Tunawars

The simulation will continue until either 25 years have passed or until the total number of fish in the ocean drops below 500, at which time the stocks are depleted beyond recovery. Should the tuna population drop below 500, the game is immediately over. The Mediterranean Sea starts with approximately 25,000 tuna fish, and the population is adjusted each year to reflect the effects of both breeding and fishing.

Tunawars is a chance for you to direct your own tuna fishing fleet. In this simulation, you are given the ability to buy and sell boats, to send those boats out to fish, and to (hopefully) make money. As this is a competition, each state is pitted against each state in a virtual battle for supremacy on the high seas. The simulation continues either until 25 years have passed or until the total number of tuna in the sea drops below 500, at which time the stocks are depleted beyond recovery. Should the population drop below 500, the simulation ends immediately. The Sea starts with approximately 25,000 tuna fish, and the population is adjusted each year to reflect the effects of breeding and fishing.

In pedagogical and game-theoretic terms, the purpose of the Tunawars simulation (a multiplayer, partial-information, iterated prisoner’s dilemma game) is to provide students with experience in relations between and among the states. Pedagogically, as it is often difficult for people to understand certain International Relations theories, this simulation attempts to ground such International Relations concepts as Realism, Liberalism, Identity-based politics, the anarchical state system, free-riding, international law, and non-state organizations in the common classroom experiences of the students.