Five Knox College students attended the International Model Arab League, held in November at American University in Cairo. The students were Zachary Stephenson, a junior from Minnesota; Michael Boettcher, a senior from Minnesota; Musaad Al Dosari, a sophomore from Cedar Rapids, Iowa; Katrin Masharqa, a junior from Ramallah, Israel; and Hassan Massoud, a junior from Chicago.

The students were accompanied by Roy Andersen, Timme Professor of Economics and a Middle East expert on the Knox faculty.

"After the first day, the students almost invariably got into their roles, mimicking what you would find at an international organization, involving themselves in negotiations, preparing resolutions," Andersen said.

At Knox, participation in Model Arab League and Model United Nations is a student-led co-curricular activity. Students aren't coached by faculty -- they are responsible for prepping themselves. The Knox students "knew they were going to be speaking and debating, so they prepared for it," Andersen said. "They were all at ease speaking in public."

Stephenson and Boettcher are majoring in political science, while Masharqa is majoring in gender and women's studies, and Massoud and Al Dosari are majoring in economics.

The simulation featured 12-hour days and non-stop wrangling over tough issues like sharing scarce water resources. "You start with proposals that often are contentious, and you have to craft a compromise resolution that's acceptable to everybody," Andersen said. "You get a sense of how far a country can go, with its national and international policies."

"The Arab League requires unanimity on some issues, so they're not going to approve a lot of strong, unambiguous resolutions. But that doesn't mean they're not getting anything done. The role of international deliberative bodies is to get people together and talk."

Following the conference, the students planned to travel on their own in Europe and the Middle East, before returning to campus for the start of winter term classes on January 3.

Knox Model UN Club

Knox students at 2004 Model UN