RED HORIZON
Force and Diplomacy in Eurasia
the Immersive Executive Education Program
on the Harvard University campus
Our world is an increasingly complex and dangerous place. It needs real leaders to keep it safe.
Transform the way you think about international security. Step outside your daily routine and practice advanced negotiation and decision-making skills in a realistic international crisis scenario.
RED HORIZON: Force and Diplomacy in Eurasia is an immersive Executive Education Program.
4
TEAMS
70
NEGOTIATORS
452
MILITARY UNITS
An intensely
immersive scenario...
Chaos on the Korean peninsula. The Kim dynasty has collapsed. Chinese military forces have moved in to “restore order.”
The incursion stuns the United States and her allies. North Korean generals in command of nuclear forces are rumored to be defecting. To whom? Intelligence is unreliable.
Tensions are rising in Europe, too. The U.S. has deployed next-generation missile defenses to Poland. To “defend Arctic shipping,” NATO prepares the largest maritime maneuver since the Cold War. In response, the Russian Northern Fleet moves to high alert.
...based on urgent geopolitical challenges.
Decision makers today must operate in a rapidly changing geopolitical environment.
The possibility of great power conflict has reemerged as a serious threat. International competition is intensifying across the political, economic, and informational spheres. At the same time, new technologies have allowed non-state actors to influence global conflict in novel ways.
These trends have challenged traditional instruments of statecraft, creating new opportunities for cooperation, but increasing the risk of conflict.
Through the RED HORIZON experience, you will uncover the hidden drivers of geopolitics, and acquire tools you need to tackle the world’s toughest problems.
"One of the most powerful decision-making exercises I have ever participated in."
— Career U.S. Naval Officer
Negotiate with the best.
RED HORIZON provides seasoned and emerging leaders from national security, academia, and industry with a unique training space to push their negotiation and decision-making skills to the next level.
You will be assigned to a team (U.S., China, Russia, or NATO) and receive a confidential briefing that outlines your objectives. Your realistic actor profile is created from data-driven research, informed by political trends across the Eurasian sphere and the Indo-Pacific.
You conclude the crisis exercise with a scenario debrief led by negotiation experts.
“ A must for those wanting to understand the real-world pressures of policy-making.”
— Civil Servant, UK Ministry of Defence
Sharpen advanced
negotiation
skills.
1
Defuse dangerous cognitive traps that threaten you and your team.
2
Align powerful stakeholders across hierarchies, organizational cultures, and political systems.
3
Emerge as a leader who can turn chaos to their advantage.
“An irreplaceable experience that sharpened my negotiation and decision-making skills and improved my situational analysis.”
– Ambassador-at-large, Lithuania
3D Methodology
Our advanced simulation methodology obviates the need for a control cell and expands the boundaries of what is possible in immersive training.
DEEP
A complex scenario that captures the unpredictability of true crises of statecraft.
DYNAMIC
An unparalleled, fully immersive learning environment that evolves alongside your team’s decisions.
DECENTRALIZED
An innovative simulation structure that turns control over to you.
“I strongly recommend this weekend for mid-career or senior foreign policy practitioners involved in military, intelligence and diplomatic work."
— a serving British diplomat
Our Story
Red Horizon was created by the Negotiation Task Force, a scholar-entrepreneurial organization dedicated to the study of negotiation system effects.
From 2019-2023, the NTF was based at the Davis Center for Russian and Eurasian Studies at Harvard University.
Following the NTF's transition out of the Davis Center, Red Horizon remains available as an Executive Education program offered on-site on the Harvard University campus.
Our Advisors
Brian Mandell
Mohamed Kamal Senior Lecturer in Negotiation and Public Policy at Harvard Kennedy School
Kelly O'Neill
Director of the Imperiia Project at the Davis Center for Russian and Eurasian Studies at Harvard University
Kevin Ryan
Brigadier General
(U.S. Army retired)
Timothy Colton
Morris and Anna Feldberg Professor of Government and Russian Studies at Harvard University
Arvid Bell
Lecturer on Government at Harvard University
Alexander Bollfrass
Senior Researcher at ETH Zürich's Center for Security Studies
RED HORIZON: Force & Diplomacy in Eurasia
An Immersive Executive Education Program
Red Horizon is no longer available for individual enrollment.
If you are representing an organization that would like to request an iteration of the Red Horizon Executive Education program for your team, please contact us.
Frequently Asked Questions
Who created Red Horizon?
Red Horizon was created by the Negotiation Task Force (NTF), a scholar-entrepreneurial organization previously based at the Davis Center for Russian and Eurasian Studies at Harvard University.
Is Red Horizon still an Executive Education program run through Harvard University?
Yes, Red Horizon is still available as an on-campus program. However, unlike in the past, it is no longer possible to purchase tickets for individual admission. Instead, organizational clients may request a program iteration for groups of participants.
When does the event take place?
There are currently no program iterations planned.
Previous iterations of Red Horizon took place on the following dates:
Red Horizon 2018, November 30 - December 2
Red Horizon 2019, December 13 - 15
Red Horizon 2020, December 4 - 6
Red Horizon 2021, December 10-12
Red Horizon 2022, December 9-11
What is included in the Red Horizon program?
The three 3-day immersive workshop (Friday-Sunday) features lectures from renowned experts from a variety of fields, including security, diplomacy, negotiation, and international relations, and small-group discussions with these expert speakers and fellow participants.
During Saturday’s full-day intensive crisis exercise, participants are fully immersed in the exercise’s universe, which is facilitated by trained specialists.
The weekend offers multiple opportunities to interact with fellow participants, experts, and practitioners, including a comprehensive negotiation debrief facilitated by negotiation experts. Participants receive catered meals throughout the weekend.
Participants are responsible for their own travel and accommodation. Attendance on all three days is mandatory.