By Clive Chan
A terrorist group is threatening to overthrow the government of Turkmenistan. Their identities are unknown. What is known is that they wish to democratize the government in Turkmenistan.
Two French reporters are being held hostage and a UNICEF convoy is in danger.
The world is watching: how will NATO, one of the greatest military forces in the world respond?
On one hand, democratizing Turkmenistan would be good for future relations. However, movement in support for such an action would cause Russia to stir and cause international backlash.
What, if anything, should be done?
Does this sound like the latest political thriller from Tom Clancy?
Not quite: this scenario comes from the minds of the crisis committee in this year’s Model NATO conference.
“We essentially just take a look around the world and see what are potential hotspots and potential issues that could erupt,” says Roberta Abbott of the Crisis team. “Then we write stories.”
Abbott started the Canadian Model NATO conference three years ago after attending a similar event in Washington, D.C.
“While we were down there, we saw some things that could be improved upon and we thought, ‘Well, we can do this in Ottawa, we have embassies too.’”
The event, organized by Carleton University, draws more than 120 students from coast to coast.
For four days, the delegates put aside their personal beliefs and stick to the policies of their respective countries, both inside and outside the committee rooms.
Their goal? To learn the workings of NATO and its member states.
To help them with this task, organizers of the Model NATO arranged embassy events for all the delegates.
Each delegation was sent to their respective embassies here in Ottawa for a first-hand look at the inner workings of real diplomacy.
For some, this opportunity to learn from real world diplomats was worth the trip.
“It’s a very different perspective,” says Caroline Delany, project manager of the Model NATO.
“You really do learn first hand what Belgium or Poland’s positions are when you have somebody actually from Belgium or Poland telling you exactly what their positions are,” says Delaney.
She worked with government sources such as the Department of Foreign Affairs and International Trade and the Department of National Defence to give the conference a more realistic touch.
Sheeraz Awan, a member of the Norway delegation, is an undergraduate political science student at Carleton University.
“I learned that diplomacy and reaching consensus is very difficult,” says Awan.
“It’s a long process, but I also learned how to behave diplomatically.”
In the end, it was the delegation from the University of New Brunswick that took the top delegation prize this year for their role as the United Kingdom.
“We tend to take the contest very seriously,” says Lee Windsor, faculty advisor for the University of New Brunswick delegation, recounting the enormous amount of time spent on preparing for the role.
Delany says she is very happy with how well the delegates knew their roles in the international arena.
“There’s no better way to inform a whole group of Canadians on what NATO does than to use a model NATO like this,” she says.