From June 26 to June 28, 2024, the University of South Carolina’s Rule of Law Collaborative (ROLC) delivered the Museum Heist simulation, which is named for the crime at the core of the scenario. The highly interactive, game-ified learning tool helps participants understand the scope, scale, and nature of corruption; comparative law; and the complexities of foreign assistance to justice systems in a learn-by-doing experience. Corruption is one of the most high-profile challenges faced by citizens, business, reformers, and government staff in nearly every discipline from health to law enforcement to war fighting. The U.S. government has made combating corruption a national security priority. This simulation is a highly interactive venue for ROLC to aid government staff to gain actionable insights into the “corruption conundrum.” Role-playing as police investigators, participants learn experientially about the challenges their in-country counterpart investigators, prosecutors, and judges work through daily. Participants described the training as a “great overview of anticorruption programming” and “one of the best trainings I’ve had.” Another participant stated that they would recommend the simulation to “new INL employees and employees who need Post perspective.”

After the investigation role-play, participants shift to a related role-play as members of an interagency project design team. Leveraging their own experience, participants shared agency expertise and perspectives and engaged a range of key programmatic and policy issues.  This learning event was held in Washington, D.C, under the auspices of the Justice Sector Training, Research and Coordination 3 Program (JUSTRAC 3), which is funded by U.S. Department of State’s Bureau of International Narcotics and Law Enforcement Affairs (INL).