Model UN reflection

1) The thing that I enjoyed the most about the Model UN simulation was the way in which we, for an extended period of time, were another country and essentially other people.  We all were given different characters to be that we had to research and develop in order to act as them in the international arena.  It was a lot of fun to have some “power” and be able to think and work as a team and country in order to handle crises and push our country’s agenda.  It was also really cool to try to forget our own personal thoughts and agendas in order to act purely as our country.

2) Looking back now, I would definitely say that I was prepared enough to act in my role of my country.  It was definitely very useful to research specific areas individually so that we could all bring our own information to the table when we felt that it was useful or important.  However, writing our paper on the general information of Kuwait was also extremely useful because it gave everyone common ground and information so that they could still participate, even when the topic did not exactly fit in with our own research, we could still participate.  It also gave us a better sense of our country’s position and goals in the world.

3) In general, I was really happy with the way in which our group interacted and acted as our state.  I feel that, with excluding our decision to assassinate the Prime Minister of China, all of our actions were true to the nature of Kuwait.  We carefully balanced out all of the options and factors that could have an impact on our decision in order to make an accurate and informed decision.  One decision that I was particularly proud of was the way in which we dealt with the crisis surrounding the struggle between our elected government and traditional heredity to the throne.  W e managed to keep our state’s traditions in mind while trying to move forward and embrace Western ideals, much like our government would do and is doing.  Particularly we gave our elected government a ¾ over ride vote to bring parliament back into session when the Emir decides to dissolve it.

4)One action that I do wish our group had undertaken is surrounding our relations with China.  When China decided to send us unwanted and unneeded aid, we decided to send it to Darfur.  One reason we did this was to make sure that we did not appear to be weak to the other nations.  In turn China decided to support our action in sending aid to Darfur.  However, currently China’s actions in Sudan have been questioned because they are not taking any actions to reprimand Sudan.  Therefore, I do not believe that, in reality, China would have supported our decision fully.  For that reason I would have liked to have publically “called out” the Chinese government in their actions in the Darfur region and their decision to support our actions.  

Religion In Kuwait

Religion is an extremely important institution in The State of Kuwait.  The majority of people in Kuwait are Muslim, consisting of nearly 85% of the population.  In fact, Islam is so popular in Kuwait that much of the political practices of the Kuwaiti government revolve around Islamic principles.  For example Kuwait’s Constitution states that “the religion of the State is Islam, and the Islamic Shari’a shall be a main source of legislation”.  Therefore, it is clear that Islam is a major source of power in Kuwait.  It is deeply ingrained in the social and political life in Kuwait.  As a matter of fact, Islam is a major uniting factor for the people within Kuwait.  The demographics of Kuwait are very interesting because only 45% of people in Kuwait are actually Kuwaiti.  35% of the people are from other Arab nations, 9% are from Asia, 4% are from Iran, and 7% are from other parts of the world.  However, because nearly 85% of the people are Muslim, the religion creates common ground among the people of Kuwait.  It is for that reason that religion is such a major influence in Kuwait.

            Out of the 85% of people living in Kuwait that are Muslims, approximately 70% are Sunni and 30% are Shi’a.  The Shi’a in Kuwait make up a very diverse population of people, many of them immigrants from other places.  A large portion of the Shi’a are from Saudi Arabia, Bahrain, or Iran.  Many of the Shi’a of Iranian origin speak Persian and Arabic.  Because of these close ties to Iran that many Shi’a feel, a sense of conflict was created as a result of the Iranian Revolution of 1979 and the Iran-Iraq War in the 1980’s.  Many of the Shi’a in Kuwait began experiencing a renewed sense of sectarian identification.  The sectarian identification was also due to an increase in governmental and social discrimination.  As a result, the 1980s were filled with a sense of tension between the Sunnis and Shi’a.  The remains of this tension still linger within the social climate of Kuwait.  However, even with the ruling family and majority of people in Kuwait being Sunni, the Shi’a are allowed to practice their traditional forms of worship without government interference.  The constitution of Kuwait declares that all people are equal in human dignity, and in public rights and duties before the law, without distinction as to race, origin, language or religion.

            Islamic tradition is deeply engrained in Kuwait’s political structure.  The Islamic Sharia is the main source of legislation.  However, the government is required to protect the freedom of practicing any religion so long as the way that the people practice their religion does not interfere with public policy or morals.  However, expatriate religions that are not sanctioned in the Koran, including Hindus, Sikhs, and Buddhists are not allowed to build places of worship; they are required instead to practice their religions in their homes.  There are, however, some expatriate Christian denominations that are legally recognized in Kuwait.  These denominations include a Catholic diocese and several Protestant churches.  One interesting fact about Kuwait is that the government prohibits Muslims from converting to another religion and it also prohibits the religious education of religions other than Islam.  Recently, a former Muslim by the name of Robert Hussein was convicted of apostasy for converting to Christianity.  He was ordered to pay all legal costs and affected certain personal rights, such as child custody and property inheritance.  At one point, the judge and other citizens spoke up saying that the Koran stated that death should be the punishment for apostasy.  However, the government invaded on Hussein’s behalf and protected his constitutional rights.  Kuwaiti law also prohibits the establishment of non-Islamic publishing companies and it prohibits non-Muslims from becoming citizens. 

            Kuwaiti government even has its own family court system revolving around Islam.    There is a Sunni court and a Shi’a court that deal with family law matters.  Furthermore, there is an appellate court for the Sunnis, for the occasions in which a person wants to make an appeal to a higher court.  However, there is no Shi’a appellate court, meaning that if a Shi’a wanted to make an appeal to a higher court they would have to appeal to the Sunni appellate court.  These family courts are based out of Islamic law.  However, there are separate domestic courts for non-Muslims. 

            It is very clear that religion, especially Islam, is a monumental force in Kuwait.  Because such a large percentage of the people subscribe to one religion, it has seeped into the very foundation upon which the nation was built and has become a dominating factor in social and political matters.  There is not a single issue that occurs in Kuwait that is not approached at least once on a religious level whether it pertains to foreign policy, domestic policy, or the economy.  

Religion In International Politics- Interesting Interactions

            As it has been shown, religion plays an extremely important role in the way that a nation operates both domestically and internationally.  Religion can be the glue that holds a nation together or the force that is keeping it apart.  It is often the source for alliances between two nations, but can also be used to pose two nations against one another.  Even in a nation such as the United States, where freedom of religion is practiced and cherished, it is hard to deny the importance of religion.  Out of the 44 presidents that we have had, each one has been a Christian.  In fact, no person of another religion has even come close to being the president.  Furthermore, the United States was founded upon “Christian ideals” and phrases and actions such as “one nation under God” and taking an oath on the bible are used everyday in our society.  However, some of the most interesting examples of religion in international politics come from when two different religions meet and interact for the betterment of the world; especially when these groups cross international boundaries.  Three important examples demonstrate the power that mystery that surrounds the interaction between two different religions and the impact that their interactions can have on a nation or even the world at large.  The first of these interactions discusses the nation of Bahrain and their relations with the Jewish people in their country.  The second involves a small group of Catholics in Cape Verdean whom have decided to embrace their Jewish ancestry.  The third and final example comes from President Barack Obama’s recent efforts to calm the tension between the United States and the Muslim world. 

            The story behind the Jewish people in the nation of Bahrain is an extremely interesting one.  Bahrain is an extremely small Muslim nation, which is surrounded by Saudi Arabia, Qatar, Iraq, Iran, and the U.A.E, which are all Muslim nations as well.  In fact, the Jewish population in Bahrain consists of only thirty-six people.  These people are “mostly descendants of merchants from Iraq and Iran whose families have lived in Bahrain for centuries, experts here said” (New York Times) and are older adults.  However, unlike many of his fellow Muslim monarchs, the king of Bahrain, Hamad bin Isa al-Khalifa, has outwardly shown support for the Jewish community.  At one point in time, in the 1940s, the Jewish population in Bahrain consisted of nearly six hundred people.  However, after Israel became a state in 1948, many of the Jews in Bahrain moved away to the newly formed Jewish country.  The numbers have been dwindling ever since.  Some of the major steps that Hamad bin Isa al-Khalifa has taken in support of the Jewish community include appointing a Jewish woman as the ambassador to the United States and appointing Jewish business leaders to the Shura Council, which is the council that acts as an upper house in Parliament, among other things.  However, these gestures towards the Jewish community stir up negative feelings in another community in Bahrain.  A group of Shiite Muslims in Bahrain sees the actions of the Sunni King as an insult to them.  “Shiites complain that the 36 Jews are treated better than they are, and that the king’s Jewish outreach is intended to make Bahrain appear to be a tolerant society, papering over the systemic discrimination they say they experience” (New York Times).  This relationship creates a very interesting atmosphere in Bahrain.  Personally, I believe that the support that the king of Bahrain has been showing to the Jewish community is outstanding.  For a Muslim nation that is surrounded by other Muslim nations to go out on a limb to reach out to their Jewish community, no matter how small, is incredible.  This is especially true due to the current climate in the Middle East with tensions soaring between Jews and Muslims due to the Israeli-Palestinian conflict.  Any step that can be taken towards a peace between Jews and Muslims in the Middle East I see as a huge positive.

            Another interesting interaction between religions occurred in Cape Verdean, a small nation consisting of many islands, off the shore western shore of Africa.  The majority of the people in Cape Verdean are a mix of black African and Portuguese descent, making them Creole.  Also, over eighty-five percent of the population of Cape Verdean is Roman Catholic.  Interestingly, a group of these Roman Catholics in Cape Verdean decided to embrace their Jewish roots by participating in a Jewish Serder in the basement of a Catholic church.  Another motivation for their continued observance of this Jewish tradition stems from a murder of three Cape Verdeans by a man who was a white supremacist that was planning on killing Jews.  “In light of the fact that both of our communities needed some healing after that tragedy, this even serves that purpose” (WBUR).  I find this interaction of faiths to be extremely interesting for multiple reasons.  Firstly, a society that is so strongly Catholic rarely ever strays to anything outside of their traditions because of the strict structure of the denomination.  Therefore, to hear about a Seder being performed in the basement of a Catholic church by a society that has been Catholic and strictly Catholic for hundreds of years is fairly shocking.  Another reason for my interest in the story comes from their reasoning behind their interest in the Jewish faith and traditions.  Personally, I would have thought the connection would have been because of Christianity’s lineage to Judaism and not from each individual’s possible lineage to someone who is Jewish.  It seems as if the people are more concerned with having Jewish ancestors rather than the close ties that the religions have to one another, which I find interesting. 

            One final example comes from the San Francisco Chronicle on April 7^th.  President Barack Obama recently took a trip to multiple Islamic countries in the Middle East and has been promoting an attitude of togetherness and peace between the United States and the Muslim community.  This is a stance that has never been seen before from a President of the United States.  President Obama is using his Muslim heritage as an important tool to reach out to the Muslim world.  According to the article “he's the first president to talk about respect for the Muslim world”.  However, one problem with President Obama tapping into his Muslim heritage to extended a peaceful hand towards the Muslims is that many of the people who accuse President Obama of being Muslim in the United States will see this as further proof.  Although President Obama is a Christian, during his presidential campaign many right wing republicans accused Obama of being a Muslim and the fact that he is reaching back to his Muslim heritage will only further these claims.  However, with all of that said, I believe that what President Obama is doing in these Islamic countries is amazing.  For one thing, the fact that, so far, his gestures have been well received shows that the Muslim world at large is willing to cooperate and work with the United States.  President Obama realized that one of the major problems with the Muslim community is that many of these people are feeling like they are being ignored and disrespected.  The way that President Obama has handled this situation thus far has been far better than any other United States President to date.