 All right, I think we can get started please take your seats and Nothing compares to fresh to brew coffee in the morning, right? Something awakening. All right, unless you have any immediate questions about Op-eds, which I believe you have an idea as to what it is all about and By the way, what may is please circulate this attendance and would you please put down two signatures? One for the first hour and the second for this hour and Your signatures will count and it will be counted by my assistant at the end of the semester and will constitute some 15-20% of your overall grade, so I want you all to attend and Indeed, maybe we should not be taking attendance but When I don't take attendance my students tell me to take attendance because they want their Attendance being present here Be counted because some students have the habit of not coming to class At least regularly and therefore those who come to class want to make a difference so I think it is better to take attendance to be on the safe side and and in some cases at the end of the semester some students complain for having lesser grade than they would be expecting and When we make a check and sort of a go over the Sort of numbers of hours he or she may have attended. We see that that particular student may have missed a lot of classes, so Therefore if you miss a class it will not be only a low number of attendance But also you will be missing discussions here, which in my opinion will be the best way to get prepared for the written exam so Me term exam for the final exam. I ask questions About subjects that of course are in the syllabus that we are supposed to cover and also discuss in the classroom, so All right, please take this we have enough number of seats here unlike the other office All right, so Now I'm going to talk about Simulation the other requirement and I mentioned a little bit the simulation is Actually something that is being now professionally and not only its schools, but also in some institutions government agencies government officials also go through simulations Because simulation is a way of getting prepared for all contingencies all possible scenarios and not in real Conditions in simulated conditions where you can control pretty much the circumstances especially these kind of simulations are carried out by Institutions as I said these could be some government agencies diplomatic offices, etc Before or ahead of time When there is a big conference where there will be issues That will be debated by and large with the participation of other actors other countries so in order to have an opinion as to what are the like the circumstances that may arise it may emerge and what kind of Measures that need to be taken beforehand so as to be ready for any possible Sort of developments and so is not to be facing some surprises not to be caught with surprises So therefore simulation is something serious And as I said last time on Tuesday, I myself have participated in a number of simulations, but one important an important one was Back in March 2001 almost 10 years ago on the occasion of a simulation Put together by NATO with respect to that was NATO Advanced Research Workshop in order to discuss different ways and means of Making the biological weapons convention more effective because it is lacking of a very verification mechanism It is still lacking and there are certain problems in front of Coming up with full-fledged verification mechanism and problems are mostly Political as well as economic and financial Anyway, so therefore simulation is something real something serious and something quite useful And it's being applied in many fashions in different institutions and there are also some Educational institutions such as universities which have specific departments which arrange organized simulations for instance just last May this year that was one of the biggest Conferences which is held every five year in five-year intervals the review review conference of the treaty on the non-proliferation of Nectar weapons I mean the the treaty which aims at stopping the spread of Nectar weapons and which is Signed six 1960 and entered into force in 1970 and from then onwards every five year There is this review conference and prior to the review conference some institutions as I said Go through this simulation process in order to see what are the likely Opinions or views or arguments that can be you know put forward by other Delegations and if and when such-and-such argument is raised or such-and-such proposal is made What kind of counter arguments or proposals to be placed? Before the other sort of delegations in order to protect the interests of Your country so this is something as I mentioned That is quite serious. Of course, we do not have such big ambitions and And this is not a course on simulation but because this is something which Based on my personal opinion observations I believe is you know way of better learning and also something that could be fun provided that you take it seriously and if you Fulfill the requirements of getting prepared for the simulation that will take place at the end of the semester We can do a really good job and we can enjoy as much as my Students in the previous semester as you will see in a moment from the pictures Have enjoyed So but again before showing some pictures from this simulation session. I just you know Sent to my own email account some six or seven of them I have dozens of pictures that I took myself during the simulation and I also have some recordings and Maybe we can have watched them in due course If you have time to do so or I can send you as attachments with these are big attachments by the way anyway, so Here is the point We are going to simulate what I call an emergency session Which will be called upon a number of countries in the Middle East. This is a course on Middle East security so of course not all of the Middle East countries because there are Approximately 30 or so countries in the Middle East and we do not have enough Number of students or time space for all of the countries and not all of them are that Significant in the deliberations, you know taking place Within the region and also outside of the region with respect to the security situation in the Middle East a number of countries from the Middle East plus of course Including Turkey Iran in Israel as non-Arab states and also a number of other countries who are influential on Of course the present-day past as well as future of the Middle East such as the United States Such was the case back in the Cold war years the Soviet Union now of course Russia the Russian Federation and the European Union Well, we might think of adding maybe China to the picture. Well We'll think about it. I don't think it would be that necessary and Russia and China in some respects show or display pretty much Similar attitudes, of course, there are differences, but they are not a sort of that stark difference that big differences between the two With respect to for instance the Iranian nuclear program or Arab-Israeli peace. So therefore in my opinion Russian sort of position might be necessary and sufficient so Let's open this Picture because this is one Maybe we can make it bigger for the whole screen. Well, you see Mr. Secretary General sitting here and this is room a 130 which I asked from the administration to put in a organized this kind of round table or Discussion I brought this flags myself and I borrow from a meter institution and I think I can still borrow at the end of the semester and In some of the pictures you will see some of our students have taken This simulation much more seriously Sorry, what is this? Where are we? Alright Sorry, I think each time Iranian delegation Can it be better? Well, these cars were temporarily remember I Told you last time on Tuesday during this March 2001 simulation the guy who Simulated the Iranian head of delegation was a major from Israeli Defense Force so and He I mean he performed brilliant and everybody sort of concurred upon This view that he was the master of simulation. He was he did a very good job. I believe They are doing this kind of simulation not only in Israel, but in many other institutions in Mitra institutions and quite frequently because The best way to think as to what is likely to come from your opponent or from your enemy is to put yourself In the shoes of your enemy and this is because there is this sort of Rather hostile relations between Israel and Iran I believe Israeli officers as well as Iranian officers do simulate each other's sort of country and to try to think in terms of the other side sort of Perspective and therefore this is important, but Our student has done a great job And not only by way of appearance as an Iranian delegation or delegate or representative, but his interventions I'm starting from his prepared statement, which was presented during the first session, but also In his intervention in the following session as a response to other sort of Propositions or arguments or accusations and also himself put Some proposals and I know from my sort of discussions from his consultations with me in my office with his of course delegation members team members he was sort of trying to Kind of develop some sort of a pact some sort of an alliance Against pretty much of course specifically Israel and the United States and he Discussed some proposal some issues with other delegations. So it was like a real life Situation from his perspective and everybody said I mean all of our students agreed that He performed the best All right, let's See this one some pictures for you Here you go Syrian delegation are Just look at him. He's trying to figure out as to what kind of proposal can I make here just Make life difficult and he's quite a serious diplomat taking notes and he's a she's a edit delegation here again Some others like She was from a farm not mistaken Universe of Santa Cruz United States an American student exchange student We have I think two or three of them in our class. I wish we had more and As you can see they she and her Ma'am team teammates were representing Iraq and they did a very good job all of them did a very good job because of the reason that I will explain the moment and And what you should do, of course is do a better job, which I believe we can She was also well Well, American Turkish origin, I guess if I'm not mistaken Simulating representing Turkey Yeah Palestine and she was real Palestinian. She wanted to represent Palestine She was if I'm not mistaken living in the United States as of Palestine Mahmoud a Palestinian origin and I thought it would be a good idea For a Palestinian to have the floor Well in it in a foreign country, I mean I would allow this but for the purpose of the simulation It is my suggestion and it is up to our exchange students to agree with me. You don't have to See this as as a condition, but I would prefer our exchange students as far as I can see we have three of them Yes, Amelia and what else? The two are missing as far as I can see right now to to represent Turkey so in this way you will have a chance to learn more about Turkey and to Take advantage of your rather short stay a short stay in getting to know Turkey better because In the previous simulation, we had three students again from the United States and They have done an excellent job. I mean they knew about Turkey's foreign policy and security sort of policies, etc. And much better than anybody, I mean who would sort of Know in the in the class. I mean they learned a lot in a very short time and I believe they benefited from this and because and this is something That can also be beneficial for our exchange students when they go back and apply for a job, especially He was also from the United States simulating Israeli head of delegation And the last one as I said I can send many more if you like Yeah, that was I guess the picture which we saw at the beginning. All right Let's have this on the screen to inspire you as much as they can This simulation session will be a one-shot game. I mean we will have only one day and Studying on Tuesday at 10 30 Well, two hours may not be sufficient and we may have any we may need an extension and we have this Lunchtime so we can extend into not all of your lunchtime, but to the extent it is necessary We can use this additional hour, but of course in order for the simulation to be sort of cared out Properly all of the delegations must be ready and must be up to the point and It is important. So how will you be getting prepared for it? As I said, you will not be yourselves. You will be somebody else simulation requires you to wear the suit of somebody else to put yourself in the shoes of somebody else to Not only think but also act like somebody else not yourself If you are going to simulate a country other than yours, which will be the case because as I said I would like my foreign students to exchange students to simulate Turkey. That will be a very good opportunity for them to learn more about Turkey and benefit from this short stay of theirs and Since you will be Simulating other countries unless you have any prior knowledge about these countries foreign policies Which is not something quite likely as far as I can see So you have to learn about these countries the country that you will be representing The foreign policies and security policy of these particular countries The first thing that you should do as I said now you have my email you receive my email and I Mean it is available everywhere anyway, and I will send you a list of countries and You will send me Three choices first second third choices of yours, and I will try to fill in this slot as I said like like Iran Iraq Syria Turkey US Etc. And there will be as far as I can see there are now 44 45 students and There will be I think 11 or so countries to be represented, and I think There will be three or four Slots positions for each country. So when you send me You know your email with three choices and I'd strongly recommend you to send me three choices Because I mean if you say I want to be a member of Syria and if all of the slots are filled Then I will have no other option but to put you in one of the Availables, but if you send me Syria Iran and US or US cetera Then I will check availability and put you in one of these Well, if you don't have any specific reason To be a member of any specific country I don't think you should be bothering as to which one you should take on because after all Whichever country you pick you will have to be someone different than who you are right now So therefore, I don't think it will matter some countries you might think Their job will be more difficult Well, it will be maybe more difficult if that will be an extended simulation which would extend On to I don't know two three or four days Some countries such as Iran such as Iraq US. I mean Influential countries or countries whose names have always been mentioned in respect to the Middle East security issues Then your job might have been more More difficult, but since there will be basically two rounds of discussions Maybe three or two and a half and in the first round there will be these prepared statements I mean each delegation will head of delegation and you will pick up Among yourselves as to who should be the head of delegation and by the way the head of delegation will be the person who will make the The first opening or prepare statement of the delegation and other delegation members will be expected to speak in the other Sessions, so therefore everyone will get the floor will have the floor and therefore it will not be Something where one person per delegation will be acting all members or each member of the of each delegation will be Performing which was the case in this simulation last spring And the prepare statements should be limited to not more than four or five minutes Considering that we have one full hour and eleven or so delegations and multiply this by four so you have only four to five or so minutes and Considering that there will be some intervention interventions by the secretary general who will be Acting a secretary and I don't know is there any volunteer? Is there any person who believes at this moment that? He or she will be Making a very good secretary general of the United Nations. Is there anyone among you who sort of runs for this position? All right, think about it So this four or five minute statement will have to be prepared in such a way that It should reflect it through the real Position of that particular country. It is not going to be your personal statement you as Bushra or Challah or Ennis or whomever else no You will be either. I don't know John or Alexievich or I don't know Mahmood or someone else so therefore These prepare statements will have to be prepared so are Of course the other statements will have to prepare according to the True positions of these countries of in mention you cannot just sit and write a statement about a Particular country you I mean you are not representing your own perspective about that country. You will be respect Sort of reflecting the true position of that country. This is something that you need to Understand very well as I said in the previous not last one not this one in the previous simulation because students were supposed to Simulate Israeli delegation were somehow If not afraid but did not want to go to the Israeli embassy for some reason for consultations and they just Refer to some secondary sources not even primary sources from the internet They their sort of statements were not necessarily reflecting the truth and therefore We had a lot of reason to if not smiles or loves but we had a lot of smiles during the session and They're great coming from that part was not that great, so For this purpose, I strongly recommend you to first of all, whenever you make up these teams to sort of somehow sit and Decide on who is going to do what? What I call burden sharing you will share the burden of getting prepared for this simulation because as I said it will not be the The head of delegation who will be sort of a speaking there and also he or she will be Sort of responsible for the performance of the team Each member I mean all of the members of the delegations will have to Perform that I can see that I should of course be in a position to Give a let's agree or great somehow so for this reason Contacting the embassies of the countries that you will be presenting is essential. It is essential Well, this is something that I strongly recommend But if for some reason you you don't go or you fail to go and contact these people or somehow You cannot establish contact because of the attitude of the embassy. Well This is this may be problematic but I can tell you so far that even the Israeli embassy which is pretty much close to such you know requests from coming from nowhere, but thanks to my sort of a Personal connection with many ambassadors and embassies here because they know us from different sort of circles here And I tell them That my students will come and visit and we'll ask for documents and also as well as opinions about This specific issue and the subject as I said will be determined. I will think about it I will give some more thoughts. I believe the subject that we simulated there, which was an emergency meeting called by the U.N. Secretary General upon the rumors that he heard or Upon the news that reflected the reflected media that there will be or that an attack was imminent on Iran Iranian nuclear facilities he took the floor and and took the initiative and Assemble a meeting where he thought the U.N. Secretary General Thought it would be necessary to discuss with the participation of the country's concern so I think the situation still not change and I think the same subject may be the subject of this Simulation as well. I'll think about it and I will let you know Most possibly next week. I mean we don't have to rush Maybe I can think of a better subject or if you have any suggestions and this is something that is also open to your contribution Feel free to suggest as to what should be the subject of simulation because we cannot have more than one Particular subject because we don't have time and it will be far too difficult for you to get prepared for all the contingencies so therefore For the purpose of all of the sessions, but primarily For the purpose of the written statement That will be presented by the heads of Delegations you need to do an intensive research this by Given the specific subject you will try to figure out as to what would be the Reaction of that particular country to the subject that will be discussed here but here comes a your sort of skills because most of these statements can be very well Fund or Somehow, you know assembled put together from various sources and in some cases Some embassies may very well give you a written document by means of which you can prepare this preliminary statement and There is nothing wrong with it so long as this something that serves you to learn things better fine It is not plagiarism. It is not cheating because this is after all something that you get from a source Which enables you to use it but second session will be after this opening remarks opening statements either the Secretary General of the United Nations or one of the Or more of the delegations They will be making some or putting on table some proposals or they may want The a Group of countries or the UN Secretary General himself or herself We don't know who's going to be the UN Secretary General Add to sort of issue a statement By means of which they may wish One or more countries to be accused of doing something or not doing something so therefore there will be such debates And during this session you will be pretty much on your own I mean you will have to be creative you will have to be reacting the way the real Diplomats of these countries would be reacting Well, it's not an easy thing even for diplomats. Trust me and in most cases diplomats before Reacting to a proposal they need they need to consult these sort of issues with their Headquarters meaning the their capitals and these consultations must be done in a very quick manner So it's not to lose the floor and give a quick reaction And if necessary, maybe come up with a counter proposal or something like that So therefore I will appreciate that your task will not be that easy But the better you perform here The better or more fun you will get out of this simulation and also of course better grades at the end Well this third hour if necessary we'll see that it will be necessary and in most cases I think will be in most likelihood it will it will be necessary and we'll try to cut it short so as not to sort of exhaust you more than necessary but This session again might be a session where some Proposals to wrap up a statement a final document if possible Which is not very likely in an environment like this where you have? Israel Iran United States Russia and some other countries But of course something that we cannot know in advance as to what will come out So simulation in this manner again will be something that you will have to be dealing with throughout the semester Again as I said on Tuesday and something that I need to repeat and maybe give you a more Sort of a specific information Once we make up the teams once the teams are fixed The first thing that I will ask from you is to Will be to get together I mean where do you meet here in the Mozart cafe or elsewhere in the cafe break your Or Ankuva wherever or in dormitory or in classes The first thing is to get together with all the team members and in some ways Well, it's gonna be a little bit of an extra burden for you It's in some ways It's going to be your job your task to have your all of your friends on board at all times so if one or more of the team members will just Be deserting you at all times will not be coming to meetings in Consultations or to my office. Of course, you shouldn't let me know in advance so that I mean I can take some measures maybe There is some Lack of communication, but I will not tolerate any team members to cheat or just to Treat others as if he or she doesn't have any responsibility each one of you will have equal amount of responsibility this is Therefore for sure and at the beginning you have to agree upon certain Terms certain conditions as to have to work together. So you will Share the burden and it is up to you as to how to decide on how to share the burden then the second thing I will ask you to Fix an appointment with me By way of sending me an email, of course to be replied by me and to be given a specific Appointment on a particular day and time in my office and each time unless Someone has really a serious situation for being absent serious reason for being absent I will expect all team members to be in my office at this particular time and I will do my best to meet with you every two weeks Maybe it would be better to meet with you every week, but I think that might be far too Much because I know some of you are taking more than five or six courses So I don't want to put any additional burden other than necessary. So and Every time you come to my office, we will be discussing How much you progress and whether there is any problem in communicating with the Embassies and by the way if you believe just by way of communicating the embassies that will be it. No, I Mean you will have to make research from various sources. Of course Internet is getting and every year a much better and more reliable source But you cannot rely on everything you find in the internet So therefore you have to be checking the velocity reliability of these sources during your discussion with the embassy people and also from other sources and by the way The sooner you contact the embassy is the better I know from our experience in the previous and last sort of simulation sessions that some embassy People were either reluctant or quite slow because of their other sort of responsibilities or maybe because there was a message, you know Which was lost in in all these sort of communications Which they were not notified on time. So it may be at the very last moment that you You know get to know these people and have Establish an appointment and it may be a little bit late So therefore the sooner you contact embassies and the sooner you make sure your messages has gone through and expect a Reply and if you don't get one you should be insisting and of course Going to the embassy is not just by way of calling or sending an email you go to embassies By making an appointment express yourselves Present yourselves as being students of Bill Kent University, which is a way which is actually a source of prestige a privilege Bill Kent students just like professors and the university cell is a very privileged Institution here so most embassies welcome Bill Kent students for any such request Again with respect to this research Maybe you should be sort of telling these guys from the embassies whom you will be contacting If not regularly, but at least one or two times then that this is going to be a serious Simulation and the better they or more they help the better will be the performance of their country and therefore Some embassies are really anxious and you know what last time the US Embassy people Ask from my students to send one of their real diplomats To take part in the simulation and my students from the American theme Ask for my permission. I said no because Because that would be quite an in-balance situation All of the other guys are students and there's one real diplomat sitting Sort of a team well, maybe next time we should think of inviting for each countries and Sort of a delegation member who might think how might take the floor at the very last moment to correct If any sort of mistakes that might be committed by these students, but anyway So this is going to be your work and the better and the more seriously you take it The better better you will perform and of course the much more fun that you will get out of it so is there any question before we close and and one last announcement because One of your friends ask is this the only time that we meet here? No, we are going to meet here till the end of the semester and this course will be taped till the end of the Semester and so that will be a way of checking whether you are attending by way of looking at the sort of a tape recorded Tape here Attendance must have been circulated All right right there. All right Please quiet any questions the last moment questions All right. Thank you for coming and I'll see you on Tuesday at 10 30 here