Diplomatic Risk Reflection

            I do believe that Diplomatic Risk was very realistic in many ways, especially in comparison to the original game of Risk, but obviously also had its unrealistic aspects as well.  The game was realistic because every team had different objectives, just as all countries around the world do in terms of international policies and agendas.  In the regular game of risk, all countries have the same objective of world domination, and in the real world a majority of countries do not actively seek to accomplish this goal, even during times of war.  Therefore, the twist on the original game helped make it more realistic and comparable to real world politics.  The game was unrealistic in some ways as well.  Alliances, neutrality, and wars do not occur so quickly between states, and are much harder to break in real life than in the game.  Each team was so quick to form alliances and declare war against other teams in order to gain that they needed, and war was the main way to gain territory, though negotiating existed.  In world politics today, negotiations are the main way in which actions and alliances form, not through physical war.  In this way, Diplomatic Risk was much more parallel to world politics pre-WWII. 

            If the game were to be changed in order to mirror world politics better, I think one of the main things that would have to be established are military ranks for power.  In the game as it is, everyone is on the same level playing field in terms of how powerful their armies may be, and in reality, if the United States needed to infiltrate a territory that had more military power than what they may have had, they would still be victorious because of the other factors that go into war as well, such as nuclear weapons.  Also, although this could be difficult in a game such as Risk, to make the game more realistic to how world politics are today, there would have to be an economic aspect to the game as well.  In the game, there is the ability to trade territories and such, but world trade has a very large role in world politics today and is underrepresented in the game.