BLOG POST #9 - CARE model

    The CARE model is an acronym that stands for compassion, action, responsibility, equality. These are all key character traits that can allow one to become a better global citizen. In my mind a global citizen is one who looks out for others, one that is selfless as opposed to selfish. Being compassionate goes hand in hand with empathy. If one can understand the struggles and troubles that others are going through, then they can easily see why they require aid and can act accordingly. Action is perhaps the most important component to the model because without the whole model comes to a screeching halt. Talking about doing things or understanding why they have to be done are important steps in the process, but are both completely useless if action is not carried out. Responsibility ensures that people realize the consequences for their actions and act accordingly. Equality is necessary because in a global society all people need to be treated equally. If you can picture a world where all these character traits were embodied, it would be hard to imagine very much going wrong. For example, if brutal dictators like Stalin had had compassion for the people he was massacring, perhaps it may not have been done. If he had treated all his country's citizens as equal, it would not have happened. In my mind the CARE model is more of a guideline for a near perfect world. I do not believe that this perfect world will actually be achieved, but we can significantly improve our current world if we work toward it one step at a time.

BLOG POST #8 - NSA Reflection

 Our NSA had very positive things to say about our team. We represented Russia in the red game. To be quite honest, he didn't have any bad or any ugly things to say. He said that the three of us functioned very well together. He also identified each of our strong points and how we actually contributed to the team. He observed that Vladimir Putin (Ryan) dealt primarily with submitting action forms. He though all of Ryan's action forms were very detailed and represented our strategic goals statement. I was praised for my press releases. He said that my press releases really helped to educate the world on the Russian perspective and also served our strategic goals statement. Finally Sergei Lavrov (Rehan) was classified as the behind the scenes man. He worked mostly with communications between foreign ministers to try to secure alliances with different countries. 

     We had a very positive relationship with our NSA throughout the entire simulation. We'd constantly message him to ask his opinion on some of our plans or to clarify an event that occurred. For example, we asked his opinion on the creation of SOD (Special Operations Directorate). We wanted to know if missions carried out by SOD could be kept secret from other leaders. He ensured us that all operations specified as secret would remain that way. He also suggested times where the use of SOD would be favourable to carrying out our strategic goals. I doubt many other teams utilized secret operations to carry out there goals, and we would not have been able to if not for our NSA. I think he really appreciated the level of effort we were putting into the simulation and his evaluation translated accordingly. 

     Thank You Marco (our NSA) for a great AIC simulation. 

BLOG POST #7 - Courage

“Never was so much owed to so many by so many to so few”. 

-Winston Churchill August 20 1940

     There are few people over the ages of history that I admire so much as Winston Churchill. First before I get into the quote, a little WWII history. The British air force was called the RAF (Royal Air Force) while the German air force was called the Luftwaffe. The Luftwaffe without a doubt had the upper hand going into this battle due to the size of their fleet. The RAF had approximately 1200 planes after the fall of France with only 660 being serviceable. The Luftwaffe on the other hand had approximately 3000 planes with 2500 being serviceable. Britain’s other problem rested in the fact that there was a lack of trained pilots; so many inexperienced pilots with minimal training were being sent up. In terms of navies, the British navy was called the RN (Royal Navy) while the Germans commanded the Kreigsmarine. In this case the Royal navy was much better equipped than the German Kreigsmarine. Now keep in mind the fact that Britain is an island. The German forces would not be able to take Britain as they did France with Blitzkrieg warfare. The German’s plan for the invasion of Britain was codenamed operation Sea lion and consisted of a joint air and water attack. Now since the Kreigsmarine was far inferior to the Royal Navy, for their invasion to have any chance of success the Germans would have to cripple the RN. They could only do this if they controlled the skies over Britain and defeated the RAF. This is why the Battle of Britain was so important. If the RAF had been defeated then nothing could stand in the way of a joint Luftwaffe and Kreigsmarine invasion.  

     Now back to Winston Churchill and this quote. Churchill spoke daily on the radio to the citizens of Britain to inspire them to keep fighting. One such speech occurred on August 20 1940 a few days before a huge German air invasion was about to occur. If not for Britain’s victory in the Battle of Britain the whole world as we know it today may very well be Nazi Germany. Britain was the last country standing in front of Germany taking over all of Western Europe.

     This quote relates specifically to the RAF fighter pilots who fought off the German Luftwaffe and were instrumental in Britain’s victory. In this quote, Churchill is expressing the idea that if not for this very small amount of people, then we may have lost the war. So many people (the allied world) owe their lives to these few individuals (the RAF pilots) who fought courageously for their country. 

     This quote applies mostly to courage. Churchill is thanking these few soldiers for their courage. The typical RAF pilot’s lifespan was approximately three weeks. Many of these men knew when they went up thousands of feet in the air that they would not come back down alive. Even with this knowledge they still went up and they still fought because they new that if they wanted their free society to continue then that’s what they would have to do. This commitment to their families and to their country, even when staring death right in the face, is in my opinion true courage. I, as Winston Churchill has expressed, owe my incredible life today in a free society to these few soldiers who gave their lives for our freedom.