Inside IS 402: Students Navigate High-Stakes Arctic Security Simulation

Students in this year’s IS 402 Global Security Governance seminar received a unique opportunity as faculty partnered with the Asia Pacific Foundation of Canada (APF) to explore global governance, regime complexity, and security studies, with a particular focus on the North Pacific and the High North. Engaging with these complex issues allowed students to bridge classroom learning with real-world policy challenges.

Under the guidance of associate professor Nicole Jackson, students gained valuable insight into contemporary policy issues, governance gaps, and jurisdictional complexities in the Arctic. Jackson was recently appointed to the Swedish Agency for Peace, Security and Development (Folke Bernadotte Academy) as a member of its 2025–2029 International Research Working Group on NATO. 

Departing from a traditional lecture-based format, Jackson designed IS 402 around a mix of individual and collaborative work. This approach underscored the challenges of coordinating rapid responses across multiple governing bodies while maintaining clear communication and presenting a unified, effective front under pressure. In Week 12, the course concluded with a capstone scenario that required “Canada-plus” responses to an undersea cable and GNSS disruption in the North Pacific near the Aleutian Islands.

Students Maiya Jehman Morancie and Valeria Santos Garcia entered the course expecting a rigorous academic examination of global security institutions. “What we did not anticipate was how deeply the course would reshape the way we think about security, governance, and our own roles as emerging policy thinkers,” they said. “Rather than presenting security as a fixed set of threats and responses, IS 402 challenged us to sit with uncertainty and develop the skills needed to act quickly, collaboratively, and strategically in complex policy environments.”

For organizers at the Asia Pacific Foundation, the collaboration with SFU demonstrated the value of integrating academic analysis with policy practice.

“The students approached hybrid threats with rigour, creativity, and a strong sense of responsibility—exactly the kind of talent Canada needs in an evolving security landscape,” said Dr. Hema Nadarajah, Program Manager for Southeast Asia (and Arctic expert) at the Asia Pacific Foundation of Canada. “Their insights underscore the importance of cultivating the next generation of Arctic and Indo-Pacific thinkers to strengthen Canada’s long-term strategic resilience.”

Erin Williams, Director of Programs at the Asia Pacific Foundation, also praised the performance of the university’s next generation of thinkers and do-ers. “The quality of the students in IS 402 was superb,” she said. “They were given a series of scenario-based challenges to practice consultation, critical thinking, and crisis communication, and to consider how those skills apply in real-world contexts. Each time, they rose to the occasion and performed exceptionally well.”

Read the reflection from Maiya Jehman Morancie and Valeria Santos Garcia to learn more.