Students throughout Southeast to Debate Arab Issues at Converse College
While the rest of the country has been glued to the television screen with “March Madness,” college students throughout the Southeast have been preparing to engage in their own March Madness of exciting and intense competition at the 14th Annual Southeast Model League of Arab States. Twenty-two delegations from sixteen colleges throughout the Southeast will compete at Converse College on March 22-24.
The Model League debate falls just before the Arab League summit in Beirut, Labanon on March 27. Many issues on the Arab League agenda will also be debated by students at this weekend’s Model League. The primary focus for the Arab League agenda will be the peace initiative of Saudi Arabia’s Prince Abdullah, which will also be an underlying theme for the Model League student debate.
Dr. John Duke Anthony, founding President and Chief Executive Officer of the National Council on U.S.-Arab Relations, will give the keynote address at the Model League opening session on Friday, March 22. For the past 25 years, Dr. Anthony has been a consultant and regular lecturer on the Arabian Peninsula and the Gulf for the Departments of Defense and State. He is the only American to have served as an international observer in each of the parliamentary elections in Yemen and the only non-Arab to have been invited to each of the Gulf Cooperation Council’s Heads of State Summits since its inception in 1981 (The GCC is comprised of Bahrain, Kuwait, Qatar, Oman, Saudi Arabia, and the United Arab Emirates).
Three colleges from the Southeast Model will proceed to the national competition in Washington, DC in April: Barry University, Kennesaw State University, and Converse College. Last year, these three schools garnered three of the five awards at the national competition.
Students in the Model Arab League intensively research specific Middle Eastern states and prepare to debate social, economic, and political issues with students from top universities such as Northeastern, Old Dominion, and the U.S. Air Force Academy. Each delegation brings resolutions to the competition, which are then debated, negotiated, and ultimately passed or rejected by the entire Model League. Delegates are judged based on their skill and knowledge about the states they represent. Following the national competition, the Model League submits new resolutions to actual Middle Eastern delegates.
Converse College members consider their participation as one of the best experiences of their college education. They are challenged on all levels and routinely excel at regional and national competitions.
### For more information, contact Beth Farmer, Director of Communications, at (864)596-9704 or beth.farmer@converse.edu or contact Dr. Joe Dunn, Charles A. Dana Professor and Chair of History and Politics, at (864) 596-9101 or joe.dunn@converse.edu.
Model League Committees and Agenda
Joint Defense Council
Addressing Collective Security Issues (Joint Training Exercises, Interoperability of Weapons Systems, and Weapons Procurement)
Establishing a Joint Defense Command Staff and Infrastructure
Formation of a Permanent Joint Deterrence Force for Peace-Keeping in the Arab Region
Council on Palestinian Affairs
Establishing Strategies for Implementing Existing U.N. Resolutions and Palestinian-Israeli Agreements
Defining Compensation for Losses, Reintegration, and Right of Return as Part of the Final Peace Agreements
Assisting in the Development of Infrastructure and the Economy in Palestine
Council of Arab Social Affairs Ministers
Rights of a Child and Child Labor
Addressing the Role of Women and Women’s Rights in the Arab World
Enhancing the International Image of Arabs
Council of Arab Ministers of the Interior
Collectivizing Efforts to Combat Organized Crime (Prostitution, Organ Selling, Slave Trading, etc.)
Coordinating