simulation-exercise-gaza

You

have been invited to participate in a meeting called by the United

Nations for UN Security Council member states to engage in a strategic

assessment of the ongoing conflict and humanitarian crisis in Gaza,

which continues to threaten regional and international stability. Please

begin by identifying the UN Security Council member state you

represent, as well as your country’s position, interests, needs, and

values with respect to the Israeli/Palestinian conflict. Countries will

be selected on a first come first serve basis with no duplication. Your introduction should be made by Tuesday of Week 5.

********PLEASE SEE ATTACHED “MY INITIAL POST”********

Once you have introduced yourselves, the tasks facing the simulation

participants is to assess the situation in Gaza and to discuss a

potential UN Peacekeeping Operation. As representatives of UN Security

Council member states, each student should complete the following steps

(in this order):

1. conduct a system-wide analysis of the situation, assessing the overall security of Gaza:

a. political issues,

b. humanitarian (life saving) needs,

c. human rights violations, and

d. the military situation.

2. propose a conflict resolution and peace-building intervention, describing

a. who will actually provide the intervention,

b. what its goals will be, and

c. how to best deal with the situation on the ground; and

3. identify strategies for obtaining the consent of the parties.

For ease of reference, I recommend posting this work in bulleted or outline form rather than in paragraph form. These three tasks should be completed and posted to the Forum no later than midnight on Friday. At

a minimum, students should prepare for the simulation by researching

recent developments in Gaza through the UN website, the U.S. Dept. of

State Background Notes, The World News Network, Associated Press, or

Reuters.

Once participants’ ideas are on the table, they are expected to debate

the merits and build consensus on the proposed interventions, by

identifying the recommendations made by other participants that they can

live with or cannot live with and by fine-tuning or re-defining

recommendations on the table so they are palatable to everyone involved.

This is a fast moving and time consuming assignment, so begin early in

the week. Students will have until midnight on Sunday of Week 5 to

try to come to an agreement on the best course of action for a UN

intervention.

In week 6, students will complete a 3-5 page paper sharing their

reflections on the simulation experience and describing the benefits and

limitations of UN interventions. Students must support the analysis in

their paper with research from academic and other credible sources. The

paper should include:

1. An introduction that explains the purpose of the paper and the importance of the topic;

2. A discussion of the strategic assessment process and its role in a successful intervention;

3. A discussion of planning considerations in peacekeeping operations;

4. A discussion of the benefits and limitations of UN interventions; and

5. A summation that draws general conclusions about the topic and the simulation experience.

****PLEASE SEE ATTACHED FOR CLASSMATES POSTS*****