Crisis Simulation: India

Thanks to you guys for a great weekend. I thought each of you performed extremely well- Stephanie and I had a tough time figuring out awards for our committee. Despite losing to Pakistan, I think India still did a great job. I hope you guys had a lot of fun and learned a lot in committee. Crisis may be a lot different, but we still align with the goals of BMUN and strive to put on the best committees ever.

For those of you that are graduating seniors, good luck with your senior year and with college admissions. Maybe I’ll see some of you here at Berkeley! For everyone else, I hope I will see you next year!

You are all free to e-mail me if you want to chit-chat about Berkeley, BMUN, Crisis, or anything else. My e-mail (if you forgot) is bhuang419(at)berkeley.edu. Stephanie’s is stephperez88(at)berkeley.edu.

Here are the awards if you missed them yesterday (our cabinet only):

-Commendation: Minister of External Affairs

-Outstanding: Minister of Information and Broadcasting; Prime Minister

-Gavel: Cabinet Committee on Security

Until BMUN 57!

-Brian

First, it has been brought to my attention that a different format was specified on the topic synopses. Don’t worry, you won’t be penalized if you followed this format, but posting on the blog was indeed mandatory. Since few of you submitted your papers in time for research awards anyways, this will not have a huge impact on your overall evaluation in committee. The rubric is as follows:

National Background- 15 pts
National Objectives- 25 pts
Minister Background/Role- 15 pts
Issue Background- 25 pts

Also, there are three news updates for you. You are free to post comments- analysis, plan of action, general observations–this is pretty much your last chance to get the 10 points necessary for blog participation!

• Cancelled Cricket Match
• Kashmiri Goats at Risk
• Update on Taiwan Elections

Feel free to e-mail me at bhuang419(at)berkeley.edu. This is the last post before the conference. Can’t wait to meet you all on Friday!

Today is March 10th, and we are just about 4 days from the start of BMUN 56. Sorry for the lack of updates in the past few weeks, it’s been pretty hectic with schoolwork and the approach of BMUN getting in the way of blogging. However, I have a few quick updates for you all, mostly logistical.

First off, reality cut-off has set in, and everything after March 1 will not be relevant to our discussion. Basically you can stop reading the news and prepare for conference by knowing everything there is to know BEFORE March 1, 2008.

Next- Position papers were due on March 1, which was about 10 days ago. Those of you who requested an extension got one. So far, I have the papers from the following ministers:

Director of CBI, Prime Minister, Minister of External Affairs, Minister of Home Affairs, National Security Advisor, Minister of Human Resource Development, Minister of Commerce and Industry, Minister of Information and Broadcasting

I sort of expected more, but 8 is a good number. If I’ve somehow made a mistake and your name is not up there when you think it should be, please e-mail me immediately and attach your paper. I will give you the benefit of the doubt. You will be getting your papers back either on Friday or Saturday of the conference. I’ve written extensive comments on every paper, but if you have any questions you may ask.

The grading scale is as follows:

• 10 points: Formatting and citation
• 10 points: Blog participation
• 5 points: Minister background/history
• 10 points: Ministry department background/history
• 20 points each: Foreign and Domestic affairs
• 25 points: Solutions

That adds up to a grand total of 100 points.

That’s pretty much it. In the next few days I will be posting some “articles” to share with you, as they will be relevant to the conference. You will have a chance to comment on these articles if you haven’t yet posted…remember thats a full 10 points of your research. These articles are created by us,  as we have officially taken a break from reality and we are in crisis world now.

Please e-mail me with questions, logistical, topical, or otherwise. My e-mail is bhuang419(at)berkeley.edu

Looking forward to seeing you all this weekend!!

A reminder to you all:

Position papers are due this Saturday, March 1. Thank goodness for leap years. You must turn it in by then to be considered for any type of award. I will grant extensions if you e-mail me by today (Thursday). You are completely welcome to e-mail them to me, seeing as this is a small committee and I can actually manage the paper costs. In fact, I implore you to e-mail them because I want to grade them sooner than later. If you snail mail it, it will take a few days to get to me, and there’s always the chance of papers getting lost in the shuffle.  So far, I have 4 papers (Minister of Commerce/Industry, Minister of Home Affairs, Director of Central Bureau of Intelligence, National Security Advisor).

My e-mail is bhuang419(at)berkeley.edu. I will respond pretty quickly so feel free to ask questions. Eric is also holding office hours tomorrow from 6:00-7:00 PM on the AIM screenname “bmuncrisisoh”, if you need some more help. Good luck!

The conference is a little more than 2 weeks away…I’m pretty excited for what will be an amazing weekend. I hope you are too.

First of all, I want to tell everyone who is reading this that you are doing a great job of making this blog popular and useful. Your comments have clearly demonstrated an interest in the committee and the topics pertinent to the issues. I’m glad that people are commenting and really digging into the issues that I present. This will only make our time in March more exciting and more productive. Believe me when I say this–the rest of the BMUN chairs are pretty jealous that this blog gets so many comments. Keep it up!

Also, I want to encourage delegates to e-mail me if they have any questions. A lot of you have already e-mailed me asking logistical questions and/or suggesting articles to post up on the blog. I know a lot of you are first-timers at crisis, so I really want you to ask questions so we can be best prepared to jump right in during the conference in March. That being said, I am almost always on gmail (unless I’m in class or out), so I usually respond very quickly. So don’t be afraid to e-mail me if you have questions, I know you do because the logistical parts of crisis are very new to the first-time delegate.

If you want to chat with our head chair, Eric Ching, he will be holding online office hours on AIM. Office hours are meant for you to get some one-on-one time with the chair and to get any questions you have answered quickly. He will be holding office hours on Tuesday and Thursday this week from 6 PM to 7 PM on the screenname “bmuncrisisoh”. Feel free to IM him during this time if you want to talk to him.

Finally, a few links for you with limited commentary, because this post is already too long for my tastes.

• Pakistan decided to block YouTube, saying that there was content that was offensive to Islam. While not completely relevant, it still raises a debate about whether a government has the right to do this. Also, consider the religious motivations behind this action. The religion issue might be something you have to deal with both internally and externally.
• Thanks to one of our delegates, National Security Advisor M K Naranyan for submitting this article. It’s an opinion article on the effect of what has been happening in Pakistan. A good read.
• Finally, another opinion article on what the recently negotiated Pakistani coalition might offer. This doesn’t relate to India directly, but it’s always good to think about what effects on India certain events might have. This is one of those events.

As usual, feel free to e-mail me at bhuang419(at)berkeley.edu.

We are less than a month away from the conference. Things are beginning to take shape, in both the real world and in our own crisis world. I hope you’ve been paying attention to the news in South Asia, as the election results are all over the place. Read about it here, here, and here.

To summarize briefly, the PPP (Pakistani People’s Party) “won” the elections by taking 87 of 272 parliamentary seats. For Musharraf, this hurts, and it looks like democracy might prevail in Pakistan. Be warned, however, that there are still strong forces in Pakistan, and the nation is nowhere close to stability.

Please comment below and discuss what you think about the results of these elections and the implications for India. Think, also, about things that might go wrong in terms of the relationship between Pakistan and India. After all, that is what Crisis about- worst case scenarios that we will be throwing at you.

We’ve had a lot of fun preparing for the conference as well. Now that the elections are over, we can brainstorm even further on how to challenge delegates in our committee. I want to remind you again that this is an advanced committee, and it does require a lot more than the typical MUN delegate. Critical thinking is an absolute must at this stage. Do not fret, however, as it will be a lot of fun.

Continue to e-mail me if you have any questions about the topic, or if you just want to chat (I’m down for that too). My e-mail is bhuang419(at)berkeley.edu.

More updates to come soon!

A more contemporary song for you: OK Go (one of my personal favorites). Now on to today’s news update.

If you are paying attention to the news, the big headline this week is the Pakistani Parliamentary elections. The elections were canceled the first time around because of Benazir Bhutto’s assassination. Elections are set for Monday, February 18th, 2008 (tomorrow). Here it goes again.

Much has been happening of late in Pakistan. A recent poll has shown Pervez Musharraf’s growing inpopularity. A suicide bomb went off at a meeting of the Pakistani People’s Party, killing 37. And there have been wide fears of vote rigging and more violence on election day. Need more? Find it here. Please read all of these articles, as they are *extremely* relevant.

Pakistan’s bid for democracy is on the line here, and this is sure to affect Indo-Pakistani relations. Keep an eye on the results tomorrow- there is wide fear of continued Musharraf rule and possible militant takeover. What’s at stake for Pakistan here? How will India respond? Is there still hope for Pakistan?
Continue posting your thoughts on this blog, as we approach conference timhe, this event will have huge ramifications on what we do then. As usual, feel free to e-mail me at bhuang419@berkeley.edu. Remember that papers are due in a little over two weeks. I’ve said this in a few e-mails to some delegates, but I will be accepting electronic copies of position papers. Any questions, you know where to find me.

Yes, this is an REM song. But the article that I found to share with you today is relevant. As you should know, India is multiethnic and multireligious. Hindu is a primary religion in the nation, but there are also a significant number of Christians and Muslims in the country as well. You can imagine that they might not get along together all the time. That’s pretty much all the background information you need. Please read the article and consider the questions below:

THE blackened shell of a burnt car lies in the yard of Radha Bai’s farm in this bucolic village of whitewashed houses and unhurried bullock carts in the central Indian state of Chhattisgarh. On January 16th, as she prayed with a large group of Christians, a mob of Hindu extremists arrived. They chased worshippers away, set fire to a car and ten motorcycles and, says Mrs Bai, threatened to cut her “into pieces”.

The entire article can be found on Economist.com here.

• What do you make of the religious disconnect among Hindus, Christians, and Muslims?
• Taking into account your minister’s background, how might you respond to this wave of violence?
• Think about these issues and how they might affect the government’s proceedings.

As usual, please email me at bhuang419@berkeley.edu if you have any questions. I’ve gotten some e-mails from some of you in the past week– please keep it up! I’m sure you have questions, so please don’t hesitate to ask. You can even ask a question in the comments and I will be happy to respond.

Also, the conference is just over a month away, so keep researching!

A fellow delegate forwarded this speech to me, and I decided to post it. It is the keynote address at the Asian Security Conference, made by the Indian Defence Minister:

Asia in the 21st Century will be a very different place than what it was in the past. For over 200 years, external powers played a dominant role in shaping Asia’s political, social, economic and cultural arenas. This situation has been undergoing significant changes for quite some time now.

Read the rest of the speech here.

In the speech, Mr Antony talks about economic growth, terrorism, nuclear weapons, and climate change- all issues that concern all of Asia, not just India. While this speech provides some information on India’s foreign policy, it is also essential to observe the rhetoric of foreign policy. If you examine the speech closely, very few concrete things were said. He basically glossed over many issues and did not really offer a true solution to the problems. He was simply posing them as questions. Think about this rhetoric when you come to committee in March. When you talk to Pakistan, China, and the world, what sort of presentation do you want to offer? How might some of this rhetoric be a benefit to you?

It’s important to keep note of this speech as a good example of how to deal with speaking on behalf of your country to the rest of the world. The way that India is represented through this person is significant to whoever is watching. Some of you may have to go through this during the conference, as press releases might not always be the best solution when a speech or public announcement is.

A very serious but somewhat amusing article (at least for me) for you to read. Take a look and think about it. It’s not completely relevant to our committee, but I still thought it was interesting. I’ll have more articles later in the day that actually deal directly with India.

WHEN two undersea cables were damaged, apparently by ships’ anchors, five miles north of Alexandria on January 30th, it seemed like a reminder of the fragility of the internet. The cables—one owned by FLAG Telecom, a subsidiary of India’s Reliance Group, the other (SEA-ME-WE 4) by a consortium of 16 telecoms firms—carry almost 90% of the data traffic that goes through the Suez canal. When the connections failed, they took with them almost all internet links between Europe and the Gulf and South Asia.

Read the entire story here