faced by all modern nations.” Former MSC SCONA committee director Colin Fedor spoke on the valuable opportunity ISCNE presents, saying “The ISCNE is one of the few moments to truly analyze and act like the adversary. Students are put in country groups and have to role-play what they would do. How would they interact with our countries and how should they respond to things? That was up to each student participant and it was an amazing opportunity to ‘red-team’ analyze the world outside of the normal U.S. citizen perspective.”