Carnegie Grant Awarded to SCPS for Innovative Scenarios Project

     The Carnegie Corporation recently awarded a grant of nearly $250,000 to the School of Continuing and Professional Studies to support the Center for Global Affairs (CGA) Scenarios Initiative—a series of workshops and reports that evaluate U.S. policy options in the context of alternative scenarios and outcomes for pivotal countries.
     The initiative was piloted by clinical associate professor Michael Oppenheimer, with two full-day scenario workshops attended by scholars, policymakers, journalists, and other professionals. The first, in 2007, imagined the future of Iraq after a substantial drawdown of U.S. forces in 2010. The other, in 2008, examined the future of Iran and its relationship with other Middle East actors. The Carnegie Corporation grant will help develop this project over the next two years, expanding the number of participating experts and launching a related publication series. CGA also plans briefings for policymakers and opinion leaders.
     For almost four decades, Oppenheimer has provided research, consulting, and policy advice for the U.S. foreign policy and intelligence communities. Through the use of scenarios and alternative analyses—such as those in the CGA Scenarios Initiative—policy makers, he believes, are better able to gain an understanding of a problem, its logic, and alternate ideas. For more than six years, Oppenheimer has taught CGA courses relating to U.S. foreign policy and national security, internal conflict, and international political economy within the M.S. in Global Affairs program.
     The first of the Carnegie-funded scenarios workshops is planned for fall 2009, with a focus on relations with China.
     “The Chinese challenge to American power will only be accelerated by the current financial crisis—in part because it was [the West’s] economic system that failed and in part because China is likely to maintain fairly robust growth and will further strengthen its economic dominance within Asia,” says Oppenheimer.
     Other planned workshops will cover Russia, Turkey, and Ukraine. For more information on the initiative, visit www.scps.nyu.edu/cga.