Chugging Along

Before I get to the weekend events, I wanted to briefly conclude my last post. The debate was held at the Oxford Union, a large open room with a small open area speakers at one end and rows of seating for the audience at the other. The debate was so popular that after the seats on the floor were filled and the wrap-around balcony was packed to standing room only, ticketholders had to be turned away at the door. In addition to the crowd, the spectacle was completed by the formal dress of the speakers and the strict adherence to an eccentric set of rules governing the debate. For example, someone objecting to a statement must stand, place their hand on their head (although people get away without this one), and say "point of information." It is then at the discretion of the speaker in command of the floor to acknowledge the objection and allow for elaboration. The proposal for the evening was (more or less) that western democracies have a moral obligation to spread liberal democracy to the rest of the world, by force if necessary. Prominent members of the community (a Member of Parliament or MP, a newspaper editor, a professor, etc.) representing each side took turns making their arguments. My initial response to the proposal was no, primarily because I was fixated on the clause 'by force if necessary,' and I felt it was a clear-cut decision. The general argument against the proposal was that democracy is inherently not a form of government that can be forced onto a people and that some societies cannot support democracy. Although the speakers against the proposal made a good argument,  I felt that the proponents of the proposal presented a more convincing case. Their argument hinged on supporting basic individual rights and using force only in certain situations. After six speakers had made their statements, a few members form the audience were invited to make short statements. Finally, one additional speaker from either side gave the concluding remarks, restating earlier arguments and making one last appeal. When everyone had finished, the votes were collected according to whether attendees departed through the 'yea' or 'nay' door. Thus, the bad news: I never found out which side won. And the good news: I'm going to another one this Thursday on bringing Christian values back into British culture.

In my Diplomatic Practice course yesterday, we divided into four groups to discuss the political response to a deadly collision of two fishing boats from the hypothetical countries of Savona and Matapan and to propose statements for a news release. The groups had nine people with each member representing a different part of the organization (the Political Under-Secretary, Press Spokesperson, Fisheries Ministry Representative, etc.). When the groups came back together to discuss their results, Mr. Hunt had one member from each group comment on the effectiveness of the group in completing the task. When each group received mostly positive comments, Mr. Hunt humorously noted that it was unreasonable to expect anything more critical from diplomacy students who realize they still have an entire year with their classmates. The interesting part of the discussion however was that we only discussed the content of our news releases for a few minutes. Instead, we focused on details of the meeting overall such as how each group arranged the seating (who sat at the right hand of the Under-Secretary?), whether nametags were used, how the number of actors affects discussion, and the effect of using a cramped space or a comfortable one (meetings are typically faster in uncomfortable spaces, but if participants tend not to get along, more space is better).

Yesterday evening, I went bowling with KEEN. The volunteers did not have a chance to put too many balls down the lanes, but we had a lot of fun helping the athletes. This morning, I went down to the boathouse to row at 6:30, only to find that another Hertford boat had a morning outing. Since only one boat from a college can be on the water at once (in the mornings), we had to get creative. We considered just taking the fine, 'borrowing' another colleges oars to hide our identity (good idea until their crew showed up), and rowing on the ergs for a while (unfortunately also occupied by another crew). In the end, we had to leave with out a workout.

Finally, this weekend was Remembrance Sunday, so my next post will hopefully have some pictures and stories about it. Take care!