Six students from Brigham Young University participated in the fifth West Coast Model European Union at the European Union Center of Excellence, Jackson School of International Studies, University of Washington in Seattle.
The Model EU is a simulation of a European Council Summit. Teams made up of two undergraduate students play the roles of representatives of EU member state delegations.
“This year, students negotiated issues that were discussed during the Czech Presidency of the EU, in particular enlargement and energy policy,” said faculty advisor Christopher Jones.
BYU delegations included Jeffrey Dickamore and Nickolas Wester, Romania; Arielle Badger and Christopher Sorensen, Luxembourg; and Hirgen Bezhani and Spencer Pearce, Italy (head of government and energy minister, respectively).
“The simulation was a very engaging and stimulating exercise for the students,” said Jones. “In the heads of government sessions, the realities of European politics soon became clear, as despite concerted diplomatic engagement, Silvio Berlusconi was frozen out by the French, British and German delegates."
"Little Luxembourg punched above her weight and steered much of the morning's deliberations, only to be out-muscled by Greece on the issues of enlargement to FYROM—the former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia, Croatia and Serbia," he said. "Romania was the proverbial spider in the web of the discussions, both formal and informal, bringing the delegates together on key issues."
“At the energy minister's meeting, perhaps the more content-rich and productive of the two sessions, BYU's representatives made well-informed contributions to the difficult questions of energy security and dependency, matters that vex the Europeans as much as they do the United States. Their contributions, as with those of all the energy ministers, received special mention at the conclusion of the Summit,” he said.
“Students who participate gain a more applied understanding of how negotiations and policies at the European Union emerge,” said Cory Leonard, assistant director of the David M. Kennedy Center for International Studies at BYU. “The Center for the Study of Europe sees a great value to students, as the experience is part internship, part seminar — with a chance to develop political and diplomatic skills in the process.”
For more information regarding Model EU, contact cory_leonard@byu.edu.
