Claw and Order: Lobster War, 1961 LOBSTERS

The year is 1961. The Cold War is at its peak, nuclear arsenals are growing stronger by the day, but the fate of the free world might hinge on one question: Does a lobster crawl or swim?

When French fishermen began quietly plying their trade in waters off the coast of Brazil’s Northeastern region, it might have seemed like a trivial conflict, unlikely to escalate into an international incident. How wrong were those preconceptions, for they didn’t consider the patriotic fervor of the Brazilian populace. Brazil has scrambled its aircraft carrier (urging France to do the same), politicians in Paraíba introduced legislation that would grant all living lobsters Brazilian citizenship and someone–really we don’t know who said this–muttered that “”Brazil is not a serious country””, getting caught on a hot mic. At its core, the dispute over lobsters is a question of maritime law and Cold War sovereignty, but it is also absurd enough that nobody involved can quite decide whether they should laugh or wage an all out attack.

In this continuous crisis committee, delegates will step into the shoes of the Brazilian cabinet, figures prominent in Brazilian culture, and French diplomats all tasked with figuring out how to handle a crisis that keeps escalating and getting worse. Delegates will be forced to respond quickly to provocation from both sides of the Atlantic, domestic unrest, and the inevitable meddling of Washington and Moscow (who want to join in on the lobster fun). Who owns the ocean, and what will you be willing to risk establish control?

They say that history is written by the victors; this time, it might be written by whoever has the greatest knowledge of lobster biology.