My political science class, International Security in a Changing World, had our big simulation last weekend. The majority of our class so far has been preparing to for a two day simulation of the United Nations where we discuss the interim agreement between Iran and the United States and a possible resolution for a long term agreement to lift sanctions and require greater oversight to Iran's nuclear energy program.
I represented the Ministry of Foreign of Affairs of Russia. There were five other Russian delegates. The simulation was somewhat similar to the Model United Nations I did in high school. Our goal was to accurately represent our country and its interests and pursue diplomatic options with other countries.
The simulation was exhausting but extremely fun. I was very nervous about the simulation because the people running it, the secretary, the heads of state, and other students are very impressive people. The person representing my Head of State, President Putin, was a former Ambassador who had been a part of every major arms treaty negotiation from 1970 to 1997. There were former international lawyers and distinguished academics. Many of the students are graduate students or honors students in political science or international relations. So I was intimated.
Once we got into the swing of things I found a role for myself. I took diligent notes and advised my Head of Delegation and Legal Advisor on where we stood on certain issues and how we should vote. I took part in meetings with other delegations that involved intense negotiations. The highlight, though, was giving a speech all of the delegations and heads of state that concluded with Joseph Stalin's quote, "A sincere diplomat is like dry water or wooden iron." Russia was recognized later as being the delegation with the most memorable quote.
In the end, we came to long term agreement with Iran. Iran would allow greater transparency to its nuclear energy program in exchanged for a gradual release of sanctions over 1.5 years. If both sides lived up to their promises, by the end of fours years Iran would be fully integrated into the international community with its full rights restored as a member of the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty. In addition, Russia signed a multilateral trade agreement with Iran and China so that Iran's oil would travel through Russia's pipeline and Russia and China would receive other economic benefits.
I was there 9-5 on both Friday and Saturday. Now I have a paper to write about how the simulation went. yay....
It was an amazing experience though and I have learned so much about Iran and nuclear energy and the threat of nuclear weapons state.
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