WASHINGTON — The National Council on U.S.-Arab Relations has announced it Model Arab League program for 2008. Model Arab League is an educational activity similar to Model United Nations, but more limited and targeted in its focus and scope. It deals solely with the 22 Arab countries, not the 192 member-countries in the United Nations. Organized into five to ten-person delegations, student participants engage in debate and discussion with the goal of effectively representing a given country’s foreign policy objectives in competition with students representing other Arab countries. By grappling with the foreign affairs challenges and opportunities of real-life Arab diplomats and foreign affairs practitioners, the participants are required to put themselves in the foreign policy shoes of someone from a country other than their own. The student delegates are required to learn their adopted Arab country’s modern history, culture, society, economics, national politics, and public policy positions on the most pressing issues confronting Arab governments. In Model Arab League students engage in the give and take of spirited discussion, debate, resolution-writing, and coalition-building aimed at persuading other delegations to support their positions. In the process, they acquire a range of skills that will be useful no matter what field they enter. Among the skills students learn and practice are critical thinking, chairing meetings, deciding agendas, time management, parliamentary procedure, and oral and writing skills within tight deadlines. At the conclusion of every Model awards are given to the students and delegations that were most outstanding in representing their given country’s objectives and views. Model Arab League student and faculty participants are given preferential inclusion in other National Council Study Abroad Programs (for students) and the Malone Fellowship Program (for faculty). All in all, the experience of preparing for and participating in a Model Arab League conference enables students to learn about the Arab world and its peoples in a more effective way than is possible through academic courses, lectures, films, videos, briefings, blogs, or the Internet. Students who participate in the Models find very quickly that, whatever self doubts they may have had before, they rapidly develop valuable skills in diplomacy, negotiation, analysis, argumentation, and research as well as writing and public speaking. For university faculty and students, there are Model Arab League Conferences taking place  February 20 – 23, 2008 at Miami University in Oxford, OH; February 21 -23, 2008 at Grand Valley State University in Allendale, MI; February 28 – March 1, 2008 at Metro State College in Denver, CO; March 14 – 16, 2008 at Converse College in Spartanburg, SC; March 28 – 30, 2008, the National Model in Washington, DC; April 4 – 6, 2008 at Pomona College in Claremont, CA; April 10 – 12, 2008 at Texas Wesleyan University in Fort Worth, TX; April 10 – 12, 2008 at University of Montana in Missoula, MT; and November 2008 at Northeastern University in Boston, MA. For high school faculty and students, there are Model Arab League Conferences taking place January 24-25, 2008 at  Marist School in Atlanta, GA; February 23, 2008 at Regis University in Denver, CO; April 4-5, 2008 the National Model in Washington, DC; and dates to be announced at Northeastern University in Boston, MA and in Houston, TX. To become involved in Model Arab League, gather a group of interested students.  A minimum of five students are needed to represent a country. Most of the schools who currently participate in the Model Arab League Program have their delegations organized and led by a member of their faculty, but in numerous cases students have also organized and run successful Model Arab League teams. Potential Model Arab League participants can come from a wide range of backgrounds. Anyone interested in learning about the history, culture, religion, economics, or politics of the Middle East should be considered a candidate. Successful competitors are not exclusively found in political science or history programs. The program gladly welcomes people from all backgrounds and experience levels, and in fact finds great strength in having a rich diversity of participants. Secondly, registration is done with the National Council. Registration for Model Arab League is done through the National Council’s Model Arab League Web site, and a Program Coordinator from the Council will contact you shortly after your registration has been received. Part of the registration will include submitting your team’s preference for which of the 22 Arab League member nations you wish to represent. The final country assignments are made by the National Council. Thirdly, you must pay the registration fees and book any travel arrangements. The National Council collects a nominal participation fee to help offset the cost of running the Model Arab League Program. For the university models, participation fees are $60 per country assigned and $30 per student. For the high school models, participation fees are typically $30 per country assigned and $20 per student, though some high school models have a reduced fee structure. Participants need to make arrangements for the delegation to travel to the Model location. Often discounted hotel rooms are available adjacent to the conference facilities – simply check the Model Arab League Web site or contact the National Council for details. Groups must research the assigned country’s positions and practice using parliamentary procedures.  Before attending a Model Arab League conference, the delegation will want to research its assigned country’s views on the topics to be discussed. It is also helpful to run mock council sessions in order to become familiar with the rules of parliamentary procedure. Each conference will debate issues found in the Model Arab League Agenda, which can be found on the Model Arab League Web site. The Model Arab League Web site also contains links that can be helpful in starting the research. The website is www.ncusar.org/modelarableague. Finally, delegations attend the Model Arab League conference. The conferences begin with a Plenary Session, where delegates adopt a Provisional Agenda for the Model’s five councils. During Council Sessions delegates draft, debate, and vote on resolutions reflecting their countries’ positions. The resolutions that pass through the councils are presented at the Summit Session, a final meeting of all the delegates where resolutions either pass or fail a final review. Awards are given at the conclusion of the Summit Session to both outstanding individuals and delegations For more information emailMark@ncusar.org or call the National Council at 202.293.6466 and talk to Ms. Megan Geissler. The National Council on U.S.-Arab Relations is an American non-profit, non-governmental, educational organization dedicated to improving American knowledge and understanding of the Arab world. Visit the National Council online at www.ncusar.org.