Inquiry
2010 Security and Stability in South Asia
Inquiry 2009-10 | Security and Stability in South Asia
| Simulation Roles | Schedule | Simulation Questions
Committees
- Governance
- Security
- Economic Issues
- Resources
- Rights and Responsibilities
- Religion and Identity
- Kashmir
|
Columbia Prep • |
AFGHANISTAN | Lawrence Central High School • Tufts Mentor: Anna |
| St. Martin de Porres High School • Tufts Mentor: Meg | BANGLADESH |
Cristo Rey School • |
|
High School for Telecommunications • |
BJP |
Boston Latin High School • |
|
Stuyvesant High School • |
CHINA |
Brookline High School • |
|
High School for Telecommunications • |
EU |
Little Village High School • |
|
Boston Latin High School • |
INDIA |
Pace Academy • |
|
Medford High School • |
IRAN | Medford High School • Tufts Mentors: Kahran, Lauren M |
|
Columbia Prep • |
JKLF |
El Puente Academy • |
|
Packer Collegiate School • |
LASHKAR-E-TAIBA |
High School for Telecommunications • |
|
Boston Latin High School • |
NGO CONSORTIUM | |
|
Broad Ripple High School • |
NORTHERN ALLIANCE |
Banana Kelly High School • |
|
Philips Exeter Academy • |
PAKISTAN |
Dover-Sherborn High School • |
|
Dover-Sherborn High School • |
PAKISTANI MILITARY/ISI |
Pace Academy • |
|
Philips Exeter Academy • |
TALIBAN |
Columbia Prep • |
|
Dover-Sherborn High School • |
UNITED STATES |
Dover-Sherborn High School • |
|
Pace Academy • |
WORLD BANK (DONOR CONSORTIUM) |
High School for Telecommunications • |
Inquiry 2009-10 Schedule
September 8 - Classes begin at Tufts University
September 14 - Information Session for Inquiry Teaching Group
September 15 - EPIIC has selected its 2009-10 class
September 18 - Day by which schools will let the IGL know if they are participating in Inquiry; for local schools, also send times when Inquiry will be meeting your school
September 21 - Inquiry Readers and/or Cd-Roms sent to high schools
September 30 - Conference call for teachers about 2009-10 Inquiry
October 1 - EPIIC first exam
October 2-4 - EPIIC Weekend Immersion in New Hampshire
October 6 - Tufts students assigned to schools as mentors
October 7-9 - Initial email contact between Tufts students and teachers
October 14-21 - Interaction between Tufts students and high school students, either via visit or email (as determined by location) -- teachers and Tufts students should also work out a schedule for interaction, which the Tufts students will give to Heather
November 23 - Roles and Committees announced and distributed
December 7 - Briefing Paper questions distributed
December 9 - Conference call for teachers about roles, committees, briefing papers
December 11 - Classes end for fall semester at Tufts University
December 15 - Final Exams begin for Tufts students
December 22 - EPIIC Final Exam/Last day of exams at Tufts University
December 23 - Winter Intersession begins at Tufts
IGL Staff is in the office during intersession break
January 21 - Classes begin
February 18-21 - EPIIC Symposium
March 1 - Briefing Papers due at IGL (via email to heather.barry@tufts.edu)
March 5 - All briefing papers available on-line
March 8 - Simulation questions distributed
March 9 - Conference call for teachers about the simulation
March 20-28 - Tufts Spring Break
April 8-10 - Inquiry Simulation
Security and Stability in South Asia
Dear Participants,
All of the South Asian states – Afghanistan, Pakistan, India, Bangladesh, Nepal, and Sri Lanka – are contending with momentous changes, both internally and globally. The region is home to three of the world’s ten most populated countries, two of the world’s nine nuclear weapons states, and the world’s most corrupt country for five of the last eight years. Political instability, economic instability, poverty, natural disasters, and religious, ethnic and cultural clashes are abundant. It is at once one of the world's most dangerous and most promising of areas.
As we prepare to gather in April, current headlines and reports make the need for our conference all the more necessary.
• Pakistan – Still reeling from an upsurge in bombings in the last few weeks, this week the Pakistani Supreme Court struck down a controversial amnesty that had dismissed corruption allegations against thousands of Pakistan’s politicians, including President Asif Ali Zardari, which is likely to further weaken the civilian government.
• Afghanistan – President Hamid Karzai of Afghanistan stated, at a palace news conference with US Secretary of Defense Robert Gates, that the Afghans would not be able to pay for their own security forces until 2024. There are also allegations that the No. 2 United Nations official in the country, American Peter W. Galbraith, proposed enlisting the White House in a plan to replace the current Afghan president, according to two senior United Nations officials.
• India – India’s governing Congress Party faced an angry backlash this week against the possibility of dividing one of the country’s largest states, Andhra Pradesh, with opponents staging protests in southern India even as advocates for creating other new states began agitating elsewhere in the country.
• Kashmir – India’s top investigative agency said Monday that two young Kashmiri women whose deaths ignited violent protests in this disputed province over the summer were not raped or murdered, but drowned in a mountain stream, in the latest and perhaps most stunning turn in a deeply contentious case.
In the context of these issues, the delegates will be asked to participate in committee discussions on: Governance, Security, Economic Issues, Resources, Rights and Responsibilities, Religion and Identity, and Kashmir.
In preparation for the upcoming conference, each of the delegations is asked to submit a briefing paper to the conference organizers by March 1, 2010.
Please use the format below.
The briefing paper should provide concise information (bullet format where appropriate) on your country or organization in relation to the issues below.
The briefing papers will be posted on the web site for all other delegations to read on March 10 – please email the briefing papers to heather.barry@tufts.edu.
____________________________
Briefing Paper Components:
A. Introduction (this should be only one paragraph, how you want to present your delegation to the conference)
B. Key Points (please cite the 7 most important and pressing issues for your delegation in the context of security and stability in South Asia – bullet point format)
C. Background of your country or organization (3 pages)
D. Issues (3 pages or less for each committee)
• Committee on Governance
-- Please provide an overview of the government in your country (or for organizations, the region), including, how the government is chosen, who participates in government, what are the major groups within the country (eg ethnic, religious); who has influence and why; the country’s rank on Transparency International’s Index; whether corruption impacts either politics or economics; and past and current civil-military relations
• Committee on Security
-- Please provide an overview of the security situation in your country (or for organizations, the region), including who is responsible for the internal and external security of the country, civil-military relations, insurgencies and other civil conflicts, illicit trade, the impact and extent of drug trafficking, the pervasiveness of crime, your position on nuclear weapons in South Asia and their security, the impact of refugees
• Committee on Economic Challenges
-- Please provide an overview of your country’s current economic situation and your economic policies (or for organizations, the region), including regional trade cooperation, development and how reliant your are on development assistance, how much aid the country receives and from what donors, the role of remittances for your economy or organization, the levels of unemployment and the types of employment available in the country, education levels and the accessibility of education; what economic or development innovations are happening in your country
• Committee on Resources
-- Please provide an overview of the resources in your country, including water and land; what are your energy sources, who are they available to; how available is clean water and running water in your country; what impact is climate change having or likely to have on your country; how dependent is your country on agriculture; does your population have food security; is your population primarily urban or rural
• Committee on Rights and Responsibilities
-- Please provide an overview of your country’s current policies on human rights, civil rights, women’s rights, and economic and social rights (or for organizations, the region); what percentage of your population lives in poverty and how is this poverty being addressed; what is the health care situation in your country, including access, cost and standard; what is the state of education in your country, including access and standard; does your country have a free press, if not, what are the restrictions; can people freely protest the government or policies in your country; is there free speech; are there social movements in your country, what are they advocating for; do indigenous people have a voice in civil society
• Committee on Religion and Identity
-- Please provide an overview of the role historical memory plays in the region in understanding your country and organization; what is that historical memory; how does it impact issues today; what is the role of religion in your country; what is the role of religious extremism; would you say your country or group has a national or organizational identity; what is your view on the role of religion in South Asia; what role does religion play with regard to maintaining the status quo or agitating for change in the country
• Committee on Kashmir
-- Please provide an overview of your position on the question of the future of Kashmir, of what you consider to be the most important factors in considering the future of Kashmir, of your involvement in the Kashmir issue to date, of your alliances on this issue, and of whether or not you think solving the Kashmir issue impacts security and stability in South Asia; what role do resources play in your position in Kashmir
• Cite Five Issues your Country or Organization would like addressed at the conference in order of importance (bullet format)
they will be posted by March 10
Download briefing paper questions